Zephyr Camp Snowboard – Not Just For Kids

This post is from Reno Walsh, Zephyr Camp Snowboard Director and Backcountry.com customer.

I look back on the day I started to snowboard and I know why I am where I am today. However, on that ice laden day at that Midwest Ski Resort when I first “strapped in”, I had no idea what I was in for.

Having skied for several years, I thought I was pretty good and at age 18, invincible. I had a friend who had snowboarded a few times and he was going to teach me how to ride. It was the winter of 1991 and I was a freshman in college, I was doing a lot of things for the first time, why not snowboarding?

As far as my friends instruction goes, it was less than adequate. I remember riding the lift with him, he considered this step one in the learning progression and then when we got to the top, he was gone. I guess this was a one step program. The next thing I remember is “my instructor” and a few other friends riding the chairlift over my head and lots of laughter. I was not laughing with them, yet.

I sold my skis within a week and before I knew it my friends and I were snowboarding every slightly snow covered slope in the Midwest. We were hooked and most of us still are today.

Perhaps it was my friend’s instruction that also peeked my own interest in instructing snowboarding. After graduating from college in the Midwest, I immediately moved to the West to snowboard the Rocky Mountains. Instructing snowboarding was the perfect way to share my own passion (addiction) to snowboarding with others and to get a free pass. Throughout the years, I have taught many people the benefits of riding a snowboard and found many more of my own.

I often find myself encouraging people to relax and to enjoy their time on the mountain as much as they are enjoying their time on the board. Snowboarding is smooth; it’s about carving back and forth down the mountain and finding your own rhythm. Energy is returned from the snowboard and from the mountain and this energy drives you and your route down the slopes.

But I'm Not So Young Anymore


“It’s easy”! That is what my friend told me many years ago and he was right. Snowboarding is "easy" and what makes it even easier is to have a good instructor to spend some time with you and to share a few of the key ingredients that almost assure success.

There are good reasons why snowboarding is growing in popularity among adults. It’s not just for the younger crowd anymore. The fact is that snowboarding is fun, safe and easy to learn.

Check out the Zephyr Camp Snowboard two-day camp designed to teach adults (and kids accompanied by an adult) to snowboard. Never been on a snowboard before? No worries. Absolutely no experience is necessary.

Locations this year include Hunter Mountain, Loon Mountain, Sierra-at-Tahoe, Snowqualmie Pass and more.

Check out www.zephyradventures.com for more info or to register.

- All Zephyr Camp Snowboard attendees will recieve a discount to purchase snowboard gear from Backcountry.com

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