Features

MGT Park Clinic at Grouse

by Sara Tollestrup

I’ve never really liked math much, but here’s an equation I can hang with: super stoked snow shred senioritas from Canada, the U.S. and Europe + a crew of crazy coaches + a mega fun mini-park = More Good Times.

On January 5, MGT Snowboard Camps held a park clinic at North Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain. Coaches Leanne Pelosi, Molly Milligan, Robin Van Gyn, Amanda Mourant and Joanna Majcherkiewicz were on hand to show campers how to get gnarly in the park and on the dance floor. Flat boxes are ideal for learning how to 270 on to a jib, but they also make a pretty good stage for shaking it to Soulja Boy.

After registration and a couple of extra hot, no foam, no whip, decaf, soy lattes with a shot of sugar-free vanilla, we made our way up the mountain. “Think skinny,” Amanda shouted as we all squished on to the gondola. At the top of the mountain Mother Nature was throwing everything she had at us; fog, wind, and pelting snow, but the group consisted of girls who had woken up at 4 a.m. to drive from Washington State, a pair from Zurich (yes, Switzerland), and a bunch of crazy Canucks, so we weren’t about to let Mother Nature spoil our fun. The girls were divided into five groups based first on their riding ability, and then according to age. A few brief introductions later it was time to tear it up.

First I rode with Joanna’s group; they were learning to ride switch and practicing ollies. It was fun to see these girls take their first steps towards riding park, because they were progressing so quickly and smiling huge. There was a great vibe in the group, as the girls encouraged each other, and benefited from Joanna’s coaching. Joanna Banana is serious about helping the girls learn, but she still makes it fun by telling them they have to “come in hot like a monkey.” Allow me to translate, just before you hit the jump get low and centered on your board. For more tips about how to be a monkey and look good doing it check out MGT and get to camp.

Later that morning we all headed to the mini-park where we met up with the rest of the groups. It was hard to think of the next few hours as a clinic, it seemed more like a fun session with a group of friends. Don’t get me wrong, the coaches were coaching, but there wasn’t any “Parker, you’re sitting this one out because you were late for practice twice this week.” Instead Robin would drop into a 270 followed by a couple of campers, so they could see how much speed she got and how she moved her body to spin. Just after 12 we grabbed a bite to eat and took shelter from the blizzard.

Inside the lodge, everyone stripped off their soaking wet jackets and out popped neon yellow and green MGT T-shirts all around me. I haven’t seen that many bright colours in one place since I last played Pac-Man. Lunch was spent building up the already good group vibe. The girls chowed down while the coaches provided entertainment, fashioning celery sticks and French fries into moustaches. One of these days I’m going to have to ask the MGT ladies why they’re so obsessed with facial hair, because the last time I hung out with them they forced every female in sight to spend the day shredding in fuzzy stick-on ‘staches.

After lunch we went back to the mini-park, since the conditions didn’t allow for any big park riding. I don’t know what is in Grouse Mountain’s poutine, but the girls really stepped up their game for the second half of the day. Girls were spinning, sliding, and pressing jib after jib, and that was just the warm-up for Sunday’s “2 Buck Chuck.”