Ride Utah Blog

Chill is the program begun by Burton Snowboards to give inner city kids a chance to learn how to snowboard and in-turn enjoy the mountains and nature.  I know first hand what a great program this is.  I went through it with a great kid from my neighborhood.  Here is a video that I shot during last seasons Chill program.

The Chill Program deserves your support so you might as well give them $5 and go to a fun party at the Circle Lounge on March 26th.  That way Joe and Nick can keep showing the Chill kids that there’s a whole big world out there besides what surrounds them in the city.  See you there.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I spent 6 weeks this winter with the Burton Chill Program and my 13 year old neighbor Jake. Burton’s Chill Program takes at-risk and inner city youth to the mountains and provides them with all the gear, transportation, and instruction that they need to snowboard.  The Chill Program was a great experience for both of us. Jake got to experience the mountains and learn how to snowboard, and I got the joy of sharing something that I love and in the process get reminded why snowboarding means so much to me. Here’s the video. Let me know what you think.

Music by Salt Lake’s own:

The Rodeo Boys

Redd Tape

The Future of the Ghost

Special thanks to: Burton, Brighton, Chill, Derek, Joe, Nick, and Jake.

Well, Chill is winding down for the season and everyone has been having a great time and really developing as shredders. Over the past 5 weeks we’ve watched these kids go from total beginners to blooming shredders. With Jake it seems like he’s really derived a lot of self-confidence thanks to the Chill Program. At the beginning of the program he didn’t really talk to anyone and would often just freeze up in situations where he felt unsure of what to do. Now he’s confidently cruising the mountain and lapping the terrain park.

Throughout the program I’ve been shooting video and I’m beginning to work on editing a video about Jake and my experiences in Chill. I should have it ready in the coming weeks.

This Thursday is our last night out and that really kind of bums me out. I’ve met a lot of really cool kids, the coordinators of the Chill program Joe and Nick have been super and going out shredding at nights really takes me back to the days when I was a kid back in Virginia, getting out of school and heading straight to the hill to ride until the lifts stopped running. It didn’t matter that it was cold and snowing and dark. All that mattered was that you were riding, working on that new trick, and chasing your buddies down a dark mountain. If growing up means quiting this kind of stuff, I’ll stay a kid forever.  Thanks to everyone at Chill, Burton, and Brighton for doing every for these great kids.

Another great week with Chill. Once again the weather was super gnarly, gale force winds and tons of snow. The kids didn’t seem to be phased by the weather. It’s amazing to see how stoked the kids are despite that fact that it’s dark out, really cold, dumping, and blowing like a banshee.

This week Jake, the kid I’m chaperoning, made the leap from from the Explorer lift to the Majestic chair. In order to do this he had to show that he could link turns. Jake had been really close to doing this last week, but, kept bailing at the end of the turn reaching down for the snow. Watching Jake link that first series of turns successfully and yell with the excitement of a new accomplishment got me so pumped. He still needs to work at being fluid and keeping it moving rather than coming to a stop, but, his instructor thought he was doing well enough for me to take him up Majestic.

On the ride up, the wind was howling, blowing snow straight up the mountain in waves. It looked like the coldest sandstorm ever. As we went over some steeper sections of the mountain you could see in Jake’s eyes that he was wondering what I was getting him into. When conditions are this burly it can even make the bunny hill look intimidating. Jake got off the lift and handled the conditions like a champ. I was in a hurry to get back to the lodge myself, with the wind swirling snow everywhere and sometimes taking visibility down to just a couple of feet.

On the steeper bits, you could tell Jake was a little freaked out, but, after some convincing that it’s exactly the same movements as he was doing on the bunny hill he started tearing it up, following me through the park and even finding some wind blown pow to carve.

Tonight we’ll be heading up to Brighton again for Week 3. The forecast is calling for a low tonight of -1, so it’s going to be really cold. I just hope that the stoke keeps Jake warm and that the learning curve will continue its upward arc. I’ve definitely been reminded by the kids of what stoke can do for you. Stoke keeps you warm. Stoke makes you forget that you’ve got snow down your pants. Stoke makes you forget about that last slam and helps you get up to try it again. Stoke gives you strength and stoke gives you endurance. Snowboarding is all about being stoked. Thanks to the Chill kids for reminding me.

This week I started chaperoning with the Burton Chill Program. The Chill Program is… well, I’ll just let their website say it for me:

Last Thursday night was our first night with the kids, and it was great. First we meet up at the mouth of the canyon at a secure location . All the kids go through an assembly line process kitting them out with all the gear that they need for a night shredding mission. Hat, gloves, goggles, boots, pants, jackets, and a board. Myself and the other chaperone’s run this as efficiently as possible, but, getting this many kids set up is like trying to herd cats. But, before long we’re all on the bus and on our way up to Brighton. From there the kids and some of the chaperones get some time with the fine instructors at Brighton.

Snowboarding for as long as I have, I can’t really teach anyone how to snowboard. I don’t really even consider the mechanics of it anymore. I don’t know how you’re suppossed to push your foot to make a C turn onto your toeside edge, I’ve just been doing it for so long it’s second nature. Listening to the instructors break it down 10 different ways for 10 different kids and having it make sense for them is really amazing. Being an instructor day in day out would probably take it’s toll on me, so, I really have to hand it to the instructors of the world with their infinite patience as they introduce the masses to the joys of snowboarding.

This Thursday it was dumping at Brighton. The snow was coming down at about two inches an hour. But, the kids seemed energized by the weather and most seemed to completely disregard the snow. Goggles up, jackets open. There were a lot of wet kids on the bus at the end of the night. But, all I could see were smiles.

Some kids just bomb it down the hill, others were a little more cautious opting for slower speeds, but, in all the kids you can see their excitement to be up in the mountains, trying something new. I’ve been snowboarding for so long I can sometimes take it for granted. But, watching these kids I’m forced to remember those first exciting moments on a skateboard, surfboard, or snowboard where I took a chance not knowing the outcome and managed to ride out the other end. Of course I also remember the other times when you didn’t quite make it. But you got up and did it again until you stuck it.

I’m excited to be a small part of a cool program that makes me remember why I’m so lucky to get to snowboard. 5 weeks to go. Can’t wait.