Good In The Woods: A Fundraising Celebration is going down Friday, December 17th at Nemo Design! Our friends at The Portland Society Page wrote up an article about our event. Click the link below to check it out!
Portland, OR. Wy’East Mountain Academy is an outdoor-oriented, action sports academy designed to develop students in the classroom as well as in the outdoors. The organization is launching a nonprofit foundation to . . . Click to read full article.
The Academy crew hanging at our booth at Snowvana in Portland
Hanley sharing his wisdom with The Freeskiers
November has been a month full of transitions. We were all excited to see Mount Hood covered in snow & all of our snow athletes made the most of it building jumps & jibs to stack up epic footage. But then we were equally as sad to see it all wash away with nearly a foot of rain. On a brighter note, our seniors began receiving acceptance letters to universities all over the United States with Madison & Lorena both receiving academic scholarships! Congratulations to the students who completed the SAT & PSAT as they are a daunting obstacle to overcome that will help prepare you for the rigors of life ahead. The students’ average GPA’s are balancing out as students head into the end of the semester & our average scores for the PSAT & SAT went up by almost 100 points. Our snow athletes started the month with an intensive Wilderness First Aid Course on campus where we partnered with NOLS to get them all WFA certified. Our mountain bikers went on trips to Bellingham, WA in addition to Virgin, UT while the snow athletes headed north to chase the snow to the Yukon Territory in Canada. We will continue the “Coffee with the Head of School” until student departure on December 18th & all are welcome to attend. Please make sure to get all of your departure information in to Netanya as soon as possible so we can arrange transportation accordingly. Thank you & Happy Holidays!
-Mike Hanley
We partnered with NOLS and delivered a Wilderness First Aid class for our students.
November has been an exciting month. Each team was able to travel and students did a great job getting ahead in their classes before departing campus.
We are happy to announce that Madison Weisman was accepted into the Nursing Program at George Fox University and Lorena Kelley was accepted to Sierra Nevada University and Western Colorado University. Congratulations Madison and Lorena!
The end of the semester is nearly here. Students have been working hard to complete projects and prepare for their upcoming exams. Classes will close on December 16th and final Report Cards will be sent out to families on December 17th. With the end of the semester approaching, we are encouraging students to revise work and improve their grades. We are also working with students to finalize winter semester coursework plans.
Alexis Buzzell chose Anders Chapman for student of the month for his positive attitude, being ahead in his classes, and asking for help when needed.
Asa Howe chose Lorena Kelley for student of the month for being caught up in her classes and earning a 3.9 GPA for the semester.
-Alexis Buzzell & Asa Howe
This past month has been an exciting and busy one here at the Academy. This time of year always feels the longest because everyone is just waiting for the snow to arrive. On the residential side of things we planned out several exciting, action packed, and fun filled weekends. We started off the month with having all the mountain bikers clean their vans from the Bellingham trip, probably one of the most memorable experiences of fall term. Following cabin and van cleaning, students had the opportunity to shop at some local thrift stores in Sandy as well as stock up on snacks from Fred Meyers. The second weekend of November was my personal favorite, we took all the students paint-balling! First game we played, was Zombies, where we split up to staff versus students, where the students guarded an enclosure with a post in the middle, and the goal of the zombies (staff) was to shoot the students to turn them into zombies and make it to the middle of the guarded enclosure and win the game by touching the post. Staff (zombies) won the first game. Since we did a private group for paintball we got to play several other types of paintball games in different outdoor arenas, students and staff had a blast and we will definitely be playing paintball again during winter term. In addition to paintball, we also took the students to the Oregon Zoo which was followed up with thrift store shopping in Portland. Every year right before the snow falls, SNOWVANA happens at the Oregon Convention center and Luke was able to secure tickets for all of the students. The students enjoyed hitting the mini ramp that the Academy had set up at the convention. On the way back to campus from Snowvana as requested by the students, we once again went thrift store shopping in Portland as well as stopping at Fred Meyers in Sandy on the way back. In addition to weekend activities, during the week students have been doing a good job with daily cabin cleaning and student representative meetings have been productive. A huge shoutout to the continued support and communication from all of the Parents, and we are excited about the upcoming weekend activities for December!
