WY'EAST ACADEMY APRIL 2024 NEWSLETTER

APRIL 2024 EDITION

Spring in Oregon is the season of change. Whether it is the end of the school year, snowing one day or 70 degrees the next, there is excitement in the air. For the first time ever we have reached our capacity for the graduation ceremony in BOB with friends, family & staff coming in to celebrate our 23 graduating seniors. Students are still traveling the globe to compete in their athletic disciplines to get in their final podium performances before it is time to head home and get ready for what life has in store. After over five years of planning, we have finally broken ground on the construction of the landing bag on campus. We were all in shock at how fast the machinery took down the trees to reveal the mountainside that will be the home of the best angled landing bag training facility in the world. While change can be scary at times, we know that it also comes with limitless potential for growth. As we all brace ourselves for the new face of Wy'East Academy's 28 acres, we are reminded that the only constant in life is change. As all of our departing seniors and Gap Year students transition into life as college students and beyond we join them in the adventure of embracing this next step for all of us!

Mike Hanley

ACADEMICS

Students taking advantage of a sunny day and doing school work outside

One of the many great things that comes along with the arrival of Spring is the higher frequency of days with sunshine. Academically, this gives us the opportunity to take our learning outside where we can all enjoy the warm, dryer days while also getting some work done. Wy’East has many options available for outside learning. There are many picnic tables in the grassy areas as well as a table on the cafe patio and multiple options for places to sit on the many skateboard/mountain bike structures around campus. In addition to being great places to learn, being outside also fuels students with valuable Vitamin D and the many health benefits that come along with that.

We all look forward to the days that are dry enough and warm enough to work outside. The students have done a great job of showing that they are still able to get their work done when we work outside and that has given them the opportunity to do that more often. Not every group of students will be able to navigate all of the potential hazards of working outside but this group has shown that they can handle the responsibility and thus, are able to reap the benefits. We look forward to many more outside learning days as we finish up the semester later this month.

Hannah and Adam

STUDENT LIFE

Student showing off the fish they caught

We were so lucky to have some amazing sunny weekends in March! We started the month off watching the epic Monster Jam which comes to town once a year. Who doesn't love a good monster truck drift? The next weekend, Wy'East juniors traveled to Oregon State University and the University of Oregon for a two day adventure to explore what a college campus has to offer. We ended this trip at a U of O Ducks basketball game, and it was a nail biter. The Ducks brought home a win at the last second, and the arena was packed with excited fans. Back on home base, the remainder of the student body went to see the Trail Blazers game, and also celebrated a huge win in overtime. It was a great weekend for Oregon basketball. A small group of our dedicated students attended the Portland Parks and Recreation Terwilliger Parkway volunteer opportunity in mid march, where they really made an impact in planting over 150 plants and removing 1000 sq ft of non-native blackberry and ivy. It is a special moment when our students are able to give back and contribute to local trail systems, and we believe it helps them better understand the value of our Mt Hood National Forest. This weekend, we are soaking in more sunshine by visiting the opening weekend of Oaks Amusement Park and also traveling just down the road to fish at the local Rainbow Trout Farm. The students have taken to blow-up pool parties and DJ'ing on the cafeteria deck during their weekend down time. April will be packed with more of this sunshine and fun, and we are looking forward to a few more weekends of adventure and activity.

Barbara and Team

CULINARY

Fresh cinnamon rolls for breakfast and the newly planted vegetable garden

The month of March was another great time for the Culinary Department. With teams traveling all over the World, we were able to get some things done around the Café, notably, our garden. Kellen took to a sunny morning one weekend to come in and till the garden beds. He planted asparagus, onions, added pineberries to the strawberry bed, and string beans to grow on a trellis. We are waiting for another week or so to start planting lettuce. I am looking forward to seeing the garden grow this season.

Besides the garden, we are still feeding all the students a well-balanced meal and we are trying to mix it up. Kellen has done a great job in creating a robust dinner for the students every night. As well as, I have been doing a good job in the morning with breakfast and lunch. I have been getting help in the morning with Preston Archer. He is starting to get a great handle on everything. Also, we have a baker in the mix now! I have rehired Sarah E. who stepped away for a year and a half. She is doing a great job in making tasty treats for the students.

The Culinary Team

FREESKI

e've got a lot to catch up on. Here's a quick rundown of what went down this month.

First off, B team departed to Mammoth from Tahoe. The course at Mammoth proved to be tough but Topher and the crew were able to get some solid training and media. After the competition the team had an amazing day at Boreal. Everyone took advantage of the conditions and leveled up with some awesome new tricks. In the meantime, sunny days at Timberline for the crew at home meant it was time to focus on those unnatural and switch tricks. The crew embraced the challenge and progressed some of their fundamental skills.

Shortly after the A team left for Aspen Rev Tour. From Rev tour the squad went straight to Italy for Junior World Championship. Representing our crew on the world stage!

Meanwhile, the C team headed to White Pass and came back with a whole bag of new rail tricks. While we were there a few were able to compete in the last IFSA big mountain competition of the season. It's amazing to see everyone expanding their arsenal of tricks and pushing their limits.

Back on campus, our students have been gearing up for nationals. The excitement is palpable as we get ready to hit the road to Colorado.

Brian, Shannon and Topher

SNOWBOARD

Hello Families!
March has been a great time for the snowboard team! With nationals on the horizon, everyone has been buckling down and getting as much training in as they possibly can on both jump and rail lines. Coaches and students have been hard at work, and the results have been showing in everyone’s riding. We also took a trip up to mission ridge to get some time on a rope tow set up, which allowed for a lot of rail training as well as an increase in clips and social media postings. On March 28th Stew and Alec will leave with the team for USASA nationals in Copper mountain. We wish everyone the best of luck!

Best regards and hope for fair weather,

Brandon, Stew, and Alec

MOUNTAIN BIKE

Hello Families!

March was an action packed month for the Mountain bike team, with the first couple of days finishing off our Utah trip, a week in Oregon, then off to the south for some of the best riding of the year in Georgia and Tennessee. The weather couldn't have been better for us down south. We were able to put in 9 full days of lift riding in two locations, Jarrods place in Northern Georgia and Windrock Bike park in Tennessee. Jarrods place was fast and flowy with jumps, big berms and some whoops. Windrock was technical, off camber, steep, and rooty, which made way for some great training. In Windrock, all of the students competed at the national downhill race during the last weekend. Of course, the night before the race it rained to make the track interesting and we had some struggles, but all the kids made it down safely and we had some good results as well. The kids are stoked to be home for the month of april and hopefully we get some days of sun, it's now outdoor airbag season!

Asa and Bolio

SKATE

Hi Families,

I hope everyone is doing well! It is wild that we are getting to the end of the spring semester. Looking back on the month of March we really had every kind of weather on campus, from freezing cold with snow to warm sunny 70 degrees. The sunny days were a great intro into what campus is like through spring and summer. The start of the month was focused on the Seek contest in BOB. This was the 3rd event in the series and was a Jam format contest. This meant there were 3-5 competitors at a time skating for 3 min. It’s tough to skate for 3 minutes straight by yourself but when there are other people skating with you and you are cutting each other off it can be a bit chaotic.Everyone did an amazing job at their first time in an event like this. It was also a perfect way to prepare for our trip to Phoenix AZ to watch the Phoenix AM. The PHXAM has been going on for 25 years with the top 200 amateur skaters from all over the world. None of the students were able to compete this year but it was a fantastic event to watch. We were lucky enough to have Elijah, Arlan, Bobby, and Gregg join us on most of the trip and throughout the contest. The students had the opportunities to meet the Team Managers behind the biggest brands and see what the world of top sponsored skaters is like. Aside from the contest we enjoyed the sun and spent time at ASU skating around parts of the campus and checking out the local parks. On an off day we hiked South Mountain trail through the desert to a place called Hidden Valley, where we had to squeeze and slide between rock to enter the valley. We were able to spend time with one of my favorite skateboarding non-profits, Skate After School. Here the students met Tim (Co-Founder) and Zamara (Community Organizer) to learn about the history of the program and how a grassroots organization turned into a foundation in the skate world. Tim and Zamara were nice enough to invite us to one of the elementary schools they provide after school programming at. Here we helped with the programming and got to see how it all works.

April is a busy month on campus! We will have a trip to NYC to experience skating on the east coast and check out some of the Universities there. Please keep an eye out for emails regarding the end of the semester. Things like graduation, check out procedures, cabin cleaning, and summer semester.

Brian Johnson

Sabina WilliamsApril 12, 2024

WY'EAST ACADEMY HEADS TO MAMMOTH

THE MAMMOTH EXPERIENCE

COACHING | MEALS | LODGING | FUN

Join the ski or snowboard team at Wy’East Academy as we venture south to experience one of the most prestigious terrain parks in the world, Mammoth Unbound. During this spring trip, students will have the opportunity to ski or snowboard in Mammoth's renowned parks while receiving guidance from our expert coaches to improve their technique, skills, and tricks.

For more info on this trip, click on your sport of interest. .

SKI

Learn more

SNOWBOARD

Learn more

Bobby MeeksMarch 29, 2024

WY'EAST ACADEMY MARCH 2024 NEWSLETTER

MARCH 2024 EDITION

Will Baker, Vivian Frederick, and Ethan Vuong riding a lift together

February has come & gone with the snow continuing to pile up here in Oregon. Our students have been piling up podiums & acceptance letters to college. We brought back the Industry Insighters program with Line Team Manager Jacob Dube & marketing guru turned Olympic/X Games Judge Jason Arens. The two action sports industry icons spent the weekend with our students sharing their insights into how to build a successful career. There is nothing that can replace time spent face-to-face with people who have already blazed a trail to where you want to go so we cannot thank them enough! Our snow students continued their dominance on the road with podium finishes at Europa Cups, NorAms, Future Tours & local USASA events. This all culminated with the nomination of four of our students representing their countries at the Junior World Championships to be held in Italy later this year! Our mountain bike students have continued to push their limits in Virgin, Utah while the skateboard crew stacked up more podiums at the local Seek Skate Series before heading down to Arizona.

