The Student News Site of Northern Michigan University

The North Wind

The North Wind

The North Wind

Meet the Staff
Matthew Sarna
Business Manager

The North Wind Editorial Sessions
About us

The North Wind is an independent student publication serving the Northern Michigan University community. It is partially funded by the Student Activity Fee. The North Wind digital paper is published daily during the fall and winter semesters except on university holidays and during exam weeks. The North Wind Board of Directors is composed of representatives of the student body, faculty, administration and area media.

PROFILE — Katie Buhrmann is a 2022 alum of NMU and the executive administrative assistant in NMUs Office of Institutional Effectiveness. She recently self-published her first book of poetry. Photo courtesy of Katie Buhrmann
Alumni Katie Buhrmann explores South Korea through language
Katarina Rothhorn March 28, 2024

NMU snowboarder on national stage

Over the weekend, NMU student and professional snowboarder Ian Thorley dealt with the 70-degree West coast heat and took fifth in the esurance ICER AIR competition in San Francisco’s AT&T Park.

Fourteen snowboarders and 14 skiers from around the world competed in front of 32,000 fans in a big air competition that utilized a 100-foot high jump that was covered in 200 tons of man-made snow.

The first heat of the competition narrowed each group down to seven athletes, who were entered into the final round. Thorley placed fourth in his opening performance.

Travis Rice placed first in the snowboarding finals with a score of 95 and took home a $15,000 prize. Tim Humphreys (83) placed second and claimed $7,500. Chas Guldemond took third and received $3,750. All lower-placing riders took home $500.

Story continues below advertisement

In the skiing competition, Jon Olsson took first, while Simon Dumont placed second and Sammy Carlson came in third. The payouts were the same for the skiing competition.

Thorley lives most of the year in Marquette and heads to California for the winters.

Thorley, who rides for Atomic Snowboards, won the 2007 slope style competition at the Chevrolet U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix. He also won the slope style competition of the 2005 Chevy Snowboard Evolution Tour.

The ICER AIR competition was hosted by Olympic gold medal skier Jonny Moseley.

More to Discover