-Netanya Beard, Luke Giacopelli, Levi Thompson, Will Stephens & Dakoda Osusky
The Mountain Bike Program at Wy'East Academy has carried on the success we had in the previous month. Students are forming strong bonds together and are progressing both on and off the bike. This group has amazing kids that each bring something different to the table and it has been a lot of fun to watch them learn from each other and grow. Best part of all, they are having fun while doing so.
This past month featured a lot of rain with the atmospheric river we were in which was an opportunity for us to get the struggle in. Being wet and uncomfortable has strengthened the team's mental fortitude. If we can endure terrible situations, think of what we can do when conditions are good. Which brings to light our trip to Bellingham which teased the sun but brought a lot of rain. We made the most out of the situation and even had sessions on the different trails up at Galbraith Mountain. The crew was soaked with smiles!
We are happy with the team environment and look forward to the upcoming month.
-Kevin Simpers & Dakoda Osusky
November started out with a very special offering that most of the on-snow crew were able to participate in. NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) came onto our campus to put on a private Wilderness First Aid course over two days to teach the basics for when injuries happen away from immediate care. This class hopefully helped prepare our crew for the inevitable that we will either experience personally, or be a first to respond to.
A week or so after the WFA course we were able to get back on snow to build some jumps, slide some rails, and film some clips. Almost everyone walked away from our two little sessions with some photos and videos to start the season. Even though the snow was short lived, we’ve been able to mix in skating indoors and even outside when weather permits. We ramped up training on the dryslope facilities as well to be ready for Canada!
The Yukon trip couldn’t have come at a better time since everyone had the itch to get on snow, and I’m happy to report that we did just that. It was full-on winter up there with cold temps, white snowy mountains, a rope tow rail park, and an X-games size big air jump. A highlight for everyone was that Olympian, Mark McMorris, and US Olympic prospect, Brock Crouch were up there training on the same rails and jump as our crew. It was very cool to see the interactions happening between some big name professionals and our kids. We certainly put in the reps on the rope tow rails everyday we were there, pushing for new tricks & social media posts. I’m happy to say that Arianna, Alessia, and Ben pushed past their fear of the big jump and were able to get some reps on that under the lights, with private snowmobile laps!
We certainly look forward to getting the season started in Oregon with snow in the near future, fingers crossed that Timberline and Meadows are able to start spinning lifts very soon. Until then, we will be working on the dryslope, the skatepark, and getting these kids set for their final exams.
-Brandon Sorel & Jamie Weller
November has been quite the month for the Freeski team! Early on we got some good snow that allowed us to get up on the mountain a handful of times. We hiked up two 10’ PVC tubes and created a handful of unique and interesting set ups to get our ski legs back under us and enjoy some of the first sessions of the season! We have stayed on the grind in the gym, the trampolines, and on the dry slope. Remediating weaknesses, pushing progression, and keeping our focus on our on-snow camp to the Yukon. Our trip up to the great white north was a great white success! Although Mt. Sima came up a bit short on having a jump line ready for us, but that didn't slow us down at all. They're jib set up on the rope tow, and the big air site were world class and proved to be extremely productive with everyone walking away with some new learns! Now that we are back in OR we are all doing our snow dances and hoping that the lifts start turning soon, but in the meantime we are focusing on academics and ending this semester strong!
-Brian McCarthy & Topher Newett
Parents Weekend 2021 was a success!
Hanley hanging out with The Freeskiers
It is hard to believe that October has already come & gone. The mountains are starting to turn white all around the world & our students have been making the most of the changing seasons with trips to California, Washington & Canada. Students hit the books hard to prepare for both the PSAT & SAT while the older students have been sending out college applications all around the world. Many of our students had the opportunity to begin campus tours at two of the most prestigious universities in North America at McGill in Quebec, Canada & the University of Southern California. Even I hit the road again to attend a training camp in Austria to stay in the mix with the best skiers & snowboarders in the world working towards the upcoming Winter Olympics. Our student body has continued to grow with the recent addition of several new students with many more expected for the winter semester. It was a highlight for all of us to get the parents out here on campus for parents weekend & the bar has been set higher than ever before for next year. We are all looking forward to the upcoming winter season & thank you for your continued support.