Mike Hanley

UPCOMING EVENTS

March 30, 2024 - Order 2023-2024 Yearbook here: https://www.treering.com/purchase?PassCode=1016450563251701
April 1, 2024 - Deadline to re-enroll for the 2024-2025 school year
April 26, 2024 - Graduation

ACADEMICS

Senior Ole Hubbard launches a snowball after class

Let it snow! As I sit here in the classroom and type up this newsletter, it is snowing outside and surely snowing heavily up on the mountain as the snowboard and ski teams are up enjoying their training. It has been great to hear of the many successes that the athletic teams are having and there have also been many successes academically as well. We currently have college acceptance letters for every senior but one and we anticipate that acceptance coming in the very near future. The students continue to do very well in regards to meeting their pacing goals. We use study hall and double academic days as tools for the students to stay caught up but it is with great pleasure that I report that study hall has been light and double academic days have been few and far between. The good use of class time has been enough for the students to stay caught up for the most part.

The list of colleges that students have been accepted to this year is long. Some of those colleges include University of Utah, University of Iowa, University of Oregon, Utah State, Utah Tech, Westminster University, University of Arizona, University of Hawaii, Northern Michigan University, University of San Francisco, Oregon State University, San Diego State, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Long Beach and many more. It is so nice to see the students understand that there is a world of possibilities available to them when they get accepted to a college. Ultimately, each student chooses their path, but one of the most rewarding things as a teacher here at Wy'East is being able to help open up those doors that many thought might not be available to them.

Hannah and Adam

STUDENT LIFE

Students posing at the Oregon Special Olympics polar plunge

What a great February we had! Among the beginning of a busy semester of travel, we packed some awesome weekend activities in. Relaxing in the outdoor hot tubs at Mt Hood Oregon Resort during a sunny early February weekend was a special treat. Many of the local competition weekends are filled with recovery days at the tubs. We also joined in on classic American entertainment at the Mt Hood Oregon Resort's Superbowl watch party, where the students played pool and arcade games, drank Shirley Temples, and enjoyed dinner and dessert. The following weekend, we hosted our first "Industry Insighters" event of the year. Ski students were joined by Jason Arens and Jacob Dube, two local professionals who have been closely involved with the industry for many years. After a skills session and presentation, the students went out to a local dinner and asked questions and gained inspiration from Arens and Dube. For the final weekend of the month, a handful of students attended the Oregon Special Olympics polar plunge in downtown Portland, where we raised money for the organization and attended the event in support of this amazing program. During the weekdays, a fantastic number of students have taken to playing the campus drums and creating art; we can't wait for more band jams and art nights ahead of us. After an immense amount of February sun, the flakes are falling heavy on campus and we are ready for the winter ahead.

Barbara & team

CULINARY

The month of February has come and gone in a flash! With all the traveling the student body has done, it has made the Café quiet at times and busy other times. When we do have all the students here on campus, it is nice to see everyone coming in for meals that the Culinary Department prepares. For the times that there are not a lot of students on campus, the students get to have a little more attention. For example, for the last week of February, when students came in for breakfast, they were able to watch me make their eggs to order. They get to pick out what ingredients they want, and I make it into a scramble or an omelet.

For lunches, we have been doing some of their favorites. We recently did McRib Sandwiches, Teriyaki Chicken and Rice and we always have Fish Fridays. With dinners, Kellen has done a great job in creating a robust menu for the students. Everything from Steak, Baked Potatoes, to Traeger Smoked Ribs and Pastor Chicken Burritos. A student favorite from the past month is Pizza and Wings, everyone loves this meal. We can’t wait to see what the month of March brings us!

Travis & crew

FREESKI

Shannon Vanderwerken and Devin Lindenmyer skiing together

February was a big month for the Freeski team with a ton of events and travel across our three teams. We started the month off with an awesome bluebird day slopestyle event at Timberline, where our team had a ton of success! The same weekend some of our Freeride squad competed in an IFSA event in Washington State where even more success was had, and finally our A team athletes spent a week down in Mammoth competing in the second Rev Tour stop of the season where…. You guessed it, successes were had. As coaches it is reassuring to see the themes and athletic focuses we implement in the fall really start to click as the season progresses.

Our B team was in Park City for the second Futures Tour stop of the season and the weather proved to be unfortunately tough. The men’s competition was canceled, but the women luckily got their event off with our very own Vivian Frederick hitting the box with a 3rd place finish!

While the B team was in Park City, part of the C team went up to Alpental and Snoqualmie for another IFSA event, and to enjoy some freeriding! Our freshman freeskier Rio Willard was able to walk away with the top spot for the U19 men! We finished the month out with our final 2 USASA rail jams of the season which ended up being a beautiful sunny day at Ski Bowl, where their parks crew built a fun and inclusive set up for everyone!

Mt. Hood picked up another 60” - 70” last week which provided some amazing riding, and will give our parks a nice refresh for the coming weeks as we turn our sights to training for USASA Nationals! It's wild to think that it is already March, but they say time flies when you're having fun!

Brian, Topher, and Shannon

SNOWBOARD

Just as fast as February came, it went! The snowboard team started the month with a slopestyle contest at Timberline. Timberline set up an awesome course with two jumps and loads of rails for the kids to put into their runs. Everyone rode super well making the afternoon consist of multiple photos on the podium! Following the timberline contest we got a bunch of training at all three resorts we have access to with park runs at Meadows, Timberline, and on the rope tow at Ski Bowl. We were able to switch things up with the teachers and have days where kids spend the mornings in the classroom and afternoons on-hill. Those days usually consist of slopestyle training at Timberline, where their Conways park has finally taken shape, and end the day at ski bowl on the rope tow getting reps in on rails.

The B team made a trip to Utah for their first of three Futures Tour events on a full size slope course competing against the best in their age brackets. Everyone was able to put down runs despite the tough weather, but the one that stands out is our only girl on the B team, Annabelle Mcarthy, who qualified 3rd into finals and finished in 4th. Not bad for her first Futures Tour event! Girl power! The day after the boys competition, we scored an epic Pow Day at Brighton resort full of steep and deep Utah glory!

At the same time, The C Team made a trip to Washington for a couple IFSA contests where they competed at Stevens Pass and Alpental. Gabriel Kos was able to place at Stevens Pass and Quinn Murray was able to get on the podium at Alpental. The rest of the crew got some great experience at both venues as well as got to ride the epic park set ups at both resorts. Reaching the end of February, C team has been taking full advantage of the new snow at the home resorts while the rest of the team is on the road for their 2nd and 3rd Futures Tour stops in California.

Sprinkled in between the trips, we had a handful of local USASA events to add to the schedule. February was truly a month full of traveling to new areas, competing, and our favorite, SNOWBOARDING! We are really looking forward to having the whole team back together in March!

Until next time,

Brandon, Stew, and Alec

MOUNTAIN BIKE

The mountain bike team spend February lifting weights, training on our indoor airbag, and riding outside when weather permitted. We then took off to Virgin, Utah where our freestyle and race kids alike pushed themselves on some of the gnarliest riding in the world. We spent 2 weeks there; mainly focusing on mental strength, new tricks, and technical riding. We also visited Utah Tech University and watched a basketball game against a team from Texas and completed the famous Angels Landing hike in Zion National Park.

Asa and Bolio

SKATE

Tag Goodell and Cam Hickey skating in Portland

February has really given us a little bit of everything in the PNW. We lucked out and scored some 60 degree sunny days as well as snow on campus. The skate crew took advantage of the sunny dry days in Portland to get to a few of the parks as well as the Courts on Portland State University campus and downtown/waterfront. With the recent snow the skate students have had the chance to go up on the mountain and ride a good amount this last month. I was fortunate enough to make it down to Slow Impact in Phoenix AZ at the end of the month. The best way to describe Slow Impact is a skate convention for skate nerds. It was 4 days of panel discussions and research papers on skateboarding and its effect on people/places. The panels ranged from sobriety, architecture, museum collections/archiving, non-profits, photography, and dance. The dance discussion was very good lead by a professional ballet dancer and skateboarder. Here are some of my notes from that discussion

Skateboarding as a movement language: Skate ≠ Dance, Dance = Skate. Dancers often ask him how to use "skate Arms" while dancing. Applying how to use the stage, props, and sets the same as how skateboarders use a city. Not defined by what something is supposed to be used for but a way to look outside the box for what can be done with it. Style matters, the worst insult for a dancer is "You dance like an Athlete" same for skating. Even though they are athletes it means a lack of style and flow.

Looking ahead to March we have our 3rd event for the SEEK contest series, a jam format contest in BOB. This lines up well as a practice event/comparison with our trip to AZ, for the Phoenix AM event. PHXAM is one of the biggest and most difficult skate events on the planet. While enjoying the sun and warmth in Phoenix we will be volunteering with the learning from the non-profit Skate After School. Skate After School provides after school programming for underserved elementary students in Phoenix since 2012. We will also take our skate campus tour of ASU. For those who don’t know what I mean by skate tour: We will have current and recently graduated students that are heavily involved in the skateboarding community show us what life is like as a skateboarder on their campus. It’s a nice way to hear and see how others are currently navigating that world. Plus it’s a great way to have a skate spot tour guide on a giant campus.

Brian Johnson

Sabina WilliamsMarch 12, 2024

WY'EAST ACADEMY FEBRUARY 2024 NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY EDITION

A LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Mountain Bike team riding during a beautiful sunset in Chile

Yet again, we have managed to continue to push the limits with our largest arrival day this semester. We have new students who have joined us from around the world in all four of our programs to help us start 2024 better than any other year. In order to help with all of these new students we have added a new staff member bringing in an Assistant Medical Coordinator, Brandon Blynn. All four of our programs spent January getting on podiums from professional mountain biking events in Chile to slopestyle World Cup qualification events in Colorado. Our seniors have continued to increase their opportunities after graduation with acceptance letters continuing to flow in from Michigan, Hawaii, Washington, California, Oregon, Minnesota, Utah, Montana, Arizona & Colorado! Our first week of the semester was punctuated with a dramatic wind & ice storm that hit Oregon causing over 200,000 people to be without power. Our team came together to mitigate the risks presented by the elements to try & maintain a state of normalcy for 24 hours until all of the students were taken off campus until the power was restored. While we weathered the storm better than most, the experience made for an adventure & we were able to emerge unscathed to get back to life as normal at Wy'East Academy.
- Mike Hanley

UPCOMING EVENTS

March 30, 2024 - Order 2023-2024 Yearbook here: https://www.treering.com/purchase?PassCode=1016450563251701
April 1, 2024 - Deadline to re-enroll for the 2024-2025 school year
April 26, 2024 - Graduation

ACADEMICS

Senior Luke Festa reacts after being accepted to Westminster University

What a month it has been here at Wy'East. It has been so nice having the students back on campus after their winter break. We really got an opportunity to witness their perseverance when we had the crazy weather shortly after they returned to campus. The academic staff was very pleasantly surprised to see that so many of the students were able to maintain their pacing goals or even advance far ahead of them despite the hurdles that came with the winter storm. Even though they had every opportunity to make excuses as to why they couldn't get their work done, they worked through it and we currently are at 93% who are above the pacing goal.

