NZsnowboard.com

16th October 2006

Over the rainbow

By: Leslie Clark

I had been reading lots about all-girl camps in Europe and North America and I figured it was about time I got in on the action so I could get my shred on. But living in Australia, my initial search for something local was fruitless (although that has since changed).

However, one tedious afternoon whilst stealth surfing Powderroom.net at work, I found news of the two-day Snowgirls camp at Snowpark, New Zealand.

Fast forward a few months and I was on my way to Wanaka with my good friend Cat and some others. At this stage I was unsure of what to expect from Snowpark, the small hill with a BIG reputation. Ok, I will let you into little secret here, I was freakin out and beginning to worry that I may be a little bit out of my depth.

The view up Snow Park

Saturday

Our arrival at the camp on Saturday morning did nothing to dispel the worries. Everything looked massive - humongous half pipe, quarter pipe, rails bigger than I had tackled before, and a distinct lack of small jumps.

This was a place for pros not for average people like me - it was time to panic.

After registration we had some time for a few deep breaths and a calming hot chocolate, before gathering with the rest of the girls for a bit of a welcome and introduction from the coaches.

Hitting the lift straight away we headed out for a few warm up runs to check out the features and get the blood pumping. If that didnt do the trick the star jumps and commando rolling combo back at the bottom of the lift certainly did. The commando rolling to practice our falling technique apparently - footage for comedy video outtake show more likely!

Prior to arriving at the camp, we all filled out a form to indicate our riding ability and set our (realistic) goals for the weekend. Based on what we wrote, we were split into groups and assigned our coach for the next two days. Cool chick Rachel Harvey was coach to our small group made up of me, my Kiwi buddy Cat, Jo and Virginia.

Whilst sitting on the lift on our way up for our first group run, Rachel gave us a bit of a run down on what she had in store for us. She broke us in gently getting us to pop off some rollers first and a bit of switch riding. A couple of runs later we moved onto cab 180s off the rollers which allowed us to ride in switch and confidently ride out regular - or at least try!

The scary half pipe was our next stop of the morning. I had never been in the pipe before and working myself up to it was made all the more challenging when I was told: See the guy in the orange jacket dropping in before you? Thats Antii Autti! Nice lead into my first ever pipe run-sharing the pipe with an Olympian!

Not wanting to show myself up I went scooting off into the realms of the unknown, feeling like I was styling when in actual fact I was barely making it up the transition!

Still, when I came out the other end I felt like I had conquered the world. I had just ridden in the pipe!

Leading on from the pipe, a massive 30ft quarter pipe sat menacingly at the bottom of the hill. It would have been rude not to have a go. Our aim was to get as high as we felt comfortable and ride it out switch. We repeated this a few times with Rachel mixing it up a little getting us to try a 180 while we were at it. I had mixed success here.

During our circuits of the pipe I recognised a familiar face, none other than British snowboarder Lesley McKenna who just happened to be riding with Manuela Pesko. Whilst waiting to hit the quarter I took it upon myself to say hello to Lesley at the bottom of the pipe. I introduced myself and told her we had been getting some style tips watching her in the pipe, much to her amusement. She told me she was at Snowpark for some training and asked what I was up to. A nice interlude before we stopping for lunch.

In amongst the excited lunchtime chatter at the outdoor picnic tables, we heard two girls had injured themselves. Both girls had pulled out of the camp which was bad news especially as we had such a fun morning.

No camp at Snowpark would be complete without hitting some rails. I am glad to say that instead of the crippling metal rails that most of us have become intimate with at one time or another, a healthy array of boxes of all shapes and sizes were on offer.

Getting comfortable on rails/boxes was a demon I wanted to conquer, theres always a pain vs pleasure battle going on in my head when hitting them. We pulled up at the top of the boxes and had a look. Rachel talked us through it, telling us what and what not to do. We all did pretty well, even getting some of our attempts on video for us to laugh at later.

We cruised around for the rest of the afternoon having a crack at more boxes of different shapes and sizes. Now, I am still not super comfortable with them quite yet, but I am getting there. I did however perfect the bumslide to faceplant move rather well.

Cat on the Raindow

Our group session wrapped up at around 3pm, with my group pretty happy with what we had accomplished for the day. After one final run we collected our gear and made the 150m walk over to the Woolshed our bed for the night. The newly constructed hostel style accommodation housed a convenient bar/restaurant just a short stumbling distance downstairs.

Nursing some aches and pains we all gathered for a cheeky beverage or two and a gossip about the day. Chunky Knit movies playing in the background provided us all with some inspiration for the following day. After a fab meal, washed down with some bubbly, we returned to the bar to watch the footage taken throughout the day and some goodie bag giveaways.

Each girl received a bag of goodies from Billabong and other main sponsors. Names from the hat were drawn for some additional booty from K2, Billabong etc (I even scored a new purse and tee). The prize of the evening, a pair of boots from K2, which were not worthy of a hat draw so a dance off it would be!!

A look over the bridge to 'The Woolshed'

A few reluctant participants threw down the first moves, with everyone showing off their dancefloor steeze in a bid to win the boots. Visiting Euro DC boys judged Krissy dance floor demon - the eventual winner. All the dancing must have been too much for everyone as the girls started to trickle off to bed. Eventually, leaving a just few of us propping up the bar!

Dance Champion Krissy

Sunday

We woke up to blue skies and snow guns pumping out the white stuff in all directions. A fine spread for brekkie set out for us downstairs in the restaurant. Fruit, muesli, eggs, bacongood fuel for the day ahead. A little stiff and sore we headed out for a few runs before we met with our groups again for another day of fun.

It seemed that the bluebird day had brought everyone to the pipe and being really aggressive it seemed was the only way to get a run. Today instead of the attacking the quarter pipe we had a go at trying the step up, essentially a kicker that kicked you up to the landing instead of landing on a downward slope. Rachels advice was hit this fast, in fact her advice was hit it scary fast. Something I should have listened to. I finished up a little short on both attempts.

Leaving everyone else to fight their way through the pipe we moved on to some jumps that had appeared overnight. I managed to fall awkwardly on one of them and twisted my shoulder which really threw me off for the rest of the day.

Jo on the kicker

After some safe attempts I called it a day and played camera girl for the rest of the afternoon. I cruised around shooting some video and pics of some of the others during the afternoon clinics in their chosen area pipe, jumps and boxes. The end of the skills clinic marked the end of the camp for everyone. A few email exchanges later and we all waved goodbye to Snowpark.

All in all an awesome weekend with some great people, in a fantastic location. What more could you ask for?

The girls behind the camps have done a great job. Sally Norman, Rachel Newton and all the coaches involved have come together to offer one of the best camps around. It's great value for money with accommodation, meals, lift passes all included in the $279 NZ.

I had a great time with all the worries of being out of my depth disappearing after the first run on the first day. I tried so many things I would never have dreamt of trying before. They encourage both skiers and snowboarders of all levels to go along and take part, take it from me whatever level you are at you will leave the camp with a new found confidence to take your riding to the next step.

Ill be back next year - look out Snowpark!

Check out www.snowgirlsnz.com and www.snowparknz.com for more information.



SOURCE: Powderroom.net