-Mike Hanley
October has been quite a busy month for Wy’East Academy, starting with trips across all sports to 3 different locations in North America. Mountain bike drove down to Laguna Seca, California to race at the Sea Otter Classic, while Snowboard flew to southern California to enjoy the great skateparks and some surfing. Ski flew to Canada to train on a world class airbag where the kids were able to land all sorts of new tricks. Even with all of the intense traveling, students were able to stay on track academically and keep their grades up! This has proved tough to do in the past and it is great to see everyone getting used to doing school on the road/skies. Since then, we have proctored PSAT and SAT tests and scores will be back come middle of November. We have also helped our seniors and juniors apply to colleges they are interested in attending and should be hearing back from these institutions soon!
Asa Howe chose Joseph Mantis for student of the month because of his determination to get caught up and his huge grade improvements over the month of October.
Alexis Buzzell chose Aidan Parish for student of the month because he uses class time wisely and was able to get his grades up before his quarter ended.
-Asa Howe & Alexis Buzzell
Students hanging with Academy Alumni & Professional Skiier Nick Geopper
This past month has been an exciting one! We started the month off with mountain bikers at the Sea Otter Classic, skaters and snowboarders went down to California and the skiers traveled all the way to Canada to train big air tricks on a landing bag. During this time on campus residential staff supported students with packing, unpacking, cleaning and worked closely with academics to plan study halls in the evenings to help students keep up with school.
Following these exciting trips, Parents weekend was a blast! It was great to meet parents and families and share with everyone a day in the life of an Wy’East Academy student. Other weekend activities this month have included several trips to local thrift stores, Fredy Meyer runs, Sandy Food Carts, and even going to the local cinema to catch a movie. In addition, this past weekend on Saturday we went to a haunted house called “Stalls of Terror,” everyone had an amazing time. The following day we went to a pumpkin patch with the idea of picking out pumpkins to carve back on campus, however all the students were more interested in the Dark Maze and the apple launcher slingshot. It was extremely entertaining watching the students work together to see how far they could launch apples and trying to hit the targets. The students had so much fun with the apple launcher that the staff at the farm allowed the students to have extra apples to launch.
On the topic of cleanliness, all the students have been working hard with keeping their cabins clean and are expected to clean their cabins every day prior to evening activities. Staff has been incredibly helpful with supporting students with cleaning as well as teaching them effective ways to keep their cabin clean. Watching all the students build healthy habits such as getting up on time each morning, picking up their cabins and recycling has been great to watch. Furthermore, the student representatives have been consistently showing up to weekly meetings with ideas and solutions. As staff we have been working closely with the student representatives to have a group hang out area with games and activities. So far, we have a ping pong table, couches and a TV with plenty of movies to choose from. In the evenings afters cabin cleaning and study hall, students have been enjoying playing ball tag in BOB.
The Residential staff would like to thank all the parents for their continued open communication, feedback and support. Thank you! We are looking forward to another exciting month as well as the beginning of the arrivals of several of our winter students.
-Netanya Beard, Luke Giacopelli, Will Stephens & Levi Thompson
First Day On Hill!
What a nice month of training we have had on the Freeski team! First off we want to say thank you to all the parents that made it out for Parents Weekend. It was great to get some face time with you and let you get a glimpse into the world your kids are now living in! Winter has been showing its face a bit already allowing us to get some time on snow. Every student was able to wipe off some dust and get a couple tricks under their belt on the features we made collectively as a school on Mt Hood. With more snow in the future we have our fingers crossed that the lifts will start spinning soon! Throughout our daily sessions we have been ramping up the intensity with our sights set to our upcoming on-snow camp at Mt. Sima. We have created simulated competitions on the trampolines and dry slope features and have seen a success with everyone being being in that "competition" mind set. They say competition creates quality, and we believe that translates beyond skiing and into everyday life! We hope everyone had a great Halloween, and we look forward to connecting with everyone soon!
-Brian McCarthy & Topher Newett
A very successful trip to Sea Otter! We had all Students landed in the Top half of the competition field at Sea Otter, JT, Etan, Erin, Brooke all hit podiums. While at Sea Otter all students used the opportunity to talk to sponsors and network within the community. The presence that was carried at this event was amazing to be part of as we felt like we had one of the most recognizable teams there. The dirt was challenging but our students rose to the occasion and made opportunity out of obstacles.