We have also been having great success with college acceptance letters. I had the great pleasure of being in the class yesterday when Luke Festa opened up his email from Westminster University and found that he had been accepted. He also has applications going out to a few other schools so I look forward to being able to see that reaction a few more times. Being able to share in the joy that Luke felt at that moment is what makes this job at Wy'East so enjoyable. The staff here really get the opportunity to connect with the students on a level much higher than regular teaching jobs at public schools. We get to become really invested in their future because we get to know them so well...both academically and during the moments that aren't spent in the classroom.
- Hannah and Adam

STUDENT LIFE

Students stretching in B.O.B. before breakfast

January was a sudden jolt to the beginning of the winter semester with the biggest blizzard to hit Mt. Hood in over 20 years! The students and residential team hunkered down and the weekend activity quickly turned into a test of strength and patience, with the main adventure being a journey to hotels on the second night to escape the frigid temperatures. The ski team was lucky to be staying next door to the Moda Center, and we walked the snowy path to a Trail Blazers game. The academy campus proved its stability, and students were back to a fully functional schedule in just a matter of days. There was no time at all until the students began competing at local USASA events on the weekends, so they enjoyed the relaxation of local hot tubs as a nice recovery and downtime to celebrate their success. There are many more weekends filled with local events and competitions, and the students are now ramping up for a busy travel schedule. The Wy’East student government representatives hosted a beginning of the term scavenger hunt assembly, and students found great fun in surprise whip cream pie attacks to the Dean of Students and the student body president. Top Golf and a Winterhawks hockey game were other popular outings from the first month; we are ready for the high tide travel season approaching and more entertaining weekends ahead!
- Barbara Edwards and team

CULINARY

The month of January for the department was interesting to say the least. We got to welcome a handful of new students and check in with returning students to see how their break was. After a week or so of making the students favorite meals, a blizzard decided to interrupt our regular program and got us all scrambled. We were able to make the best of the situation and still provided the students with something to eat. The Saturday evening meal that we provided was Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches. We continued to provide the students with food options on Sunday morning until they departed campus to go to a hotel. This gave my staff the opportunity the next day to reevaluate what we had on hand due to the weather in our region that put a hamper on the orders. From there, were able to get back on track and provide the students with great food. A well-received meal that we did was Pizza and Wing night on Friday evening. We produced three different types of Chicken Wings and made 4 different types of pizzas. The students were hyped on it. For breakfast and Lunch, we had our usual fares with a highlighted lunch of Teriyaki Chicken and Vegetables with white rice. As we enter February, a lot of teams will be traveling so the Culinary Team will be able to have some fun with the meals.
- Travis Gibson and team

FREESKI

Ansley Hoover (far right) on the podium at IFSA Meadows 2

Greeting Ski Families,
We had a great week of training this month, and although wet at times, the silver lining is that the snow has been soft which has been great for progression! This month started off the first sets of competitions. We had our first sets of USASA competitions at Meadows and Timberline. The events went great and everyone walked away learning something new, whether that be a trick, a lesson about competing, or motivation to take into training!
Shoutout to everyone who hit the podium this month!
- Breeze, Topher, and Shannon

SNOWBOARD

Rita Vergani places 1st in big air and 3rd in slopestyle in Canada

The snowboard has been putting in a lot of work this semester, and have already started to see amazing results at competitions, with multiple first, second, and third place finishes. The team is hard at work, and is showing no signs of stopping. Stew is in Reno with some A team members, Brandon is heading to Futures tour with the rest of A team and the B team athletes, and Alec is taking C team up to Washington to IFSA competitions. It’s turning out to be a stacked month, so wish everyone the best of luck!

Best regards and hope for more powder,

Brandon, Stew, and Alec

MOUNTAIN BIKE

What a wild month. Mountain Bike just returned from a 2 1/2 week trip to Chile. Although the trip started off with a few bumps including 2 grueling nights and 3 days stuck at the airport, everyone maintained a good attitude and worked hard. I am super proud of how the kids handled themselves and were able to keep their heads high for those first few days. Since they were able to keep good spirits, we were rewarded with the best 2 weeks down in the south of the country, and I am so glad we were able to last. We were able to ride the bike park in Nevados de Chilean, ride in a remote region called Colico Lake, compete in jump jams and enduro races, and ride a volcano in Pucon. Thank you parents for trusting Bolio and I on this trip! It was one for the books! We are excited to be back and return to a little bit more of a routine.
- Asa and Bolio

SKATE

Hi Families,

I hope everyone is doing well and have had a great start to the new year! This semester is just flying by on campus. I’m very thankful to have B.O.B. to skate on these wet days, especially through the ice storm we had to start off the semester with. Everyone in the program is pushing themselves hard and progressing a ton. This group of students has been great to work with as they all get along really well and push each other to be better. We have lucked out with a couple days skating outside and even a day of sun and 60 degrees.

We started the SEEK skate contest series in January with Cam taking 1st place along with $100 and Tag taking 2nd. The second event of the series will be held in B.O.B. on Sunday Feb. 11th. These events are open to the public and the crew has been working hard to prepare. The overall series winner will get a free week of camp this summer and 1st place of each event gets $100.

I've been working on getting additional people on campus to skate this semester. Now that winter has hit and the storm has passed I will be reaching out a lot more to get people to come join our sessions. The Tactics shop crew has stopped by a few times and I had the non-profit Skate Like A Girl on campus last week. It was their leadership team along with some of their supporting organizations. I will be off campus in mid February attending a skate conference in Phoenix AZ. This conference is focused on skateboard academics and community building. I'll have a full debrief with the students here and send you all a debrief as well.

Looking forward to an amazing February on campus!

Brian Johnson

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: NICK GOEPPER

2012 Wy’East Academy Graduate Nick Goepper places third in the halfpipe event at Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain in jeans!

Sabina WilliamsFebruary 13, 2024

WY'EAST ACADEMY JANUARY 2024 NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2024 EDITION

A LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

While the month of December always marks the end of a year, December of 2023 came & went with an ease that resonated with a comforting stability. All of the students completed their coursework on time with the athletic travel scattering around the globe. While we did not receive the amount of snowfall that we would have hoped for, living in the Pacific Northwest has taught us all to appreciate whatever gifts we are given ie sunshine, rain or snow. We got the opportunity to more fully utilize our new A Team, B Team, C Team structure with some of the students heading up to the Yukon while others went to Southern California. The synergy between departments continued to exceed expectations with residential staff members joining the coaches on the road as the academic team held it down back on campus. With the continued eb & flow of the seasons, our island in the woods has continued to grow & we all look forward to the largest arrival day we have ever had in the history of Wy'East Academy this January.

-Mike Hanley, Head of School

ACADEMICS

December was an incredible month for our student athletes! Our snow and skate students took full accountability for their studies and ALL ATHLETES met accelerated pacing metrics that allowed them to travel the last two weeks of term without pressure to work on their courses. What a win!

It is clear our Wy’East students are prepared to move into peak travel and competition season. The determination to manage time effectively and take ownership of learning that many students strengthened this fall will serve them well as our schedules become more dynamic this winter.

Once students began finishing their courses, teachers assisted with end of term housekeeping and facilitated games, puzzles, and more social activities for the students. It was a lovely, slow, end of term. We hope you have enjoyed having your kiddos home for a few weeks!

Hannah and Adam

STUDENT OF THE MONTH: ETHAN VUONG

Ethan's drive to succeed is unmatched! He’s been crushing on the athletic side of things grinding tons of new rail tricks! His new passion for filming has been great to watch unfold!
-Topher, Coach

Ethan is an incredible student and it is wonderful to have him as a leader on our campus! One of my favorite things about Ethan is his commitment to gratitude. Each time we speak, he ends the conversation with, "Thank you, Hannah." I am always reminded of the power of a thank you and am inspired to share thanks more broadly. Thank you Ethan! We are lucky to have you :)
-Hannah, Teacher

Ethan Vuong has gone out of his way to distinguish himself as a student going back to his arrival at Wy'East Academy. While many youth look to others to find opportunities to improve, Vuong chose to take it upon himself to deliver consistent digital media resources that push the capabilities of professional departments. Not to mention the fact that around the clock there is always a smile on his face that brightens up every room he enters. His presence is going to be sincerely missed next year, but we all know that he is going to go on to even more success!
-Mike Hanley, Head of School

STUDENT LIFE

New Assistant Medical Coordinator, Brandon Blynn

The short two weeks of December were filled with travel for many of our students. Those who were on campus filled the weekends ice skating and attending a Winterhawks professional ice hockey game. Many new and exciting activities are on the horizon for the Winter 2024 semester.

Student government worked diligently during December to plan a welcome assembly for the beginning of Winter Term, and are looking forward to another semester of projects and improvements to our campus.

Campus hung tight and quiet while students traveled home to be with family for the holidays, and Mt. Hood finally decided winter was in order; the snow has begun to fall and doesn’t appear to stop soon.

Here is to the new year of 2024.
Barbara

Meet new Assistant Medical Coordinator, Brandon Blynn

I’m Brandon Blynn, I come to Wy'east academy with the urge to inspire others to embrace adventure, explore the outdoors, and discover their full potential. Being an avid skater and snowboarder, the opportunity to work with students with the same passions as me is a dream come true. My experience as wilderness first responder and excitement for risk management is what I’m excited to bring to the academy.

CULINARY

The month of December was a great time to wrap up a great year for the Culinary Department. While we did have teams traveling in the few last weeks, it was a good time to start reflecting on the year. Being able to have a little fun with the food we provided. In the last few weeks of the Fall Term, we were doing an omelet bar in the morning. The students that were here loved it and I will be continuing to do it throughout the Winter Term. For lunches and dinners, we created their favorites to send them off into the holiday season on the right foot.

