It’s also about the feeling of freedom one gets carving a fresh path through 40 centimetres of powder, a sunny, crisp day on the Outback – or catching air on the moguls course.
The Mount Washington Freestyle Club teaches kids the fun of freestyle while building lifelong skills.
“This year we’re planning new program called recreational freestyle,” says Gina Stubbs, who along with husband Simon runs the Club.
The recreational freestyle program is geared towards teens 13 to 17 years who haven’t necessarily started a ski program at a younger age but would like to be doing freestyle stuff.
The program will take place half a day at a time over four weekends. Kids will get to try out the terrain park as well as ski the Outback. When they’re finished, they’ll be “all-terrain skiers”, says Stubbs.
The Freestyle Club starts with a program called Jumps and Bumps. Skiers progress through each level, and can choose to race competitively.
The Development Program is for strong parallel skiers. “This is for kids that aren’t quite ready for the competitive team yet, but have progressed past the Jumps and Bumps level,” she says.
The development team doesn’t travel to races as often as the competitive team does. The competitive racers also engage in dryland training, mogul camps, water ramp camps and summer camps. Where skiers in the development program can choose either one-day or two-day streams, the competitive team requires a two-day commitment every weekend.
The Club has about 50 members, including two, Andrea Bull of Campbell River (now living in Calgary) and Patrick Boucher of Courtenay, who are on the B.C. Provincial Freestyle Team.
There are also three athletes who are being courted by PacificSport, says Stubbs.
The Freestyle Club will hold an early season camp around Christmas, and this year will offer a “girls only” clinic on Feb. 20, 2009.
For more information on the Freestyle Club, go online to www.mwfc.ca. There are registration forms and an e-mail link for those wishing to sign up for programs.