Our Camp is run by Gilly Seagrave, Sonia Shaw and Emma Rogers, three pro snowboarders from the UK. With no more than five campers to a coach, an Our Camp week is a labour of love for the ladies, who spend as much time off the hill with their campers as they do up the mountain. Gilly manages to sneak in a few internet café moments on the last day of camp to tell us the perspective from the top…
I always get a great feeling of satisfaction at the end of our camps. It’s not just from having helped the girls to progress on a snowboard, but also from getting everyone together, creating a crew of like minded friends to spend a holiday with, learning new skills and having new experiences. It’s a warm fuzzy feeling, the one you get when you know you have made people happy...
The week was packed with “first time” activities. Summer camp is ideal for trying out other things besides snowboarding, as riding starts at 8am or so and ends at around 1pm or 2pm; after that the glacier is just too slushy.This camp was the first to include skate coaching. A few of the girls had never even stood on a skateboard before, and we weren’t sure how devoted they would be to rolling around – and taking the occasional slam onto concrete – after seeing the multitude of things to do in Les2Alpes. There’s a pool, a fake lake, trampolining, lugeing, archery, golf, white water rafting … the list goes on, and we managed to fit most of it in. But each day without fail, everyone asked when we were going skating. I suspect they were actually just as into that part of the day’s activities as they were the snowboarding! Thanks to Tamsin for being a fantastic coach and making sure everyone progressed at a fast but relatively safe rate. It was great to skate down the street with the girls, who were oblivious to all the stares from passers-by; there is something about being in a crew that gives you the confidence to think “!@$% it, who cares” – and this is such a unique experience when you are usually the minority.
I hope that this week’s blog has persuaded any girls out there thinking about camp to give it a go: it really is an incredible experience that you’ll remember for a very long time. We coaches do, each and every camp. Thanks to all those without whom it wouldn’t be possible: the boys at the Sick and the Mental Inn, Animal, K2, Two Seasons, Zeal, Jeevice, Landscape Skateboards and Slam City Skates.
The first Our Camp of next season is based at lovely More Mountain’s (+33 6 86 02 18 05, www.moremountain.com) luxury Chalet Robin in Morzine, France. The cost is £599 halfboard and includes coaching and video analysis, six-day Portes du Soleil pass, goody bags, new boards to demo and airport transfer. The chalet is superb, our hosts Sam and John unbelievably friendly and welcoming, and the mountain great for both park and freeriding.
See Our Camp (www.ourcamp.co.uk or www.myspace.com/ourcamp) for details of other upcoming camps.
Like that? Read day one by Alena, day two by Helen, day three by Simone, day four by Katie, and day five by Emma.
