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Roxy Women's All-Star Camp

BY SARA TOLLESTRUP

There seems to be a million opportunities for girls who can do 360s off big park jumps and boardslides to pretzel outs on rails. There are camps, clinics and amateur contests to help already good riders get better. But what about girls that simply want to learn to ride? What about girls who want to work on the basics of snowboarding, like riding switch and popping ollies, but aren't quite ready for spins and jibs? Enter Roxy Women's All-Star Snowboard Camps held at Whistler Blackcomb.

On Sunday April 6, I met up with the Roxy All-Star crew for day two of their camp. As the campers emerged from Merlin's, the breakfast/meeting spot, it was obvious that their legs felt like 200-pound slabs of steel, as they dragged through the doors. With the combination of cold air, caffeine and talk of putting their newly acquired skills to the test the energy level picked up quickly. Roxy camps range in level from 1-6, but like I said, I was there to see what was available to beginners.

Once outside, the girls split up into groups of no more than six and were accompanied by one of Whistler/Blackcomb's top female instructors. I spent the morning with Cas, and her level-three campers Kirstine and Claire. Level three means that campers can link turns on green runs, but find blue runs challenging.

Right from the get go I could see the advantage of the camp; the girls were linking turns with style. Typically, when you see beginners they are train wrecks coming down the mountain, but Kirstine and Claire were bending their knees, using their whole bodies to turn and keeping their eyes on the run rather than on the snow. The girls spent the morning solidifying their turning skills and even went on to try on-the-ground 360's. They dealt with pretty much every possible condition, because it was snowing and sunny, icy and powdery—in a way they were lucky to have their skills put to Mother Nature's test. I had so much fun watching the girls improve, and I could see they were stoked too. When I asked them if they could notice a change in their ability since the beginning of camp, Claire said that she felt more confident. We all agreed that confidence is a huge part of becoming a better snowboarder.

On our way in for lunch, we made a stop at the Roxy demo tent where the girls had a chance to try out next year's Roxy boards including the one's with magne-traction—snowboard technology that makes it nearly impossible for you to catch an edge. At the demo tent, we ran into Holly and her campers who were joined by some people from Much Music. Holly was giving TV host, Lauren Toyota a mini-lesson. Check out Much Music on May 4 at 8:00 PST to see how that shaped up.

After lunch, I hooked up with Holly and her level-four group to see what a little progression entailed. Holly was coaching Kiwi sisters Nikki and Mandy who were working on their switch riding and ollie skills. Holly, Nikki, Mandy and I had a lot of fun talking, laughing and shredding. Nikki cracked me up, because she kept telling us that the most important thing she learned at camp was to bend her knees. It may sound ridiculous, but take a look around and see how many people ride with their legs as straight as telephone poles. After a couple of runs riding switch, Holly decided to take us off of some little hits along the sides of the run and Nikki bailed. When Holly asked her if she knew what went wrong she said, "I didn't bend my knees!" We all burst out laughing. After a whole lot of knee bending and ollie popping we made our way back to Merlin's from some après fun.

At Merlin's, huge plates of nachos and jugs of beer were consumed, conversations were had and prizes were drawn. Roxy handed out some pretty sweet swag including hoodies, handbags and socks to the majority of the campers. Plus, there were two sick grand prizes, a Roxy snowboard (or skis for the ski campers) and a digital camera that Nikki won!

For beginner riders the Roxy All-Star camp is on point with awesome instructors, small groups, a supportive atmosphere and heaps of fun to be had. Higher level campers said they had a great time and learned lots too, but for lower level riders there is no better opportunity out there. Keep on rocking, and keep those knees bent!