For the upcoming Winter Term, we will be trying some new things. The first thing we will be doing is a broth bar. We will be having 3 different broths with toppings so that students can come in and make
themselves their own bowl of soup and take it to go. We also have some other items in the works that I will keep you updated on.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and this next year is amazing one for everyone.

Travis and team

FREESKI

Ski team warming up with some yoga in B.O.B.

Greetings Freeski Families,

As we embark on 2024, we want to highlight the last of our training for 2023! December was an action packed month on the freeski team, with only a few weeks of training before winter break, and mother nature not cooperating as we wished she would, we successfully looked for snow elsewhere!

SKI A & B headed north, wayyyy North! Mt. Sima in the Yukon Territories provided just what we needed for some pre-season competition training. They were equipped with a slopestyle specific training venue that had a big air site, large jumps, and jibs for our crew to push progression and prepare for the upcoming competition season. During our weekdays training there instead of running the lifts they provided us with snowmobile operators to tow us around the mountain, and we were the only ones there! A truly superior training experience! Everyone came home with some clips, and at least one new learn.

SKI C opted to go south to Mammoth Mountain Resort, where they were greeted with a great early season park offering! Mammoth had 2 parks equipt with a few jumps, jibs and a bit of something for everyone! Outside of the park provided some more “Industrial” terrain up towards the top, that our skiers took advantage of, working on edging in substandard conditions.

Just as we hope everyone enjoyed having their student athletes home over winter break, we are excited to have them back to kick off our winter semester! Mother Nature has finally woken up and the forecast is looking cold and snowy!

All the best,

Breeze, Toph & Shannon

SNOWBOARD

Welcome Snowboard families to the start of our Winter term!

We hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday break full of quality time spent as a family! We are very excited for what we have in store this semester as we continue to build on the progress made over the Fall term. First, a quick recap of the final few weeks of school last month as the team hit the road between two different destinations. Most of the B & C team headed south to Mammoth where they scored some time in the park, making use of Mammoth’s early season offering of many different rail features and a medium sized jump. The trip went according to plan of maximizing time on snow, trick progression in preparation for the upcoming competitions, and social media content creation to build your athlete’s digital portfolios. A huge thank you to Stewart, Alec, and Will Stephens for spearheading that offering while I took a small group up North to Mt. Sima.

The A team took full advantage of the private Big Air jump and slopestyle training venue for 5 straight days on snow, logging some focused sessions on both to dial in their competition runs and progressing into new tricks for the upcoming season. We really focused on the whole package of training hard, taking care of our bodies, eating well and finding that healthy cycle that allows for high level performance. This is something everyone will need to refine as they continue to expect great things in the world of action sports.

We hope that during your time together over the holidays each athlete was able to share with you all their highs and lows, showed some of the content that is filmed on a daily basis, and opened up about their goals for the season. As we prepare for a busy winter season, please be on the lookout for communications around trips and competitions, but as always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with specific questions. Thank you all for your continued support in your athletes journey!

-Brandon, Stew, & Alec.

MOUNTAIN BIKE

Lucio clearing ice off the airbag one chilly morning

The last 2 weeks of the semester for our MTB students was full of gym time, skills work in the skatepark, and indoor airbag training. We saw gains in the gym as well as big improvements with the everyday use of the indoor airbag. We had structured time for every student to progress in the airbag no matter the skill level, and we are able to confidently say every kid was able to learn a new trick or two. Now we are off to Chile!

Asa and Bolio

SKATEBOARD

Skate team celebrity sighting in San Diego

Hi Families,

Welcome to the winter/spring semester! I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break and we are excited to get this semester started. A quick recap: December was a short month on campus but it was action packed. Skate was in Southern California soaking up sunny weather until the last week of the semester. We made our way all over Southern California from the San Fernando Valley to San Diego. A couple highlights from the trip would be visiting San Diego State University (which Thomas was accepted to during the break), Having dinner at Cam’s house (Thank you Nicole and Tim), Spending a rest day at the San Diego Zoo, and getting a quick skate session with alumni Josh Herman. Thomas hit his first (of many) big street rails, Boardsliding and Feebeling a 12 stair rail in LA! Cam casually put down a 1 minute run through Linda Vista skatepark as a warm up when we got there which is no easy task! We were lucky enough to also meet up with Justin Hughs from Seager clothing company: Robert Blazek from 2 risers, Palace, and Frog skateboards: and Jimmy Rehman who’s possibly the best mini ramp skater on the planet.

Looking at this new semester we will be non stop until graduation. Our projected trips will be Southern California, Phoenix Az for the PHX Am, and to end the semester with New York City. Our campus will play host once a month to the Seek Skate Camp Contest Series. These events are open to the public and more information can be found at SEEK YOUTH CONTEST Series 2024 or https://seekskatecamp.com/contest. The skate program would also like to welcome Cash Hancock who is joining the program as a junior from Oklahoma.

Please reach out with any questions and I am excited to get this semester started.

Brian Johnson

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

My name is Eddie Gildea. I grew up in Boston and began slopestyle skiing competitively at 14. I was nominated for the US Ski Team at 17. After a series of knee injuries brought my short ski career to an end I went to Northeastern University and studied Mathematics and Psychology. I commissioned as an officer in the US Army through their ROTC program.

Guest UserJanuary 23, 2024

WY'EAST ACADEMY DECEMBER 2023 NEWSLETTER

december 2023 edition

Boden Whittick training on campus trails

A LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Academy postcard abroad the Portland Spirit

The holiday season is upon us again so now that the snow is flying on the mountain everyone is working hard to wrap up another big semester. College acceptance letters have been flooding in for our seniors as the scholarship applications have been close behind. With the winter semester capacity being so limited we are now taking applications for the summer & fall of 2024 so make sure to contact Dan Tattersfield to reserve your spot. All of our teams are looking forward to heavy seasons of travel & competition from Chile to Switzerland & lots of stops in between. None of this would be possible without the support of all of the families of Wy'East Academy. It has been an amazing process creating a true parent partnership with the staff to help raise these amazing young adults. The levels of accountability resonate across the board as we watch these amazing students develop into the future leaders of the action sports industry and beyond.

Mike Hanley
Head of School

ACADEMICS

Our seniors have dedicated an immense amount of time this term applying to four year universities, tech schools, and community colleges. At Wy’East, our hope is to equip our students with the tools necessary to plan for life after highschool.

We are happy to report that ALL of the seventeen seniors on campus this term have submitted applications! They have applied to 34 different institutions and while most eagerly await responses, the following students have received one or more acceptance letters!

Brooke Anderson - OSU Cascades & Western Washington University

Joey Killeen - Montana State University & University of Arizona

Ethan Vuong - Montana State University

Joseph Cromwell - Oregon Institute of Technology

Joe Medley - Metropolitan State University of Denver

Charles Ryder – Montana State University & University of Arizona

Lucas Richer - Montana State University

In the coming weeks our seniors will continue to receive news and begin to make more firm plans for the future. It is a wonderful time and the academic team is thrilled to help in this process.

Hannah and Adam

student of the month

Student of the Month: LJ Parra

LJ is always doing what he is supposed to be doing in class and his GPA reflects how hard he works. He has also done a great job helping other students if they have something they need help with. He always brings a great attitude to class.
-Adam, Teacher

LJ is very motivated and sure of himself as a rider. He is a team leader and always follows through on his actions. He is very respectful, clean and does everything with intent.
-Asa, Coach

Even though he is one of the youngest students on campus, LJ Parra is a driving force in student life as well as academically & athletically. He carries himself like a 30 year old & represents the Academy to the highest possible standards on a daily basis
-Mike Hanley, Head of School

STUDENT LIFE

Ryan Buttars stands atop the podium at K1 Speed; life coach, Will Stephens shows the kids how it’s done; and 8th grade student, Quinn Murray, rounds out the top three.

Mountain bike traveled to Virgin, UT once again, while most the other teams were stationed on campus for most of November. Students have been working diligently and dedicating extra time during our study hall sessions to get ahead for their final big trips of the semester! The weekends were filled with so many of the students’ favorite activities. We began the month with a trip to the annual Snowvana expo where students perused gear and had the chance to watch some newly released ski movies to spark inspiration for the season. Other popular activities included more racing at K1 speed and bowling at Big Al’s during a Seattle Seahawks game. Prior to students departing for their Thanksgiving celebration, upperclassmen cheered on the athletes at the Oregon Special Olympics Fall Games.

One of the best highlights of the month was our academy vacation to Seattle, where eight students had a holiday brunch on the Portland Spirit and had the chance to enjoy downtown Portland while cruising the Willamette River. Afterwards, they made their way to Seattle for a relaxing weekend in the city. To complete their trip, the students hopped aboard the Puget Sound Express and spent a long afternoon chasing pods of Orcas. We are so thankful we could give this opportunity to students who stayed with us over Thanksgiving!

Barb Edwards
Dean of Students

CULINARY

The month of November has come and gone. The Culinary Team once again has produced some great food for the students. This month most of the student-athletes stayed on campus except the Mountain Bike students, so they missed out on some great food that we produced. Kellen has done a tremendous job at dinner time producing some real good meals. One meal the students asked for was Baby Back Ribs and let me tell you Kellen knocked it out of the park. I was hoping there would be a couple ribs left for me to try but when I got in the next day there was none left. All the students loved them! For breakfast, we have been producing the regular items like hash browns, eggs, bacon and once or twice a week I have been making Pancakes just to give the kids a different option. For lunch, we made teriyaki chicken and rice, McRib sandwiches, grilled cheese and tomato soup and of course the kids' favorites like chicken tenders and fish sticks. While most of the students went home for Thanksgiving, the Culinary Team was able to take some well needed extra days off. We look forward to this next month as we will continue doing what we love and also get ready for some time off with our families.

