Bander Saleh was exposed to snow when he travelled to America to complete his studies under the government education programme. Today, he’s taking on America’s best and becoming a force to be reckoned with in this dynamic sport.
Bander is now ranked in the top 50 in the USA. He beat some strong competition to make it through the North Tahoe regional qualifiers, where he came out on top in Slope Style 3, and achieved Bronze in SlopeStyle AFP. Both disciplines are freestyle in nature, allowing contestants to do the best they can with a variety of challenges.
To beat the local competition, and make it to the Nationals wasn’t easy for Bander, he said “I’d literally never seen snow while living in Saudi and I’m competing with guys who grew up on boards. But, from the first time I tried it, I knew this was going to be my sport.”
Bander looks forward to putting Saudi’s name on the map in a sport where no Saudi has competed before at this high level.
The US Snowboarding Nationals will take place the 1st – 5th April 2018 in Copper Mountain, Colorado.