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Snowboard Canada
Roxy’s Girls Day Out at Mount St. Louis Moonstone
Words: Ilissa Maiatico
Photos: Ilissa Maiatico and Chris Lucas
On Saturday Jan. 26, 15 girls from across Ontario headed north of the 400 to Mount St. Louis Moonstone, all for the same reasons: to participate in the first ever Girls Day Out snowboard clinic presented by Roxy. The weather couldn’t have been better as we were greeted to bluebird skies, a high of -2 C and fresh snow.
Arriving promptly for my 10 a.m. clinic, I was handed a goody bag full of swag including cosmetics and a Roxy T-shirt. Eager to shred, all the girls gathered around and instantly became friends. Before hitting the slopes Roxy hardgoods sales rep Catie Lane gave us a product knowledge talk about Roxy’s new snowboards. Soon after we went for a run and then were split into three groups based on our riding ability—beginner, intermediate freeride and park. I spent the morning freeriding with my coach Kayle McMillen and another participant, Elise. Being in a small group allowed us to get more runs in while working on carving and riding toeside. By noon I was doing 360s down the hill and learning how to hit boxes. While I was having a great time riding, the tunes blasting from the base of the mountain kept me laughing day all long. Local radio station Chay 93.1 FM was live on location playing funny songs such as Little Eva’s Locomotion, The Eurthymics’ Sweet Dreams and Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca.
After taking a lunch break, everyone went back to the slopes to get more riding in. While the beginners were getting used to riding sideways, the girls in the park hit the pipe, rails, jumps and whatever else came their way. By 3:30 p.m. everyone headed into the lodge before calling it a day. Inside, we were greeted with a special guest appearance; Tony the Tooth was giving out hugs and there was free cake for all to help celebrate National Ski Patroller Day. Shortly after, the Girls Day Out clinic came to close with raffle draws and a grand prize giveaway. While I walked away with a pair of new gloves, 12-year-old Autumn, the youngest rider, took home a pair of Roxy Team bindings.
The clinic proved to be a big success as everyone was stoked on how much their riding improved in just one day. Several girls also said they would be back for the upcoming clinics on March 8 and 9. For more information about the snowboard and wakeboard events hosted by Girls Day Out visit www.girlsdayout.ca
Thank you to the organizers Julia Staffen and Lauren Pollard, Catie Lane, Ashlea Hunt, Racheal Brick and the staff at Mount St. Louis Moonstone for running a great event.
