March 2020
Above: The skate crew on top of Huf and Lakai HQ in Los Angeles, CA
Letter from the Headmaster
Dear Families and Friends,
Greetings from campus where early spring has arrived! We’ve had some incredibly beautiful days enabling our teams to enjoy sunny conditions on the mountain and dry pavement for our skaters.
With the school year winding down, Edgenuity students are in their final quarter and seniors are getting ready for their exit from 12 plus years of schooling. Progress reports recently came out, so check your email from Jaime. Students are working to make sure their grades are in the upper 80% range or above for the final month.
With the Coronavirus outbreak, it is important that each of you knows we are following the guidelines set forth by our local health authorities and DHS. We have medical procedures in place that were developed by our summer camp medical director, which include epidemics and pandemics. We are making sure our campus and vehicles are regularly sanitized, and that everyone practices proper hygiene. Our local resorts are also following additional cleaning procedures.
Regarding travel and student activity, we are limiting student travel and activity to areas where we know there are no active outbreaks, and to locations without large crowds. The State of Oregon has also limited events to no more than 250 people, as you may have heard in the news. Our choices are also limited by those events which are canceled, such as Phoenix Am and USASA Nationals. This is unfortunate for our athletes who have worked tirelessly on their skills, but we will find other ways to recognize their achievements. We are taking the Coronavirus outbreak seriously and want you to know that we feel confident that our students and staff are at very low risk, and we are making decisions that will continue to provide our teams with the best and safest experience possible.
On a lighter note, our seniors are super excited for graduation. Graduation will be held at Timberline Lodge in the Raven’s Nest on Thursday, April 23, 2020, at 5:00 pm. After the commencement ceremony dinner will be served at no cost for the student and two parents/guardians/guests. The dinner consists of a lovely pasta buffet. If you want to include additional people for dinner, the cost is $35 per person. Please email me the number of additional people you want to include and if there are any diet preferences, such as vegetarian, gluten-free, etc. If by chance Timberline feels the need to cancel this event, we have a couple of options which include having the ceremony on our campus or postponing it. These decisions will be made in the future if necessary. At this point, graduation is over a month out, and I am crossing my fingers the worst of this will be over.
Our senior slideshow is always heartwarming- we are collecting four to six photographs of each senior. I set up a Google folder that contains individual folders for each senior. Please upload your photos, making sure to include a baby photo and some adolescent pics as well. We want to honor their growth as athletes.
If you haven’t set up your photo session, this is a reminder to connect with Topher or Michael. They are both highly talented photographers. Your student does not have to be a senior to document those fleeting treasured moments in time, and I encourage you to contact either one.
Summer term is also around the corner. For those who have placed a deposit, thank you! We are not canceling our summer term and are confident the summer academy and camps will be super fun, educational, and safe.
Thanks for your continued support.
All my best,
Ann, aka “Academy_Mum”
Above: Konnor Ralph takes Second at the Aspen Freeski Open
Backcountry & Big Mountain
This past month has been a full one. The universe even gave us an extra day (February 29) so that we could continue to get the most out of February. We started out the month with a return flight home from Japan without contracting the Coronavirus, which in itself was a big success! The kids were amazing on their first big international trip, putting in work everyday and walking away some incredible media (video will be online this month). That work ethic and mindset continued as we had only 10 days at home before venturing across the Canadian boarder on our next international powder pilgrimage. We spent two days at Mt. Baker before heading further north into British Columbia, and in those two days we had over a foot of fresh snow fall on us, providing some good ole’ fashion resort pow days.
From Baker, we hopped in the van and drove up to the dreamland known as Revelstoke (B.C.) to jump right into an AST1 avalanche safety training course led by Burton ambassador and professional backcountry guide, Kate Ediger. Kate put on a private course specifically for our Academy team, creating a very special experience for learning and practicing the skills that we’ve been working on all year. She guided us out into a zone off the resort, which we then returned to many times during our 5 days there. The snow was stable, the temperatures were perfect, and the sun came out to give us incredible visibility for our entire trip. We were able to access terrain that you dream about and see in the movies!