We are most proud that we really have a unified team with everyone hanging out and supporting one another. Turning weaknesses into strengths, showing up on time, finding stride in the rhythm of living on your own which has been so great watch everyone grow daily with their own accountability. Some students have gone through the process to start using the Gym on their own which they are very excited to have access on their own time.
We ventured over into Capital Forrest this month and found that it is a great double day trip opportunity for us. The Lumberyard as well is a good rainy day in door option to get out & off campus. We are in a reflection faze of training so we have been using time at campus to stay on top of or get ahead in school work and working on our weaknesses. Everyone is excited about the Bellingham trip coming up!
Thank you,
Kevin Simpers & Dakoda Osusky
It’s hard to believe that less than a month ago we were down in sunny Southern California posted up in Newport Beach in the midst of an oil spill. As eerie as it was to see the beaches completely empty of patrons but full of clean up crews outfitted in hazmat suits, we made the absolute best of it. We did a college visit, two different industry tours, surfed a day in La Jolla shores, skated seven different parks, and genuinely got a taste of what Southern California can offer our crew. A huge thank you goes out to the US Sales Manager at Volcom for rolling out the red carpet for our squad with all the product he generously gave everyone. We then got the open invitation to skate our hearts out in their private indoor park. I feel like the bar was raised each day we were there, going from a good start, to a great trip, to an unforgettable experience. Another big thank you goes out to the Kelley’s for taking the kids out on a sunset boat cruise and hosting us on our last day for brunch and a swim!
Once we got back on campus and into our training routine for the month, we were only here for 5 days before the first snow fell on Mt. Hood, allowing us to get up there to take full advantage of the real stuff! The crew was so excited to get on snow and get creative with what we had to work with setting up a few different rails and a concrete block feature. So far we’ve been up three times and are very much looking forward to when we are consistently able to be up there. Currently, we have our sights set on training for the Yukon by utilizing the dry slope to dial in the rail game along with the airbag jump to prepare to be on real jumps in just a few weeks. To keep things from getting too repetitive, Jamie and I have been able to get the kids out skating at a few different local parks here in Oregon between the rain storms.
-Brandon Sorel & Jamie Weller
A fundraising celebration hosted by the Wy'East Mountain Academy
Come join us FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17TH, 2021 in Portland, Oregon for our first annual Good in the Woods, fundraising celebration.
Our goal is to bring families and supporters together for an incredible evening to celebrate our new 501c3 not-for-profit status and to raise $50,000 in scholarship funds so we may extend the incredible Wy’East Mountain Academy experience to more students. To help reach our goal, we have a Penny for Penny match on all proceeds raised enabling YOU to double your positive impact!
Hosted by Nemo Design, the evening will feature:
-Unique silent bid items, including; snowboarding & skiing gear, IKON pass, photography by Kevin Zacher, signed skateboard deck by Tony Hawk, airline tickets, and much more…Music & local craft beers and wines
-Art show
-Fun activities
-Meet renowned action sports athletes & industry moguls
-And much more…
7PM - CLOSE Party, Raffles, & Silent Auctions
Your $20.00 ticket includes 1 adult beverage and 1 raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets can be purchased upon entry.
Please help support our mission of Life Improvement Through People, Place, and Passion.
Ways you can contribute:
-Buy tickets
-Donate auction items
-Volunteering
-Event sponsorships
Please email luke@wyeastacademy.com if you are interested in donating, volunteering, or becoming a sponsor for the event.
Welcome to the 2021-2022 school year! As we move forward, we would like to highlight all of our campus upgrades & introduce our new staff to our community.
On your next Campus visit, we invite you to stay in the new campground. Built and operated by our founding donors at We Are Camp, the sites will be hosted by on campus dweller, Jim Hanseder, parent of a 7th grade student at Wy’East. The “Roamer Sites,” as we call them, feature adventure rig (#VanLife, #RoamerRig, #RVlife) site with water and electric hookups. Also featured are incredible canvas platform tents with boot dryers and cell phone chargers. Click to view the Hip Camp listing!
With a generous donation of time and money from Milepost 35, the staff, along with Cam Zink’s private builder, spent days on end reworking our current trail system and adding several upgrades. Led by our very own Asa Howe, they reworked several of our trails including Endor & Send It Randy. In addition to the trail upgrades, Asa's crew built a 3 pack of jumps at the base of our trail system.
