Snowboard Stories

This is your place to post any stories of your riding experiences. Just drop me a line with your story and/or pictures and I will post them right here...

"How I Spent My Summer Vacation" - Pete Geremia alias Shredr

I went to Mt. Hood Snowboard Camp last summer.  It was a great time.  The first day at the camp was pretty tiring, though, because it was a travel day;  most of us just sat around most of the day and did nothing.  Plus it was too hot;  we were dying.  And it was though because nobody knew each other.  But toward the end of the day we got to know each other a little more.  The camp put us up in cabins, which  had a bunch of bunk beds and 1 bathroom/shower.  There were 5 of us in the cabin.  I was in cabin number 5, which was the cool cabin with the big-screen TV.  The second day ( first day of snowboarding) was really cool.  We got breakfast and then packed our lunch and got on the bus for the mountain.  The ride was really cool.  We essentially kept driving up around the mountain until we got to the Timberline resort.  From there we got on the lift and headed up the mountain.  WE had to take 2 lifts.  The first lift took us from the base lodge up to a mid-way point.  There was absolutely NO snow on that lift ride.  At that point we got on the next life, which took us to the top.  There was a TON of snow going up that life.  WE brought our backpacks to the top and dropped them off so we could ride.  Backpacks were important to keep our clothing layers, lunch adn water.  Water was essential, because you got thirsty really fast from all the hiking and stuff.  From the top, the view was amazing.  WE met in groups;  I think there were 4 or 5 groups.  They grouped us based on ability.  They let us warm-up by taking a few runs down the big public trail.  Once we were done with the warm-ups, we met at the top and then headed down to the camp's private park where there was a half pipe and jumps.  It was really cool.   The half pipe was prefect.  By this time it was about lunch, and we all hung out at the top of the half pipe and ate.  The sun was so hot that we had to make sure we applied sun screen at least 2 times.  The sun gets so hot, with the snow and being at such a high altitude.  After lunch we headed up to the jump ( we had to hike there over the snow) and started practicing jumps.  I had a hard time at first and took some nice crashes, but I kept learning and the coaching was pretty good.  They gave you advice and helped but let you do stuff on your own if you wanted without bugging you.  That was cool.  Once done, we had to hike over dirt back to the main trail ( because you couldn't snowboard back to the main trail) and then snowboard down to the river where we had to hike back down to the bus that was waiting in the parking lot of the Wyeast Day Lodge.  The main lift stops operating at 1:30, so we couldn't take it down.  We got on the bus and headed back to camp.  I was able to take a shower then, and we headed out to a movie and stuff.  Most of the other days followed the same essential format.  Everyday I got better and better at jumps and the half pipe.  ON the last day, I rocked at the jumps and half pipe.   I was able to do an Indy grab.  I couldn't believe I was actually doing that by the end of the session .  I was also able to do the half pipe and get over the lip of it during my run down.  That was really cool.  At night we did some activities like going to the movies, snowboard shop, etc.  One night we headed out to Portland and went to this amazing Cajun restaurant.  It was really cool, and the food was great.  I had a get time.  It was an experience I wont forget.  Mt Hood was absolutely incredible.  Many of the days it was overcast at the bottom.  As we would drive up the mountain, the sun would all of the sudden come out, and it was perfect for riding.  Then we would get on the life and go up to the top of the mountain, and the view was just crazy.  Some days the view was like being on an airplane and getting above the clouds.  The hardest thing was to hike up the half pipe.  Once you go down, the only way up is to hike it.  The air is quite a bit thinner at 9,000 feet above sea level.  But by the end of the week, I guess, i finally got used to the hike, because it didn't hurt anymore!!  I talked to the owner on the last day before we left. I asked him about me being a counselor at the camp.  I was thinking of taking a 4 week leave of absence from my job to do this.  I think it would be a good experience.  Along with that I am going to try to go to the second session next year, which will be an adult session ( 18 plus ). This session that just ended was all ages, and the majority of the riders were between 13 and 19, and I am 33.   BU T I AM NOT OLD!  I guess I must be pretty immature, because I related pretty well to them.  Well, thought you might find my blabbing interesting.  I am not sure if you do any articles about the camps, but it would be really cool to follow one of the camps through the week session.  It is so much fun, and you learn a lot.  Hey, send me. I'll do the reporting for ya!    Pete Geremia, geremia@mediaone.net