Leaving British Columbia was bitter sweet, but we made it back to Oregon in time to catch a good swell at the ocean for a day of surfing to reflect on all of the snowy travels we have been on. The ocean seemed to recharge the batteries, feed the soul, and keep the spirits high as we moved into March.
- Brandon & Griff
Athlete of the Month: Thor Jaramillo
Thor has been able to balance his travel schedule with his academic work load, along with his IFSA competition schedule. Thor has competed in 3 events this month, earning an 8th place finish at Crystal, and a silver medal finish at Stevens Pass. The kid is an animal!
Below: Soaking in some serious beauty in the B.C. backcountry, the crew digging a test pit, AST 1 avalanche training with Kate Ediger, Max Mann, and Thor Jaramillo working hard for his turns.
Freeski
What a wild whirlwind of a month it was on the free skiing side of things!
The team was split into two locations for different competitions. Part of the team started the month at the Mammoth Rev Tour, getting some solid time on a big jump line as well as the Big Air jump. From there, we ventured to Colorado and competed in the annual Aspen Open. The Aspen Open was a great experience for the kids- they got to ski the exact same slopestyle course as the X Games, and saw what it is like to compete on the most elite course in the game.
While half the team was in Aspen, the other half of the team sent it down to Mammoth for the Futures Tour event and enjoyed some sunny California skiing. Following Aspen and Mammoth, half the team went to Calgary Canada to compete in the North American Open at their Olympic Park and ski on the World Cup course. The other half went back to Colorado to compete at the Copper Mountain Futures Tour stop and battled through some tough weather.
Immediately following the Copper contest, we sent it to Park City for the next Futures Tour Stop and went right into another contest the following day. The Calgary squad spent about a day back at Hood before getting back in the van and heading to Park City to meet up with the rest of the team for the last Rev Tour of the season at the new Woodward Park City resort.
After spending so many days on the road in tight quarters, the team is tighter than ever and continues to help push each other to the next level. As you can tell, things were busy and constantly moving so we are greatly looking forward to being home at Mt. Hood for the next month to get some quality training time in preparation for the upcoming Nationals event. Big things to come and a great month ahead at Timberline and Meadows!
- Breeze & Topher
Jackson takes flight at the Aspen Open. Below: Hannah and Lauren Aspen Pipe, and Lauren training for her dub backflip at Aspen Big Air.
Academics
February was filled with many moving parts. We encouraged students to be proactive by being ahead of pace and maintaining A or B grades before leaving campus. Most students have returned from their trips on top of their courses, but some have been placed in study hall if their grades dropped lower than a C.
We are working in mentorship/leadership groups weekly, with February topics including dream jobs, self/social awareness, and study habits.
When the weather has been warm and sunny, students have earned skate breaks or trampoline/hike/outside time in the dried out jungle. Due to the changes in weather or travels, many students have been sick this month- which have brought up many lessons in cleanliness, nutrition, and sleep.
As we move through March, we have many athletic trips to juggle with academics, but the classroom dynamic is a positive place where students as a whole are finding the balance of work and play. We will be prepping juniors and seniors for the SAT scheduled in April. All Edgenuity students will be ending the year with MAP testing in order to measure their academic growth.
- Jaime & Asher
Student of the Month: Angus
Angus consistently walks into the classroom on time and gets work done! Nuff said.
Snowboard
February was awesome. We went to Mammoth for a 6-day trip, where good weather greeted us and stayed the whole time we were there. It was a tester for the next level up for most of our squad. Dante was getting some more contest time under his belt and just missed the podium for slopestyle. Lorena motivated us to walk a 30 minute trek out to some hot springs on one of our last nights in town, where we saw a bunch of shooting stars- it was definitely worth the effort.
