MOUNT BACHELOR — Sometimes it is just fun to play the host.

Approximately 200 athletes from around the state competed Sunday under blue, sunny skies for the final day of the Special Olympics Oregon (SOOR) 2013 Winter State Games.

Some 20 competitors from Central Oregon competed for SOOR’s High Desert chapter. And for them, the weekend of snow-sports competition was at least partially about being a good host.

“It’s like you are in a sea of red,” Darren Laughlin, a 44-year-old snowshoer from Bend, said Sunday in reference to the High Desert squad’s uniform red coats. “It is awesome to host.”

Competitions in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing began Saturday and ended under picture-perfect conditions Sunday.

For the Central Oregon participants, part of the fun of the annual Winter Games is to meet fellow athletes from around the state.

That was certainly the case for 24-year-old Andrea Gifford, who was showing off the gold medal she had just won in her 100-meter cross-country ski race.

Though the Bend resident was thrilled with her race, winning, she observed, was not the main reason for competing.

“I like being in Special Olympics because you get to meet new people,” said Gifford as she ate her lunch with teammates under a canopy set up at Mt. Bachelor’s Nordic Center. “It makes me happy.”

Not that she was trying to hide her athletic exploits.

“I’m proud,” she said. “You try your best, and that’s all that counts.”

Kristel Wieglenda, a 31-year-old nordic skier from Bend, was feeling the strain of two days of the Special Olympics.

“My calves hurt,” she declared to her friend.

Her ski races, including the 500-meter cross-country event, were only part of her strenuous weekend. She said the competition, coupled with the event’s Saturday night dance, had left her exhausted.

But she got a dose of energy in the form of Sunday’s unusually calm, mild weather.

“Sunny, nice, not blustery and not raining,” Wieglenda said. “It’s nice now.”

Jordan Estrada, a 27-year-old snowshoer from Bend, shared a similar smile with Wieglenda.

Estrada finished in fifth place in the 50-meter snowshoe competition and missed out on a medal. But for her, the draw to the Special Olympics comes from the tutelage she receives.

“I love coaches,” she said.

And competing in such good weather?

“It’s fun and awesome,” she added.

The ideal weather did more than just provide a pleasant experience.

In previous years, the region’s March weather has often caused problems in managing the events, said Jill Simmons, the local program coordinator for the High Desert chapter.

That has resulted in longer days and indoor award ceremonies, Simmons said.

But after the events Sunday, her team shared lunch and laughs outside on the edge of the cross-country run.

“We’re loving this,” Simmons said. “The nice weather makes everything go faster and the attitudes are better.

“They are enjoying the weekend.”

No wonder so many competitors were smiling Sunday, regardless of where they finished.

“People come from Corvallis, Eugene-Springfield. They come from all over,” said Laughlin, who has competed in the Special Olympics since 1980.

“It’s so much fun up here.”