Our coaches gave the Dry Slope Jib Line a bit of a facelift. They completely switched out the right line, starting off with a down rail, which leads you into a mailbox rail. This new setup gives our athletes a proper advanced line for kids to take their tricks to the next level!
We have given our Indoor Rock Climbing wall a complete facelift. Our Dean of Students Netanya Beard took the initiative and completely switched up the entire wall. There are several new roots for our students to try out!
Netanya Beard completed her Bachelors degree in Psychology at the University of Oregon in 2017 before pursuing a Masters degree in Psychology and Systems Neuroscience in 2019. During her time in college she worked for a nonprofit supporting youth struggling with mental health. In addition, she held a position in a research lab studying the auditory cortex and its underlying neural circuitry. Complementing her clinical experience, Beard spent her summers mentoring undergraduate students at the University of Oregon as part of the summer program for undergraduate research. Furthermore, she worked putting together a weeklong neuroscience course for high school students who attended Oregon Young Scholars Program (OYSP). After receiving her Master’s Degree in Psychology she moved to Portland, Oregon where she had the opportunity to work for Youth Villages as a family intervention specialist for high risk youth and their families. "Along with working with youth and families, skiing, rock climbing and the outdoors are strong passions of mine and I can’t think of a more perfect place than Wy’East Academy to continue my career!"
Alexis graduated from the prestigious Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2020 with a Bachelors in Physics and Masters in Mechanical Engineering. While in school she worked in an optical spectroscopy lab conducting research on new materials for solar energy applications. During the pandemic last year, she ended up taking a job as a physics teacher at a local high school and enjoyed her time so much she decided that's what she wanted to continue her career doing. In her spare time, you can catch Alexis ripping up the local mountain on her snowboard.
We would like to welcome in Elijah Teter on his new role as Athletic Director! Over the past 30 years, Elijah Teter has done it all in snowboarding and has done so with excellence. Formerly a professional snowboarder and member of the US Snowboard team, Elijah went on to be a highly successful Olympic coach, helping to secure three gold and two silver medals while working with athletes such as Ayumu Hirano, Kaitlyn Farrington, Louie Vito, Hannah Teter, and Kazu Kokubo. " I am excited to share my passion of athletics with everyone. With our teams, with our coaches, with our students & with our parents. My goal is to make Wy’East Academy the premiere action sports academy in the world."
Entering his 6th year with us at Wy'East Academy, Brandon is taking over as the Director of Snowboarding. Brandon comes to us with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdiscinplary Studies for Business and outdoor adventure. leadership from Sierra Nevada University. Brandon is excited to help take the snowboard program to the next level.
September is arguably the best month of the year in the Pacific Northwest. Wy’East Academy is now up & running for our 13th year with one of our largest student bodies ever. One of the biggest changes from last year is that the Academy is now a single cohort which has been a total gamechanger for staff & students. Our new staff members Netanya Beard (Dean of Students), Alexis Buzzell (Teacher), Kevin Simpers (MTB Director), Dakoda Osusky (MTB Coach/Residential), Will Stephens (Residential), Joshua Kozuma (Cook) & Jim Hanseder (Maintenance) have all done an amazing job acclimating to our dynamic environment. All of the students have been making the most out of the sunny weather while also working hard in the classroom ahead of a busy semester of upcoming tests & travel. Our new weekly Coffee with the Head of School has been a fun opportunity to open up communication between the administration & parents this year & we look forward to seeing parents every Tuesday at 11AM PST. Parents weekend is coming up soon so please RSVP for October 15-17 so we can hold a spot for you. Thank you for your support & partnership in preparing this amazing batch of young adults for the road ahead.
-Mike Hanley
Hanley took some time to work with The Freeskiers in the gym
Fall is here and the students have been getting back into the swing of things! Our new students have been getting acclimated to their Edgenuity classes. Students have been crushing it, with many getting ahead in their classes to prepare for the upcoming trips this October. The PSAT and SAT will be held on campus during class time next month for the students who have signed up. We will be holding a practice PSAT during the last week of September to help students prepare.
Alexis Buzzell chose Kade Kaluza for Student of the Month because he uses class time wisely by working hard to get ahead and asking questions when needed.