Our crew has been improving on tricks, stepping up our riding game, and getting more and more confident every day. It's been a fun blend and we have a great crew with us this winter term. I am stoked on all the new friendships and cross discipline dynamics of our progression.
The weather has been getting sunnier and we have been having some soft days on hill and sunshine down at campus. It was a great 29 days in the month of February for us, Happy Leap Year!
- Elijah
Snowboarder of the Month: Hazel Pedpelski
She has come in with fire and grit, takes slams, smiles and gets back up for some feedback and another attempt. She has been into the coaching from day one and has had great progression since her arrival. I look forward to what she gets done on hill by the end of this term. Keep up the great work kid!
Above: Dante in the pipe. Below: Nico ready at the start gate, Dante and Elijah taking laps, and Hazel and Kennedy enjoying another bluebird day.
Skate
February was one for the books! The skater’s fully utilized their time on the road! We visited sponsors, stacked clips, and skated all over northern and southern California!
The month started off in San Francisco, where everyone left it all on the field (or in the streets). Everyone skated extremely hard as we filmed at famous spots and skated SF’s best parks. While in SF we visited Deluxe Distribution, home of Real, Anti-Hero, Krooked, Thunder, and Spitfire. We were given a personal tour by legendary pro, Frank Gerwer. Our own Malachi Blaylock was able to get some face time with one of his main sponsors and meet the heads behind the company. We said thanks for the new wheels and fresh Spitfire gear then hopped back in the van and pointed it south for the SoCal portion of the trip.
Southern California was a skater’s paradise. We enjoyed perfect 60 degree sunny weather almost everyday while skating everything we could in LA, Oceanside, and San Diego. While in LA we visited Volcom, Huf, Lakai, and the CA training facility. There were more highlights than we could fit in one newsletter but some standouts include visiting Volcom’s private park and a celebrity style tour of Element skateboards (along with a session at Nyjah Houston’s private park). Shout outs to Josh Herrmann for ripping and to Element Skateboards for being an amazing sponsor.
After a long but amazing 11 days in Southern California we turned the van around and headed to Sacramento as we began our homeward journey. Sacramento was originally slated as a layover stop to break up a long return journey home, but ended up being one of the best parts of the trip! Everyone caught a strong second wind and went out swinging as we continued to rip parks and stack street footage.
After giving Sacramento something to remember us by we blasted some good van tunes and finished up the final leg of our journey, arriving back at campus to be greeted by some amazing spring weather!
- Donovan
Above: Josh Herrmann front feeble in Oceanside. Below: the crew, sunset on the beach, outside Deluxe distribution in SF, Malachi in tree pose and doing a front lip, and DJ blunt to fakie.
Life & Leisure
February was the busiest month of the year! There was not even one day in February where we had every single student on campus. From Copper to Calgary, from Revelstoke to Los Angles, Wy’East Academy was everywhere. You can imagine how busy our students have been! In between travel, training and school, we still found ways for the students to get off campus and have some fun.
To start the month off, we premiered a big mountain video at a packed house in Portland. We took a few students down to Base Camp Brewery, where they talked to the crowd about our Academy. The ladies participated in a girls night down to Portland, where they attend a Portland Trailblazers NBA game. It was a fun night for all, and the Blazers came away with a win. We were also blessed with some unusual sunny weather this past month, which allowed our students to do schoolwork outside and skate around the Concrete Jungle™.
Another activity, which our students usually aren’t a fan of, but our parents are, is cleaning. In addition to our routine room checks (where students are expected to clean house), students partake in a mandatory van cleaning whenever they get back from trips. Check the photo of Konnor cleaning away below!
February was a really fun month, we're looking forward to spending more time on campus with our students in March!
Above: The crew posing for a shot under blue skies. Below: bowling night, the girls at the Moda Center for the Blazers game, Konnor cleanin' up, Academy_Mum w/ the crew, and rock climbing adventures.