Travis Gibson
Culinary Director

FREESKI

Greetings Freeski Families,

November has been a productive month for us on the Freeski side of things! Coming back from Austria we had some much needed time to reflect and debrief the trip, as well as come together to re-evaluate goals, take a first dive into our IQP (Individualized Quad Plans), and reset some more short term goals for the rest of the semester. Our training has mainly been on campus utilizing the facilities here. Focused trampoline sessions, taking advantage of the super tramp to work on rotations past the level that are planned for on snow. The idea here is that if you move the needle on what is hard, it makes the tricks our athletes are planning to do on snow seem “easier”. Coming off the heels of our time at Banger Park, our athletes have gained some new perspective of our airbag, with many of them maxing out its potential, working on both left and right forward tricks, as well as both left and right switch tricks! As always the Jib line has stayed hot all month long with continued progress across the board. We have been pushing everyone out of their comfort zone and are encouraging them to utilize the entire jib line, exploring all of the feature and line options!

Although we were not blessed with enough snow to have lifts spin, we have been getting a few inches here and there. Enough where we have been able to drag some of our PVC features up onto the mountain to make creative and productive set ups that we can both train and film on. Mother nature is the one thing we can never plan on, but we have been making the most with what we've been given so far.

Everyone has been spending lots of time and energy getting physically, mentally, and academically for our on-snow camps in the beginning of December, so we are excited to get back on the road, back on snow, and see what comes of it!

Brian, Topher, and Shannon

mountain bike

Hello Mountain Bike Families!

We had quite an epic trip down to Southern Utah! We've never experienced such a perfect weather window during our Utah academy trips with everyday being sunny, no wind, and 70 degrees. We as a team were able to ride about 6-8 hours a day. The kids behaved great with no big disciplinary issues and represented Wy'East academy professionally. We saw huge progression with our heavy hitting seniors, and our younger freshmen with tech ridgelines, big mountain lines, jumps, drops, and tricks. With the amount of good ride days on this trip, we were able to really spend time gaining confidence with exposed lines, drops, and other technical features most kids mentally struggle with. We had 6 kids clear the infamous King Kong trail, known for being a shuttleable rampage line that the best in the world come to test their mental and physical skills on. Wy'East MTB team alumni Aiden Parish, Harper Simon, Josh Hagen, and Curran Lawrence played a huge role with our students' successes with coaching tips, mental strategies, and leading by example how to ride and hit these high risk features and trails. All and all it was a great trip and please be on the lookout for the kids' Instagram posts for all the media they will be dropping!

Asa and Bolio

SNOWBOARD

Alessia Vergani and Brando twinning at practice

Hello snowboard team families!

Even though the semester is coming to a close, there is still plenty going on here for the snowboarders of Wy’East Academy. Everyone has been working hard to finish up their classwork in preparation for our team trips to Mammoth and Mt. Sima. Stew and Alec are super excited about bringing their crew down to California where Mammoth has built an awesome early season park. Meanwhile, Brandon will be taking a smaller group of athletes to Mt.Sima in Canada for some big air focused training.

I have to say that we have had an absolute blast this semester working with all of the snowboarders to set the foundation for the competitive season that lays ahead. Hopefully everyone has adjusted to balancing both athletics and academics so that next semester they can really thrive. Thank you all for your continued support and help in making these kids dreams come true.

Wishing you all the best,

Brandon, Stew, & Alec

SKATEBOARD

Skate team practicing hard at an off campus park

Hello Families,

The semester is moving along quickly. November has had some surprisingly nice weather for us so we have been able to take advantage of that and skate outside a lot. Our luck with the dry weather is taking a turn but with colder/wet weather on the way it's nice to have B.O.B. and a trip to Southern CA at the end of the month.

A big focus in November was the digital contest runs each student made. They had one week to plan and film a 1 minute line in B.O.B. I stayed completely out of the process. It was up to them to plan out what the run would look like and get someone to film it. Each run was judged on Filming, Speed, Flow/Use of park, Trick Selection, and Execution of Tricks. I then sent each students run out to be judged by Wy’East staff and friends of mine in the skate industry (Team Managers, Riders, Contest Judges, Ect). I compiled all the feedback for each student's run and we went through it. It is not easy to skate like that and not easy to get a classmate to spend a lot of time filming the same run over and over until you get it. The students did an amazing job overall on it and have them posted their instagrams.

This last month we jumped back into our skate shop project where over the school year each student will have gone through the steps of starting a skate shop. In November we looked at retail spaces. The students' task was to find the space for their shop. We used the cafe as a guide for how to measure and visualize square feet for their shops. Then looking at the city's/neighborhoods they had previously chosen they hit real estate websites looking for retails spots to lease. The end goal for this month was a location and cost per month for the spot. The next part of the project will focus on getting products and how to open an account with the distribution companies.

With the end of the semester coming up quickly, expect an email from me outlining the spring semester plans for travel and contests soon. December is going to be a quick month on campus as we are traveling for the first part of it and return to campus with only a few days left in the semester. Please reach out with any questions!

Brian J.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

I’m Michael Mawn and I’m a professional big mountain snowboarder representing the United States on the Freeride World Tour. I attended Wy’East Academy while pursuing competitive halfpipe riding in high school. Since then, I’ve made the switch to Freeride snowboarding and I am entering my fourth consecutive season on the World Tour.

Outside of snowboarding, I'm the Founder and CEO of a software company that I started in high school (Posted Software). My team and I manage a gig work platform with several thousand users across four states. I manage the business remotely while traveling the world to compete!

“My time at Wy’East Academy led to a strong foundation and instilled in me a strong work ethic. At Wy’East, I learned how to balance academic and athletic pursuits to achieve my goals. My experiences at Wy’East are invaluable and I’m so thankful for the opportunities I had there!"

Guest UserDecember 5, 2023

WY'EAST ACADEMY NOVEMBER 2023 NEWSLETTER

November 2023 Edition

A LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Tucker Beck, Devin Lindenmeyr, Hugh MacMenamin, Ryan Buttars, Joey Killeen, and Luka Kuharic sightseeing in Austria.

As Halloween came to a close, it was a reminder that somehow October had come & gone. In addition to a stretch of great weather on campus as the leaves all began to change colors, we had our most successful Parents Weekend combined with our annual in-person Board of Trustees Meeting & fundraiser Good in the Woods. Thank you very much to everyone who was able to help participate this year as we were able to raise over $50,000 for our tuition assistance program. No sooner had we cleaned up the festivities of the fundraiser at Nemo Design in Portland, that our ski & snowboard programs were in the air en route to Austria. College applications have been going out for our 19 seniors as all of the programs hit the road, the campus went quiet for a couple days. By the end of the month it was great to see the snow teams return from Europe as the skaters came back tanned from the California sun & the Mountain Bikers were ready for a nap after a strike mission up to Canada. Parents weekend offered an amazing opportunity for the staff & student body to explain what their goals were in addition to displaying their skills before everyone made their way down to Good in the Woods. Thank you very much to all of you who donated & supported us with your bidding, none of this would be possible without you!

Mike Hanley

ACADEMICS

Students taking advantage of a nice afternoon

Meet New Teacher, Adam Moreschi
I am from Portland, Oregon. I got my BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Western Oregon University with focus areas in Business, Computer Science and Health/Physical Education. In my years of coaching and working in various school districts, I have always enjoyed getting to know the students and developing ways to keep them engaged and performing to the very best of their abilities. Helping each student maximize their learning potential and utilize their life skills is why I am excited to be here at Wy'East.

STUDENT OF THE MONTH

SEPTEMBER STUDENT OF THE MONTH: CAM HICKEY

Cam is a dedicated, hard worker who carries himself with confidence and excellence. He has his mind set on some big long term goals which is huge for a 9th grader. His Starbucks order is a double-Smoked Bacon Cheddar & Egg Sandwich, Strawberry Acai Lemonade (Light Ice), and a coffee cake.
-Brian, Coach

Although Cam is small in stature, he carries himself with the weight of an NFL lineman. We are all going to be telling people "we knew him when" for years to come!
-Mike, Head of School

Cam leads naturally with the instilled virtues of diligence, kindness, and courage. In the classroom, Cam models the traits of an eager learner through his curious mind and focused attention. In more formal conversations and in casual encounters around campus, his joyful countenance and refined civility make him an engaging conversationalist who always has something positive and meaningful to share. Cam is simply a gifted leader:)
-Jeremy, Teacher

STUDENT LIFE

Cam Hickey posing at Scaregrounds Haunted Houses

It’s crazy to think we begun October with Parents Weekend, and it seems so much time has gone by since then. We had over 60 students, family members, and staff join us for the bluebird day at Splat Action Paintball. It was our largest Parents Weekend yet, and we are so happy to have shared the beautiful weather with you all. Shortly thereafter, more than 2/3 of our students departed for Europe on a two-week training trip. While home, the mountain bike team spent a productive weekend volunteering at a trail maintenance and development day at Post Canyon in Hood River, just on the other side of Mt. Hood. Other activities the mountain bike and skate teams enjoyed included a race day at K1 Speed, and watching one of the last Timbers games of the season. Upon the arrival of all of our students back on campus, we celebrated Halloween at the Scaregrounds haunted houses. Our student government is working diligently on a cold plunge and sauna reward system project, and we are excited to see this become a part of the student lifestyle next month.

Barbara Edwards

CULINARY

The month of October has come and gone. It was busy and not so busy for the Culinary Department. First off, I want to thank all the Parents who made it out to Parents Weekend. It was awesome to see everyone and touch base with some parents regarding the food on campus. I hope everyone enjoyed the food that we provided on Campus and at Goods in the Woods. As for the month as a whole, the Culinary Department had some great meals for the students. One evening, Kellen made Smoked Lamb for the students before they left for Austria. We also made their favorite lunch meals and breakfast meals. Half the month, most of the students were on trips around the world. So, we were able to have some down time for the crew, which we needed. This coming month, we will see a reduction in students on campus around the Thanksgiving holiday.

Travis Gibson
Culinary Director

FREESKI

Ski team touring The College of Architecture at the University of Innsbruck

Hello Families!

Whoowee, what a great action packed month we had on the freeski team. We spent the first couple weeks honing in on everyone's goals for Austria for both rails and jumps. The days were filled by rotating groups from the gym to the trampolines as well as the outdoor dry slopes. Comradery and drive has been on the up throughout the team.

It was nice to see a lot of you here at the annual Parents weekend and get some face time, catching up on how your student athlete is doing. It’s always a great opportunity for you to get to check out what student life is like here with our demo’s on the facilities.