Asa Howe chose Harper Simon for Student of the Month because he has low idle times on Edgenuity and shows up to class prepared and ready to work hard.
-Alexis Buzzell & Asa Howe
Hey Families,
It’s hard to believe that we are already one month into the school year. All the students have settled and moved into their cabins. We have been lucky to have lots of sunny days on campus which has led to countless days of skating and biking in the sun. There has been, and continues to be an exceptional amount of positive energy between students and staff. This year we have welcomed two new residential staff members, Will and Dakoda. It has been inspiring to watch both Will and Dakoda engage, support and ride with the students during the week and on weekends.
In addition, we would also like to introduce the elected student representatives; Jonathan Fisher, William Ryan, Arianna Vergani, and Shiloh Greenfield. We have been holding student representative meetings on Fridays and students have come to the meetings prepared with ideas and solutions. We are excited to continue to support our students in sharing their ideas and helping them grow as leaders.
Every Sunday afternoon, each and every student has been deep cleaning their cabins. It has been really awesome to see our students stepping up to this responsibility and working together as a team to clean their rooms and cabins each weekend. In addition to spending weekends deep cleaning, catching up on school work, and relaxing we have also had a scheduled weekend activity with the goal of taking students off campus and experiencing the wonders that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. So far we have taken students to several different skateparks each with their own unique features, as well as a hike in the Columbia River Gorge. Other weekend activities include trips to Sandy for thrift shopping and lunch at the Sandy Food Carts & exploring downtown Hood River.
We would like to thank all of our parents for their continued support, communication and being a part of the Wy’East family. Lastly, of important note to all parents, PTO meetings are scheduled on the second Wednesday of each month. We have been excited to see new faces at recent meetings and look forward to welcoming additional parents. Thank you!
-Netanya Beard, Luke Giacopelli, Levi Thompson, Dakoda Oshusky & Will Stephens
Greeting Freeski Families,
What a great first month we have had on the Freeski Team. From day one the squad has been driven and stoked to progress. We have been grinding core workouts, stretching, yoga and daily meditation. Each athlete has certainly shown growth in their flexibility and strength already. In addition to all the strength and flexibility training we have had countless progressive trampoline sessions working on fundamentals and the root of each trick whether big or small. Each athlete has set out detailed, realistic and attainable goals for our upcoming trip to Maximize in Montreal, Canada. In preparation for the trip we typically spend a decent amount of time on the trampolines before taking those tricks to our campus airbag where we can work out any additional kinks in their goals. We also have had some great progression on our dry slope rail setup. Each athlete has really been able to wipe off the dust on their tricks and check of some new ones along the way. Our first surf trip of the semester was a success with many kids catching their first waves, flipping down the sand dunes or playing spikeball on the beach! Needless to say, the team camaraderie is at an all time high and we are very excited for what lies ahead this year with a solid team from all around the world
All the best,
Brian "Breezy" McCarthy & Topher Newett
The Freeski squad had a blast in Pacific City!
Welcome parents, friends, and students to the first of many monthly newsletters! On behalf of the snowboarding team, I’m so proud to report that September was nothing short of amazing, and how happy I am to have the crew back together with a few new faces! We have such a solid and talented bunch of young adults bringing contagious energy to training every day. For those of you who aren’t fully aware, I’ve combined coaching forces with the Academy’s most experienced skateboarding legend, Jamie Weller. Since every single person on the team has a desire to progress in both snowboarding and skateboarding, it has been an absolute pleasure exposing our team to the knowledge that Jamie has in the skateboarding world. Not only that, but Jamie is also responsible for creating and building everything that they are skating on campus. And I mean everything!
Something else new for this year, now that we’ve made it past the strict protocols of small cohorts, is we have been training as much as possible in a big group of the “on snow” athletes to get as much cross-over coaching techniques as possible. These kids are getting input from Brian “Breezy” McCarthy, our Director of Skiing, and Christopher “Topher” Newett, our assistant ski coach and social media marketing guru, which makes for a pretty stacked team of coaches!
