Nordic Pulse

We wanted to use this platform today to honor the life of Bob “Woody” Woodward, who passed away peacefully on Friday in hospice care. Woody was legendary in the Central Oregon Nordic community and instrumental in building the cross-county program at Mt. Bachelor. Woody ran summer cross-county ski camps here for 15 years and managed many races at the Nordic Center. He helped bring the 1984 North American Championships and 1985 U.S. Nationals to Bend.

Woody was a longtime freelance writer and photojournalist who covered the Nordic events at five Olympic Games. His influence on Bend’s outdoor recreation community was profound. Woody is credited with helping to bring mountain biking to Bend. While serving as the mayor of Bend from 1997 to 1999 he was called “America’s only mountain biking mayor.” He was among the founders of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance and an avid trail builder in our community.

In the late-1970s, Woody was one of the pioneers of paddle sports in Bend. He was among the first paddlers to kayak a non-stop run of the Deschutes from the Riverhouse to Tumalo State Park and was in the first wave of professional rafting guides working on the Big Eddy stretch of the river in the early 1980s.

Next time you ski a lap on “Woody’s Way,” please offer a thought and a “thank you” for his enormous contributions to our community. Woody, you will be missed.