Our pre-season Training Camp to Austria proved to be productive for everyone. Traveling with roughly 50 people between us and the Snowboard team our journey across the world went incredibly smooth. All bags arrived on time and like a round of Tetris we were able to fit the countless ski/board bags and everyone safely into the 6 vehicles. Slightly jet lagged but filled with excitement we woke up the next day and headed up to the Hintertux Glacier. There we enjoyed a nice reentry back to snow and everyone began to get their feet back under them familiarizing themselves with the park. We spent the next couple days at the main attraction of the trip “Banger Park”. Banger hosts a world class airbag training facility with three different sized jumps for any and all abilities. Brian, Shannon and I would divide and conquer and each be set in a different zone to help cater to each athlete. Progression, progression, progression! It was clear to see the benefit from the bag sessions, watching each kid finish their sessions having learned something new whether it was big or small. Conditions on the glacier proved to be challenging but we maximized our weather windows when given and had some great hiking sessions on the rails when visibility was less than ideal.

When not on snow we filled our time with trips to Innsbruck to soak up some culture checking out museums, old churches and certainly dining on plenty of pizza and wiener schnitzel. We also got the chance to tour The College of Architecture at the University of Innsbruck. We were guided around by a current student who was a friend of a Wy’East Academy Alumni. He gave us a thorough tour through lecture halls, 3D model rooms and other various zones where students were working on current projects. We got to meet a few other active students who spoke about their senior projects and involvement with working on designs for city parks, apartment buildings and local businesses.

To sum it all up, October was certainly a month to remember. Keep an eye out for our weekly emails to stay up to date on all things freeski. Let it snow!!!

-Topher, Shannon & Brian

MOUNTAIN BIKE

Hello Mountain Bike Families!

October was a good month to be a mountain biker on campus! We saw some of the best conditions while home in Oregon with just enough rain and sun to create some hero dirt conditions. October also featured two action packed trips, the slopestyle/freeride trip to Highland MTB park and a team wide trip up north to Coast Gravity park.

Highland- The team was blown away with the amount of trails, features, and jumps that highland had to offer. We were able to make great use out of their indoor facility as well with students learning new things with their flatdrop to foam setup. This is a dream setup for a free rider as flat drop tricks are very intimidating to try without having a foam pit to train in. The rest of the park was great as well, with a jump every 50 feet across the entire hill. Some of the kids were intimidated by the big jumps and we took a few days of riding and thinking to get them through the main slopestyle line. We initially traveled out to highland for the slopestyle contest they were hosting, but unfortunately the comp was rained out and we had to improvise. Instead of the comp, we spent the rainy day inside of their state of the art indoor training facility. The rest of the trip was relatively smooth with lots of ride time in the park. We saw lots of progression with the kids who went, especially mentally, and I am super stoked we were able to make this trip happen. On our way back to the Boston airport, we stopped by MIT for a quick peek of a world much different than ours. The kids got to listen in on some passing tours being given, as well as stand in front of "The Great Dome". All and all it was a success.

Coast Gravity Park- Our team training camp up at the legendary Coast Gravity Park was also an epic trip. We stayed in Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia right on a bluff overlooking the bay, with islands in the distance. We had some pretty awesome sunrises and sunsets while at home. The team also enjoyed the hot tub in between school sessions once we were back from the park. While at the park, we were able to ride all together on most laps because of the small size of the park, and the fact that everyone was on the same shuttle every lap. This led to quality coaching time, great group riding, and plenty of student videos. The conditions up there were world class as well. We saw 3 sunny (but chilly) days with wet, grippy dirt. I've personally been up here about 5 or so times and have never seen it this good! The kids had a blast, and the progression was unreal. We had students work on getting through the big jump line for 3 days, and finally on the last day they were able to clear the entire line! This is a tough task not just because of the jumps but the corners as well. In order to clear the jumps, the rider must perfectly execute the exit speed of the corner to get the speed for them.

Stoked for what November brings!

Asa Howe and Alejandro Bolio

SNOWBOARD

Hello Snowboard Families!

The Austria trip has come and gone! Between the many ups and downs of the trip, the kids had an absolute blast, and were able to get on snow for the first time this semester. With a healthy mix of riding the park at Hintertuxx and the world class landing bags at Banger Park, there has been a tremendous amount of progress, creating a baseline for the coaches to work with for the semester. They persevered through inclement weather, making the most of each day, with the biggest highlights coming from our time at Banger Park. Hopefully you all have been hearing stories and seeing photos/videos from our time over there!

Since coming back from Austria, many of the students have been taking academic “double days” in order to catch up on any school work they fell behind on during the trip. But for those that were able to balance both class work, travel, and training, they’ve been taking full advantage of our training blocks! It’s our goal to start getting the students ahead on their classes, as training will only increase as we get closer and closer to the competition season. With competitions ranging from local USASA, IFSA Big Mountain events, Futures & Rev tours, all three teams will have an incredibly busy schedule. Depending on the cooperation of the weather, we will start taking the kids up to the mountain to get them more time on the snow, but until then, we will be getting back into the routine we set prior to our international trip.

Until next time, with warm regards and a hope for cold weather,

Brandon, Stew, and Alec

skateboard

Hi Families!
October has been an absolutely amazing month for the skate program! The students have been putting in a lot of work and progressing a ton.The weather has been holding out for us so we have been able to take advantage of it and skate the jungle and some of the parks in the greater Portland area. We also snuck away to the coast and got a surf/skate day in Pacific City.

The big event for skate was our trip to San Francisco. The trip was amazing! We had great weather, lots of great food, met up with some cool people, and skated some epic spots. We got a full tour of the city and would spend all day out exploring. Leaving the airbnb at 8am and usually not making it back until 8pm. We visited the University of San Francisco, University of California Santa Cruz, California College of the Arts, and stayed next to San Francisco State but never actually made it onto that campus. On our rest morning we took the ferry through the fog into the bay to explore Alcatraz which we all really enjoyed. Santa Cruz gave us the opportunity to hope in the water and surf for a couple hours. So we watched a high school surf contest at The Lane before renting boarding and hoping in at Cowells. It was fun surfing with everyone at a spot that is so special to me and everyone caught waves! A highlight of the trip was our stop at Deluxe Distribution. DLX is called the heart of skateboarding and runs some of the most successful brands out there (Spitfire, Real, Anti Hero, Venture, Thunder, Krooked, Unity, and Their). The art room crew gave us a tour of the facility giving the students a behind the scenes look at everything they do. I truly mean everything, nothing was off limits: graphics, timelines, distribution, RandD, Sales, Team Management, anything if the students had questions they answered. We met up with the Venture Team/Brand Manager Zach who used to go by “Ducky”. Zach talked about his journey as a pro skateboarder skating X games, having his name on a board, skating the heaviest rails ever done, all while getting his degree from UC Irvin. While the parks in SF are really good we spent most of our time skating in the streets. San Francisco is a mecca for skating but it's also considered one of the toughest places to skate, so it put the students to the test and they all got a few clips in the streets.

November is often a cold wet month on campus, so we are very lucky to have a heated indoor park on campus. Our focus will be on our skate shop projects and preparing for our next trip to Southern California at the end of the month.

Brian Johnson

Guest UserNovember 6, 2023

WY'EAST ACADEMY OCTOBER 2023 NEWSLETTER

Notice how miniature our students are [right] behind Tamanawas falls.

A LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Andres Retteg competing in the U.S. Open.

Arrival Day for the incoming student body of Wy'East Academy marked a new highpoint in our story. With over 60 students filling every available room on our 28 acre campus, the energy was palpable with anticipation for what the year would have in store. Unlike most student bodies, our evolution witnessed the composition of arrivals from both coasts of the US with a dozen in between in addition to students who cleared customs to join us from Japan, New Zealand, Italy, Canada & Mexico. Even before the first day of school, our staff & students began traveling around the world for competitions with Brooke Anderson on the podium in Mountain Biking while four of our other students represented their countries at the Jr World Championships on the South Island of New Zealand.

In addition to the growth in our student population, we have also added new coaches, teachers, cooks, residential staff & administrators to help continue our progression. On the athletic front, we are privileged to have Alejandro Bolio join our mountain biking program from Mexico in addition to an assistant ski & mountain bike coach Shannon Vanderwerken from Aspen, Colorado. Alec Young will be helping the snowboard program with edging techniques & speed control from his years of experience in Virginia combined with his administrative skills to help streamline our IT. Jeremy Jones has come on as our new teacher from over 20 years of teaching at high schools around Oregon before his son moved away for college this fall. Taylor Ramirez is our new Medical Coordinator after she graduated early with acceptance to medical school only to join our team following her tenure as a medic for summer camp. Our final addition to the team has been long overdue with a new Office Administrator, Sabina Williams who has quickly become the hub of our daily operations. There is a lot of runway in front of us for the 23-24 school year & we are off to a great start.

Mike Hanley
Head of School

ACADEMICS

Our newest student body President and Vice President, Ozzie Kroop and Joseph Medley.

As we have reflected on the Week of Welcome, it is clear that Wy’East students are the heart of our organization. They bring the joy, the snacks, and the laughs. It is truly a privilege to join your students as they move forward in their journeys. The path of a Wy’East student is not an easy one– many of our new students are trying to figure out where they fit, what resources are available, and how to learn in a new environment.

All struggles aside, we can confidently say that the Wy’East student population - your beautiful children - are making it work. Families, thank you for all of your efforts. And to the mom who signs off every email with “it takes a village” – yes it does. Yes, it does.

Thank you, and Happy Fall!
- Jeremy & Hannah

STUDENT LIFE

Lily Sanders and Olivia Espenscheid show their excitement for the bungee. The railroad bridge across the valley gives an idea of the jump’s magnitude.

Hello!

We had a stellar September soaking in the remainder of the sun at the Oregon Special Olympics plan pull, a hike to Tamanawas falls, and bungee jumping at the largest in North America. Students also got a taste for the rainy-day activities by testing their talent at the Tualatin Hills high dive and celebrating wins in sports unlike their own at one of the last Timbers Game of the season. The weekend activities have been a huge hit for students, and we are excited for what’s in store!

