Each summer the Salomon snowboard team makes an annual pilgrimage to High Cascade Snowboard Camp at Mt. Hood, a tradition that’s lasted nearly a decade and is highly anticipated by the team and campers alike. In typical fashion, Salomon week takes place during session four—a time when the air is starting to feel like summer and snow is still abundant on the glacier.
This summer was no different—aside from one ‘weather’ day, forcing us to migrate to lower elevation in search of skateparks. Most days we were met with bountiful sunshine and vaguely brisk mornings giving way to warm afternoons and slushy 'park' laps on the glacier. As far as weather goes in the Northwest, we certainly got the best of it.
The crew this year was as dynamic as it was talented with hungry Global Am’s like Pat Fava, Sebi Springeth, and Finn Westbury to Signature Pro’s like Bode Merrill, Desiree Melancon, and Louif Paradis. Fava was welcomed to the team only weeks before camp week, and his presence did not disappoint. Stay tuned for his clips in our recap video.
In total, we had roughly 25 people—all packed into the same beautiful house at the Holce residence. Vacant floor space was limited by sleeping bags, air mattresses, and camping pads. A typical list of pre and post-snowboard activities at the Holce estate looks something like this:
- Knock-out (basketball)
- Tennis
- Muff
- Fly fishing
- Swimming & paddle boats
- Hot tub
- Tattoos (thanks to team rider Elena Graglia)
Most days as the sun transpired the evenings brought with it a second wind--maybe it was the refreshing dips in the lake, the hot tub, or a combination of remedies. Throughout our stay we seemingly became locals at the unbelievable 'Concrete Jungle' at High Cascade campus. After evening skate sessions we ended our long days with BBQ, family-style meals, sunset hikes, and laughter around the fire. Oh yeah, and games of 'hot coal'....something you can't forget.
It may seem like a vacation to most. However, each year we have a long list of responsibilities to accomplish including photoshoots for catalog, lots of filming, product testing, and round table discussions on topics relevant to future products. This year, we focused our catalog efforts around our freestyle franchise and a few other campaigns that you’ll just have to wait and see : ) For a better look at the on-hill productivity, check out our video recap on Salomon.TV, Youtube, or Snowboarder.com going live on September 17th.
