Westbound Boarder

Links we love this week, and so will you!

• Skate Week Recap: We just wrapped up Skate Week this morning here at Westbound Boarder, and what a week it has been!  From top skate shops in Portland to how to choose your new ride, Danielle brings you the 411.  Check out a recap of this week’s best skate week articles here.
• Top 25 Young Surfers: This week, Surfer Magazine released their list of the Top 25 Young Surfers in the World.  The list is great, and features the inspirational stories of all 25 surfers and how they got into the business.  Only one problem – not a single female is profiled in this list.  If you were to add just one to this list, who would it be?
• Axe Commercialization, Will Ya?! There’s a debate going on over at the HUCK blog on pro riders giving in to the monetary commercialization of the board sports industry, this time with skater Ryan Sheckler’s recent appearance in an Axe body spray commercial.  Check out the convo and leave your thoughts.
• Women Talk Sports: This week while surfing the net, we came across an awesome network of blogs called “Women Talk Sports.”  It was started by three female athletes (including one of my colleagues over at Edelman!) and aggregates the best of the best from around the net.  Whether you want to read about female athlete’s personal basketball adventures or BMX riding, this network likely has a blog for it.
• Costa Rica anyone? Vancity Allie posted some awesome pics of Costa Rica; almost as good as being there! (Almost…)
• Interview with Leanne Pelosi: At the top of her game is the World of female snowboarding, this flippin’ chick is on fire.  Check out her recent interview with Transworld here.

Looking to have a “More Good Time” at your next camp?  Look no further.  In our quest to educate you on the top snowboard camps for females each Wednesday with our Wicked Snow Camp Wednesday series, we came across a camp exclusively for women.  MGT  (More Good Times) Snowboard Camp for Girls, presented by Burton, is “intended for female snowboarders who want to have fun and progress their snowboarding skills, especially in the park and pipe.”  Finally!  A camp that’s caters to the more advanced rider!  Don’t get me wrong, I completely support beginners attending camps to advance to the intermediate level, however, sometimes it is nice to attend a camp that’s a little more advanced if you really want to improve your skills in the park.  This camp is meant for females who want to pursue snowboarding competitively or professionally, and it seems like an awesome way to start that journey.

MGT boasts a legit roster of professional coaches, including Alexis Waite, Tara Dakides, and Spencer O’Brien.  The coach to rider ratio typically stands about 1 to 5, so you’ll really get the attention you need.  And you’ll spend most of the two-day session focusing exclusively on the park.

Another cool thing this camp’s got goin’ on is “MGT Academy.”  Basically, the program is “designed to select one promising MGT camper and place them under the tutorial wing of the MGT pro coaches to give a head start on pursuing a snowboard career in 2010.”  The graduate receives gear, photo shots, video shoots, etc.  Two graduates are chosen per session, and at the end of the year they’ll all regroup to give a presentation on why they should “graduate with top honors.” The person chosen will get some new gear, a travel budget, and awesome lineup for 2010.  Sweet!

MGT offers three camps in the winter and two in the summer at various locations around the globe.  Winter locations included Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, AB and Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, BC, and the third session is set to take place April 4 – 5 at Mount Norquay, Banff, AB.  (Soo, if you still want to make it up to a camp before season’s end, now’s your chance).

Though dates and prices for the summer camp have yet to be announced, both will take place in August 2009, one at Timberline held in tandem with High Cascade, and one in South America alongside South America Snowboard Sessions (Danielle’s previewing this camp next week, so stay tuned!)  Summer camp prices include accommodations, however, lift tickets are not included so keep this in mind when you are budgeting your trip.  Au revior, and see you at Timberline!

UPDATE: I got a chance to catch up with Joanna, co-creator of MGT, tonight (we’ve been playing phone tag for a couple of days) and she told me a little bit more about the camp; so we’ve got the inside scoop right here.  Joanna started the camp seven years ago with riding buddy and pro boarder Leanne Pelosi (hey, that’s an idea; instead of attending camp, just start your own!) and they’ve been at it ever since.  She told me they started the camp for “purely selfish reasons” (hey, that’s fine by me if we all benefit from it, too!) -

Basically, back around the time they started the camp, there weren’t many lessons available just for female riders.  They had several tricks they really wanted to learn, so they put their necessity to action.  Since both girls were competitive boarders and had a large network of people in the industry, they got a good group of talented coaches together and started MGT.  One of the cool and unique things about MGT is that, year after year, they still manage to have awesome pro riders come back to staff the camps (Joanne even mentioned its fun to watch the star-struck campers on the first day).  The riders range in skill level, but they all have one thing in common – they’re passionate about snowboarding and they have high expectations to rise to their full potential, prepared with lists of tricks to master and all.  The camp concludes with a “Jib’n'Jump” Jam, where the coaches throw out their best tricks and the girls follow suit; and the best girl wins a prize!

So… where can you sign up?  I mentioned earlier that there’s still one winter camp left this season, but there are also two summer sessions as well.  In years past, summer sessions have always been held as separate sessions in themselves (just like the winter sessions) alongside camp partners, however, this year MGT will be part of High Cascade.  Students will attend and sign up directly through HCSC for Leanne Pelosi’s session, which is August 8 – 15 and is the session MGT is promoting.  

If you’d like to make a complete world vaca out of your summer camp this year but still ride with the awesome MGT staff, MGT’s other summer session will be held in tandem with South American Snowboard Sessions July 31 – August 16.  Aside from being longer and further away, the Argentina camp will feature more backcountry riding, during the country’s winter, and really foster a truly cultural experience.  It will be completely different than HCSC, but still, of course, a good time.