Students have already started to build a strong identity together through respecting their shared cabin spaces and honing in their cleaning responsibilities and communication skills. It has been great to see the interaction across athletic disciplines, especially during the excitement of dinner. In other exciting news, our student government was elected, and these representatives joined forces to discuss important topics at our first two meetings. After a fun filled and inspiring campaign, the student body elected our new president and vice president, Ozzie Kroop and Joseph Medley, who have established some challenging visions and are already working diligently to put their words into action. We are all excited to see what the student government plans for this year!

Warm regards,
Barbara Edwards

Meet New Medic, Taylor Ramirez
Hello! I have bachelors of science in integrative health and wellness. In addition to my academic training, I worked as an office manager for camp for the last two years so I'm new, but not new to Wy'East. I'm from the Portland Metro Area and super stoked to be here and meet all of you!

CULINARY

Students waiting to get one of Kellen’s famous dinners!

Greetings from the Culinary Team

This past month, we welcomed all the students to campus. It is wonderful to meet the new students and welcome back the returning students. In the cafe this past month, we produced all the students' favorite meals. For dinner, Kellen prepared their favorite Mexican food, bbq beef sandwiches, and mac n cheese. We also prepared Sweet and Sour Chicken, fried rice and stir fry vegetables. For lunch, we are adding more entree to the menus. For example, we made Jamaican crusted pork loin with pineapple salsa, steamed white rice and baby carrots. We are also serving the students favorite lunch menu items like chicken tenders, fish and chips, gyros, and McRib sandwiches. For breakfast, we are going with the basic fare of scramble eggs, hash browns, and bacon. We also have thrown in breakfast sandwiches, build your own burritos and chorizo and eggs.

On the horizon for the Culinary Team is a little break for the team while most of the students will be traveling all over the world for a couple of weeks.

Travis Gibson
Culinary Director

FREESKI

Hello Ski Families!

It was awesome to welcome our new and returning freeski students to campus with the Week of Welcome! WOW was a huge success allowing each kid to work and train next to all of their fellow students, along with everyone on our coaching staff. This really helped everyone get to know each other and established a great sense of community right out of the gate!

After Week of Welcome we jumped right into our fitness testing for US Ski and Snowboard. It was great to see our ski athletes stepping up and giving their all for this testing. After our fitness testing was done we were able to jump into our normal schedule for ski training. We introduced a good structured ski workout plan for the athletes this fall, fully utilizing our on campus’ gym. In addition to our gym workouts everyday for training we are able to use trampolines, rail-jib line and our airbag to get some tricks dialed for the upcoming Austria trip, and get our bodies ready for ski season. We are stoked to have everyone on board and training hard for this trip!

-Brian, Topher, and Shannon

MOUNTAIN BIKE

Brooke Anderson on the Podium at the U.S. Open

September on two wheels! It was very busy and exciting! We started the semester in Killington for the US Open, the national downhill & enduro race. Brooke got second place in dual slalom! We had a lot of great moments riding with world champions and had lots of fun training in a beautiful bike park. We took a quick plane back home before packing up again to go to Ashland for the California Enduro Series. We had some great training and an amazing race, even if it was a little chilly in the mornings. The freeride team travelled to Highland to show off their best tricks at one of the best freeride bike parks in the world. The adventure and training continues!

-Asa and Bolio

SNOWBOARD

Hello Snowboard Families!

We have had an awesome start to the fall semester here on campus. Everyone seems to be settling in nicely and finding the “new normal” of their everyday lives. The snowboard team has been putting in work and getting prepared for our first and only international trip as a team over to Austria! To do that, our typical training day is built around two hours of training on our dry slope facilities and two hours in BOB, our indoor skatepark, gym, and trampoline facility. As of today, the team has already logged a total of 17 days on their snowboards, along with trampoline sessions, strength training, and time on their skateboards to get ready for the trip.

We started implementing our “Friday Performance Review” weekly which has gotten some awesome results and great participation from all the athletes. The “Friday Performance Review” has three different stops. Stop one is the rails course. Athletes have 10 drops to land as many tricks as possible. With there being two different features in a line, the goal to hit is 20 different tricks. We haven't had anyone do all 20 yet, so now it's a race to see who can do it first. The next stop is the boardercross course. Rules are simple: the fastest person to go from top to bottom wins. Our fastest time right now is 3.78 seconds! Our third and final stop is the airbag. Each athlete has 3 drops, they need one frontside rotation, one backside rotation, and their third drop is a trick of their choice.

To change up the routine a little we loaded up the vans and took the kids off campus to connect with nature for a couple hours. Right up the road is a beautiful hike called “Castle Canyon” which consists of a short steep hike (it’s a perfect leg workout, but don’t tell them) and brings you to a breathtaking view. The kids got to experience a little bit more of the Mt. Hood area while catching views, connecting with teammates, and getting the blood pumping. This is something we like to do if we have had really productive days of training and feel the kids deserve a little reward or need to get off campus for part of the morning.

The Austria trip is approaching fast, in fact, by the time you get the next newsletter we will have gone and come back! We are expecting an amazing trip! Last year was our first time going with the entire Ski & Snowboard program, so this year we know exactly what to expect and already have a lay of the land. We know everyone will benefit tremendously from getting on snow this early in the season, with the added bonus of training at the best landing bag facility in the world. October is going to be a HUGE month of progression for the snowboard team.

Until next time, be well and pray for snow!
-Brandon, Stewart, and Alec

SKATEBOARD

Hi Families,

The first month of the fall semester has flown by! The skate crew is getting along well and they have a great dynamic during athletics. Everyone has been pushing themselves hard to progress and get ready for our first trip to SF. We will be in San Francisco Oct.13th-20th meeting industry connections, skating the city, and visiting colleges.

A big focus for the skate program outside of just skating, is learning how the industry works and how those concepts apply to the outside world. One way we do that is through the skateshop exercise. Each of the skate students are working on a year long project of starting a skate shop. They have given their shops names, not just city locations but neighborhood locations, identified target audiences, looked at other shops in the area (or if there are any), guessed on cost to start, and ideal brands to carry. Our next step on this project will be for each student to find a building/space for their store and start the cost breakdown.

We have been able to get off campus a few times to skate some of the parks in Portland and had a few rainy days in Bob. I hope your student has been sending you updates and clips of them skating. We are looking forward to some more sunny weather and good times for the month of October.

-Brian Johnson

Guest UserOctober 24, 2023

WY'EAST ACADEMY SEPTEMBER 2023 NEWSLETTER

Mountain bike team on their Whistler trip in August.

A Letter from the head of school

The summer of 2023 was very pleasant. With all of the stories of heat waves around the world we enjoyed sunny days in the mid 70's from May through August. We all had the opportunity to get out & make the most of the amazing beauty of the Pacific Northwest on the mountains, lakes & beaches seven days a week. We had four of our students asked to represent their countries in the Junior World Championships in New Zealand later this month & we wish them all the best of luck. Everyone pushed their trick repertoire in the FTC at Timberline with several students putting down double cork 1440's to get ready for the busy competition season to come. Our mountain bikers got down to Mexico & up to Whistler to stack up their skills against the best in the world in addition to finding new students who will be joining us this fall. For the first time in the history of the Academy we have programs where there are no seats left in the vans. We have brought on new coaches, new cooks, new teachers & new residential staff who went through an exhaustive interview process to join our team so we look forward to the best year ever!

Mike Hanley
Head of School

Meet New Office Admin, Sabina Williams
Hello! I am the new office administrator. I've lived in Utah for the past 5 years, spending winter in Salt Lake City skiing and going to school (but mostly skiing) and summer in Moab river guiding. When I'm not on the mountain or river, I really enjoy climbing and mountain biking. I'm excited to be here at Wy'East!

New office administrator Sabina Williams

ACADEMICS

It’s been a lovely summer here on campus. And while our academic pace slows down a bit, the students have worked diligently to keep the vibe up. It’s been wonderful to see how a lightened load, some extra recreation, and plenty of good sleep has benefited our Summer Academy students. Friendships have blossomed this summer, and we welcomed diverse perspectives into the group as we were joined by former students, graduates from the class of 2023, and athletes from other programs and countries into our cohort. The students have willingly participated in a soft-launch of upcoming changes to our academic program and provided valuable feedback that will aid our team greatly as we prepare for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. Watch your inbox later this week for our Fall Welcome Letter which will include a supply list, important dates, and policy updates for this school year. See you in September!

Hannah Eagle
Lead Teacher

Meet New Teacher, Jeremy Jones
I have always loved tall evergreens. The only problem is that I grew up in Dallas, Texas where it's pretty much exclusively deciduous trees and nothing grows taller than 100 feet. So when the time was right, my wife, son and I moved to Portland in 2009. It still feels a little bit like being on vacation! After our son went off to college in Michigan this Fall, my wife and I moved out to the Hoodland area just a few miles from Wy'East and after a couple of serendipitous minor miracles, I landed my dream job of being in the woods, around young people excited to live life fully, with colleagues who care deeply about the flourishing of all of these wonderful kids. It's truly a pleasure and honor to support the intellectual life of your child through a prism of dignity, hope, and agency.

STUDENT LIFE

Olivia Espenschied bungee jumping for a weekend activity.

Dear Wy’East Academy Families,

As the sun sets on another incredible summer, we want to take a moment to reflect on the whirlwind of excitement, learning, and growth that students experienced during their time with us this past month. From heart-pounding activities to serene nature escapes, this past month has been nothing short of extraordinary. Our weekends were a rollercoaster of emotions and adrenaline as students embraced adventure like never before. From the heart-stopping bungee jumping to the exhilarating white-water rafting trip, the fearless cliff jumping to mastering the art of wakeboarding, and the pure joy of tubing on the glistening waters of Lake Billy Chinook – students embraced every challenge with determination and courage. Amidst the pulse-pounding activities, we ensured that students had the chance to connect with the natural world around them. Our hiking excursions led them to hidden treasures of the local landscape, while the peaceful Trillium Lake evenings allowed them to reflect and rejuvenate in the company of their newfound friends. Our staff's dedication to making every moment memorable extended to the dining table, where they prepared daily delicious breakfasts to fuel the day's adventures, whether it was on hill training or weekend activities. Time on campus was filled with dodgeball matches with campers and trampoline sessions which fostered camaraderie and a healthy, active lifestyle. We are immensely grateful for the trust you placed in us to provide a safe and enriching environment for your students. Witnessing their growth, resilience, and the genuine friendships formed has been an honor for our dedicated staff. As the Summer Academy comes to a close, know that the memories made here will continue to inspire and shape your students' lives. We hope they return home with a sense of accomplishment, newfound confidence, and a passion for adventure that will stay with them forever.

