Mt. Hood with the WP Freeski Team

Our Winter Park Freeski Team had the amazing opportunity to go to Windell's Ski and Snowboard camp this summer. What a great experience and a great group of kids! This year, I went as a coach. We had 14 kids total.... wild and out of control!! Just kidding. Well, it was wild but we stayed in control most of the time :) We went for a total of 2 weeks and had such an amazing time I think all of us, plus more, will be returning next year for more fun and great memories to be made. 

Here's a pic of our some of our team members with our new friend, Sean, we met at the Windell's skate park. Sean was 11 years old and RIPPING this skate park hard! It was amazing to watch!! We decided to get his autograph now since we will most likely be seeing him in the X games in a few years! 

We rented humongous, sweet house right on the river in Mt. Hood. Just the stay at the home itself was amazing!! Right off our balcony was this view of the river... can't beat that!! The kids and us coaches really enjoyed the house! It also had a hot tub, which on a ski trip is an essential item!!

The skiing, for the beginning of July, was UNREAL! They had so much snow, so many features to play on and the size of their jumps was crazy! They had great jumps and even a 70 and 100 footer! Pretty awesome. This trip was different for me than most summer camps I've been to because 1. I am still healing from my knee surgery and was not allowed to hit any features (minus one refrigerator box which was great) and 2. I was a coach instead of just an athlete! 

Overall, despite my heartache from not being able to participate in the fun on the features, I had a WONDERFUL time!! My favorite part?! Watching the kids learn new tricks. It's so awesome to watch and be a part of the kids improving and enjoying such an awesome sport! This trip I worked mostly with the girls. We had fun time and definitely bonded over those 2 weeks! I'm SO proud of everyone for pushing yourself and getting after it!! You guys ROCK!

Along with skiing, there were 2 other highlights which stand out on this trip.


 #1: Burton Ladies' night at Windells. Us girls had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We just though it might be a dance party or something... right?!! WRONG. You get blindfolded and get a partner and put makeup on them with your eyes closed. Let's just say.... HILARIOUS!!!! My partner happened to win the entire thing!! She won a new backpack and helmet. It was great. We laughed so hard we almost peed our pants a lil bit :)

#2: We went to the punch bowls and found a nice picnic spot and a great little cliff to jump off into FREEZING FREEZING cold water (yes, I said freezing 2x... because it was THAT COLD!). Everyone eventually jumped in, me being last (had to get my courage up).  It was a beautiful little spot along the river and quite a memorable and fun time.  Here's one of the boys gettin' er done. 

Lunch time on the river... and on the mountain! Could you eat lunch in a prettier place?!! I think not :)

And as always, the trip had to come to an end even though I'm sure we could have all stayed there for the summer. The drive there and back was 20 hours and actually went by very fast. Next year I am looking forward to returning and being 100% healthy and able to join in on the skiing! However, in spite of that, I had the time of my life. Thanks to everyone who came and I'm looking forward to next year!! WHOO!