Westbound Boarder

Well, its Wednesday, and you know what that means… another Wicked Snow Camp Review!  In case you haven’t been following along, we’re profiling one of the top snowboard camps for females each Wednesday, every Wednesday, and this week we’re profiling High Cascade Snowboard Camp (HCSC).

Thought you couldn’t snowboard in the summer?  Think again.  Thanks to the glacier Timberline at Mt. Hood, Oregon sits on,  riders from around the world can enjoy the resort all year round.  And one of the most well-known camps in Oregon is back again this summer with the 20th Anniversary of their Signature Sessions.

High Cascade is “an all-inclusive 9-day summer snowboard camp determined to show you the best time of your life.”  What does that mean, exactly?  Well, at HCSC you’ll spend 9 consecutive days riding with some of the best pros in the industry, including Darrell Mathes, Tara Dakides (!!!), Jamie Anderson and JP Walker. (I’m pretty stoked about Tara Dakides coaching this summer.  Being the woman to basically up the anti for lady riders nationwide, if there’s one thing that would push me over the edge to attend HCSC it’d be her.)

You’ll spend the morning riding with your coaches and then have optional sessions in the afternoon, and later in the day (this is my absolute favorite thing about HCSC) – you’ll meet up with your coach for video training where they’ll analyze your riding from the day and give you tips on how to improve.  Back in the day when I used to compete, I found that video training was one of the best ways to see how you think you ride versus how you actually ride, and then tweak your style based on that.

Another really cool thing about HCSC is that the camp has optional sessions just for girls, coached by girls, so if you find it intimidating to ride with guys, you absolutely don’t have to.  Sometimes it can be helpful to have a female coach because they understand how women learn and how they need to be taught.  They also have adult camps (this year June June 15 – 23 and August 8 – 15) if you’re 21 and up and don’t want to hang with the kiddos all week.  ALSO (yes, there’s more) they have awesome photo and video workshops if you want to learn the creative art of photo storytelling or filmmaking straight from the pros.

HCSC has a ton of fun activities in store, including dodgeball, trampoline sessions, paintball and white water rafting (check out what a typical day might look like here), but of course the focus is on the riding.  I must admit, the camp is a little spendy, but its pretty much all inclusive so you get a lot of bang for your buck. (Heck, just a summer pass at Timberline can run you nearly a grand!)  And from what I hear, HCSC is one of the best snowboard camps to stretch your ability and really get you to the next level.

Fore more information about HCSC, visit the Web site, and check out the dates and pricing here!