Thank you for being a part of this remarkable journey. We can't wait to see everyone in September for the start of Fall Term.

Warm regards,
Barbara Edwards

CULINARY

Greetings from the Culinary Department-

This past Summer was a busy one for us. Before we get into summer, I would like to send out a BIG shout out to the PTO and Parents that helped out with this year’s Graduation. It was a special evening for the Graduating Seniors.

Now let's dive into summer time for the Culinary Department. In the beginning of June, we had the pleasure of providing food to a group of Skaters from all over the world. It was nice to have them use our campus as their backdrop. The Culinary Department also did a late evening plated dinner for them on one of the evenings. While this event was going on, we hosted our first wedding on campus. It was a small intimate wedding party of 30. The Bride and Groom were happy about everything. Then, the Culinary Department was off working on Camps. Every week we would have a different group of campers come through the cafe and enjoy the food that we provided. During the first three sessions, I would do a private three course dinner for the Adult campers and guest Pro’s that was held in the Clampland area.

Coming into the new school year, the Culinary Team is retaining two employees that we hired for summer time. First, we have Ace, who will be working the morning shift cooking up the eggs and lunches for the student athletes. He grew up in the San Diego area and has been living in Oregon for a while now. He will be a great addition to the team. Then, we have another Weller on campus! Ethan Weller, nephew of Jamie Weller has joined the Culinary team and has made a big impact for us. He will be working the dinner shift.

With the upcoming school year, the Culinary Team will be making some tweaks to the menus. One big change is that at lunch, we are going to provide a better nutritional hot lunch for the student athletes. As well as, we will have flavored water out all time. You will have to wait and see what else is on the horizon from the Culinary Department!

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you all in a month!!

Travis Gibson
Culinary Director

FREESKI

New assistant ski coach Shannon VanDerwerken

This Summer was one for the books on the Freeski Team. We started our days with a well rounded, healthy breakfast in government camp accompanied with completing the daily Wordle, packing a lunch and then making our way up the Volcano. Each morning in the lodge we would run a group stretch session and talk about the daily plan to progress before we hopped on the lift up to the Freestyle Training Center (FTC).

The FTC had three parks with something for everyone this year from beginner style jumps and rails to a jump suitable for larger double rotations and everything in between. Our freeski coaches would work together or often divide and conquer to be in place for all the athletes to progress throughout the three parks in the FTC. The combination of the FTC and your student athletes willingness to put the work in, we can honestly say that everyone finished their stay with us this summer having learned a ton and polished their skills in preparation for the season ahead!

We are starting to look forward to the upcoming semester and we will be sending a welcome letter with the latest on the 23/24 school year! We can’t thank you enough for entrusting us with your student athlete, and helping us create a summer for the books!

All the best,

Topher & Brian

Meet New Coach, Shannon VanDerwerken
Hello! I am from Aspen, Colorado. I've been coaching freeski for 10 years and mountain biking for 5 years. I'm very excited to be part of Wy'East and work with these talented athletes. I look forward to meeting everyone.

SNOWBOARD

Greetings Snowboard Families!

With the start of Fall semester quickly approaching, I’d like to outline a few exciting plans that the program will be doing. Time always seems to fly by once we get rolling so don’t be surprised when December sneaks up on you and it’s time for the holidays. The first few weeks of the semester will be spent building campus wide dynamics between all the students, regardless of sport so that we continue to work together as the tight knit community we are. We have our Week of Welcome, then moving into our trial period where our program will narrow focus into A, B, and C sectors depending on objective & subjective criteria. We’ll be spending time with your athlete to create their Quad Plans, season goals, contest map, and travel schedule. The trial period will conclude after our team trip to Austria where we will be training both on snow and on world class Air Bags. More details about that specific trip will be coming down the pipeline so stay tuned.

The month of November will be spent sharpening the competitive mindset of each athlete, identifying and working on areas of weakness to build progression, and strength and conditioning to allow for a full winter season of healthy riding. On average, our typical Monday - Friday training plans are designed around spending two and a half hours each day on the dry slope facilities and trampolines, 45 minutes of strength and conditioning, and 45 minutes of cross training to accomplish those goals. We like to mix in days off campus to experience what Oregon has to offer and break up the routine with surf days, skate days, and hikes.

We’ll be doing a Pre-Competition Camp in early December before the semester ends to spend 6 days on snow preparing for the events to come starting in January. The objective here is to continue the progress made in Austria while dialing in top-to-bottom runs with features that each athlete will expect to see in either Future Tours, Rev Tours, Nor-ams, and beyond. The location of this camp is TBD and we’ll make that decision in November. We are all excited to get this season underway and thank you all for the support as we work to change the lives of these young athletes.

Cheers!

-Brandon, Stewart, & Alec

Meet New Coach, Alec Young
Hello! My name is Alec, and I am one of the assistant snowboard coaches for Wy'East Academy. I'm 23 years old, have been snowboarding for 13 seasons, and was a competitive snowboarder in boardercross, slalom, and giant slalom for 10 seasons, and have coached both privately and for a competitive team over the past 5 years. I look forward to getting to know and work with all of the athletes at Wy'East.

MOUNTAIN BIKE

Students mountain biking in Whistler in August

Our MTB program headed up to Whistler BC, Canada for the month of August for 2 training camps that focused on rider progression on and off the bike. While up there, we were able to ride the famous bike park 5 days a week, and also local spots around the area that are great for mtb skill building. Riding was not the only thing we focused on while up there. We also taught the kids how to work on their own bikes, talked with pros and bike shop owners, went on hikes, and made many team building memories. All and all, our Whistler training camps were a huge success, and I couldn’t be more stoked to get into the school year.

Asa Howe

Meet New Coach, Alex Bolio
Hello! I'm Alejandro. If I need to present myself with 3 words, they would be values, passion, and progress.The reason I'm here is to help people to believe in their dreams and show them that with hard work and a plan, everything is possible. I'm excited to be a part of Wy'East.

New assistant snowboard coach Alejandro Bolio

SKATEBOARD

Hey Families,

I hope everyone is having a great summer back home. This summer has been non stop for skateboarding on campus. It has been amazing to get warm sunny weather and lots of new faces on campus all summer long. We just wrapped up the Northwest Open on campus which was a massive undertaking and I’m very thankful to everyone who helped with it. Despite smokey skies from a nearby fire we saw at least 1,000 people on campus Friday-Sunday. Friday was the Pro Invitational contest in the jungle with competitors like Louie Lopez, Jake Yanko, Silas Baxter-Neal, Sebo Walker, Elijah Akerley, and Simon Bannerot. Friday ended with a best trick contest on a 35 foot rail going down the hill in front of the bowl into the jungle. Academy student Tag walked away with some cash from the best trick contest getting a feeble and a smith down it. Saturday and Sunday were our public competition days where we ran 4 jams each day handing out $1,000 cash in each jam. Saturday ended with a Pro only jam on a giant repurposed snowboard feature at the bottom of the asphalt hill. I will attach the recap videos and write up to future newsletters when they are finished. In the meantime if you want to see what the event was like please check out the Seek Skate Camp and Tactics Instagram accounts.

A couple notes on fall. The first phase of our new street plaza is completed and located down by the dodgeball court. This first phase is a simple design focusing on flat ground, rails, and ledges. The students this year will help me with planning out and designing the second phase of the park. We will focus on utilizing the PNW and all it has to offer while the weather remains nice and our first trip will be mid Oct to San Francisco.

I am looking forward to the start of the fall semester here in just a few days!

Brian Johnson

Guest UserOctober 23, 2023

WE ARE BREAKING GROUND ON WORLD-CLASS DRY SLOPE AIRBAG, SUMMER 2024!

WY’EAST MOUNTAIN ACADEMY TO BREAK GROUND ON WORLD-CLASS DRY SLOPE AIRBAG, SUMMER 2023 AS $500,000 MAGIC CARPET FUND RAISING LAUNCHES.

Wy’East Mountain Academy is thrilled to announce it has successfully raised the $3.5million needed to begin the first phase of construction for its new world-class dry slope airbag. The consulting design team consisted of US Ski and Snowboard Team coaches, Wy’East’s own former Olympic coaches, Mamal, Inc. (ramp designer for Travis Pastrana), along with countless engineers but the final shape and bag were designed and produced by BangerBags of Austria, considered the world’s best. This monumental jump will serve as a testament to Wy’East’s culture of high-performance and as a critical tool in helping to develop the next generation of Olympic skiers and snowboarders while simultaneously providing access to miles of mountain bike trails and features on Wy’East’s 28-acre Campus at the base of Mt. Hood, Oregon.

FUNDRAISING CONTINUES

While the Wy’East students and staff celebrate this momentous occasion, the $500,000 phase 2 fundraising campaign is launching now, and they need your help. The academy is seeking donations of small and substantial amounts to complete fundraising for the project’s Magic Carpet. With this uphill transportation mechanism, student athletes and visiting pros and Olympians will be rapidly returned to the top of the jump, allowing them to focus energy on progression instead of burning out their legs hiking back to the top.

Donations of $500 and up include exclusive first-ride access to the bag once completed and with coaching, lodging, and food included for up to 30 people at the $5,000 donation level. To contribute, learn more about the project and all the giving levels offered by Wy’East, please visit https://wyeastacademy.com/dryslope-landing-bag.

ABOUT WY’EAST MOUNTAIN ACADEMY

Wy'East Mountain Academy (formerly Windells Academy) is a world-class outdoor-oriented, action sports academy designed to develop driven and talented students in the classroom as well as in the outdoors. Wy’East enrolls students ages 12 to 19 who want to combine a rigorous academic setting with skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, mountain biking and other outdoor recreation sports. To this end, we offer sport-specific coaching that facilitates athletic progression at all levels, from just starting out to competing professionally. We enable students to learn, train and participate in sports year-round while attaining high school or college credits that are transferable in or out of any US accredited school, national or international.

LEARN MORE™

If you have questions, ideas, or would just like to talk about this project, please contact:

Kevin English, President

Bobby MeeksMay 2, 2023Wy'East Mountain Acaedmy

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