A postcard from Jack Coyne after a trip to Mt. Hood with the Salomon Snowboard team for summer camp.
This is my fourth summer I have had the chance to spend a week with Salomon on the Glacier. The past two summers, I have coached at summer camp, and this summer, I stayed back in Salt Lake until the fifth week of camp, so the FOMO levels were through the roof after not being on board for a bit. Plans for the trip had kept me going and had me hyped to see new and old friends and link some turns on some summer snow. After trying to stay off Instagram (failed mission, I’m on the reels) throughout the summer due to some regret of not being at camp, I had finally made it. We entered camp, flowing in before the orientation meeting, smiling at homies that we hadn’t seen in months. Each looked equally excited to board and spend time in one of the best summer escapes.
With new and old faces for me, I spent the week inspired and bouncing around the mountain, cruising with all these homies who get me hyped to ride. We all enjoy different types of riding, but we were there and able to lap, jib, and fly through the air together. With no real responsibilities but enjoying our time and capturing each other doing the thing we love when the inspo hit. So here are some highlights from learning about each rider's winter and my perspective during this hectic week:
Sierra spent her winter bouncing around with the dustbox boys and seemed stoked on the places and clips from the trips with those guys. I’m excited to watch that one. She was able to put the landscaping business on pause for the week to grease the challenge rails with pigtails in the wind.
Judd came out of winter and early summer with a lengthy list of travels, triple corking, and finding barrels around the world. This effortlessly flowed into a week of more airtime and ripping the HCSC skatepark. He is easily one of my favorites to watch fly through the air.
Lenny was off winter ripping sidecountry and jibbing in the French Alps, and spent his week wide-eyed being across the Atlantic for the first time. It was sick to see him experience a place I love so much for the first time and reconnect after meeting him so long ago.
A lap riding behind Seb in the public park is insane, some of the best board control I’ve seen, as well as conversations with him about life in boarding were super intriguing. That is my favorite part of coming to camp with this crew. We each have created a life around snowboarding but even then everyone approaches it in unique way.
Gian, Emma, Finn, and Louif traveled around the globe for the first year of their two-year video project. Sounds like it’s already shaping up to be a heater. This is an inspiring group to see boarding, each with their own style that is precise and technical. Some of my favorite convos from the week were with these four, motivating me to bring a bit more curiosity into each conversation I have, and Louif didn't miss a beat on the hill, even after a brutal headshot in dodgeball. It’s ruthless out there.
Blake, Goop, and Robby moved in a pack, flowing and bantering non-stop, five minutes with these guys, you are almost guaranteed a laugh. Each of those three spends their winters amongst different crews and environments in the winter, and it was exciting seeing them come together to shred.
Our day one mini pipe session was a highlight on the hill, even if the left wall had a huge boulder from the snow melting out. This became a feature and a hike session where everyone was hollering when someone ripped through the pipe. Desiree brought the classics, big energy, proper tail presses, and fs inverts in the melting out mini pipe. This feels like classic Mt. Hood, the sessions I grew up watching in the camp recaps. That makes it extra special to be able to experience that.
Simon had a winter filming in the backcountry, and I was stoked to hear how fired up he was on the snowmobile. We were able to share some good stories from our first missions in the pow with the snow machines. He was getting a head start on his summer vacation, standing out to me with some exciting hits on the big jump before he cruised down to Cancun for some beach time.
After a winter of bouncing around Europe and stacking clips with a couple of different street crews, Livia came to Oregon with a quiet and graceful energy that contrasted her boarding style, boosting the big jump, ripping on the skate, and a switch 50-50 on the challenge rail.
Zak didn’t have much trouble getting the whole crew laughing after a story, or everyone fired up after a hit on the jump. Tommy and Riley beat the challenge rail, cake after spending a winter travelling for street rails. Looking forward to seeing both of their clips coming soon. And Riley ended his week with a dip in the dunk tank at camp. Stine took to the hill with easy style, bouncing around from rail to rail, making the park feel like a playground. Shout out to our Finnish shredder Venla, who brought the vibes up each day, jibbing all day, and winning card games. Unfortunately, took a pretty nasty slam, sending her some healing energy!
Huge thanks to our leaders who gathered this amazing crew, gave us a space to connect, and celebrate what we love to do. Thank you Harry, Mike, Kevin, Marco, Bruno, and Paul! Thank you Salomon, I am super grateful to be a piece in this beautiful puzzle.
Heres a video recap from the week with the Salomon team and more!