As far as our specific training highlights go for the first month, we have everyone grinding on the dry slope facilities, pushing limits, and learning new tricks almost daily. For some, learning the fundamentals of proper board control and gaining the confidence to drop into the big air jump for the first time, for others working on tricks like switch front blunt same way, or hardway cab 270 backlip 270 out, and everything in between. (Those tricks are about as insane as they sound). To piggyback the progression on the dry slope, the skateboarding skill level is rising just as quickly! We’ve already been surfing on the coast, skating in Hood River, and taking advantage of the top tier training facilities that we call home. My goal is to keep this momentum going for the entire school year. I absolutely love what I’m seeing from the crew so far, and as always want to thank you all for supporting us as we continue to shape the lives of your children.
Wishing each of you all the best,
Brandon Sorel & Jamie Weller
We are stoked on how the Mountain Bike Program has been so far! The energy of the team has been incredible. The group we have this year is one of the most well rounded teams you can have. There are students that are skilled in racing, jumping, and riding the skatepark. With this team, there will be a lot of learning and growth that happens this year. The students are feeding off each other's energy and the progression has already begun.
The feedback we got for the students about the trail work we did over the summer has been awesome to hear. This has motivated us to work on building new features in the backyard to give the students more opportunity to gain new skills. The students have been taking note of our work and have been putting in work on their own features & trails. In addition to the trail work, we have established a relationship with Dan Shell. Dan is a mobile bike mechanic who is willing to come up and work on the students bikes. We are talking to Dan about coming up one day during the week to go over basic bicycle maintenance with the students.
Sea Otter is almost upon us and everyone is looking forward to the event. We are excited for this event as we have students racing among different events, categories, and age groups. The students have been working on their resumes for Sea Otter and we've been encouraging them to check out the list of sponsors at the event whom they'd want to talk to.
-Kevin Simpers & Dakoda Oshusky
Our annual Parents Weekend is coming up! Come join us on campus from October 15-17th for a weekend of fun. If you are looking for somewhere to stay, we have availability in our new Roamer Sites to stay on campus. Please RSVP with Luke at luke@wyeastacademy.com if you plan on coming!
Wy'East Academy is now on Amazon Smile! Donate to Wy'East Academy while you shop with zero cost to you. Amazon Donates 0.5% of your purchase to Wy'East Mountain Academy when you register Wy'East as the nonprofit you wish to support.
Come join us FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17TH, 2021 in Portland, Oregon for our first annual Good in the Woods, fundraising celebration.
Our goal is to bring families and supporters together for an incredible evening to celebrate our new 501c3 not-for-profit status and to raise $50,000 in scholarship funds so we may extend the incredible Wy’East Mountain Academy experience to more students. To help reach our goal, we have a Penny for Penny match on all proceeds raised enabling YOU to double your positive impact!
Hosted by Nemo Design, the evening will feature:
Unique silent bid items, including; snowboarding & skiing gear, IKON pass, renown action sports photography, airline tickets, and much more…
Art show
Fun activities
Meet action sports athletes & industry moguls
And much more…
WHERE?
NEMO DESIGN
1875 SE Belmont St,
Portland, OR 97214
7PM - CLOSE Party, Raffles, & Silent Auctions
Your $20.00 ticket includes 1 adult beverage and 1 raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets can be purchased upon entry.
Please help support our mission of Life Improvement Through People, Place, and Passion.
Ways you can contribute:
Buy tickets
Donate auction items
Volunteering
Event sponsorships
Please email luke@wyeastacademy.com if you are interested in donating, volunteering, or becoming a sponsor for the event.
It is hard to believe that it is already July, but time flies when you are having fun. Maybe it is the fact that we are finally emerging from the Covid fog, but this has been an amazing summer already. There has been great energy with all of the staff & students as we have been enjoying the sunny days with lots of snow still up on the hill. The students have been working hard in the classroom to achieve our highest average GPA ever at the academy. New students have been coming in & out every week which has kept everything fresh & exciting. June ended with record breaking heat, but everyone made the most of it by spending as much time as possible in one form or another of water. Enrolment paperwork has been coming in from all around the world & we are on track to have our largest ever fall semester of students. Please make sure to confirm all of your details with Dan to make sure everyone gets the roommates they want in September. It has been a lot of fun seeing the campus fill up with campers again to remind all of us what a special place this really is. All of the students have been settling in to their summer ski town life up in Government Camp with the close proximity to the mountain & all of the lakes. Luke & Levi have another exciting weekend planned of river rafting & fireworks so we are all looking forward to another month of fun in the sun.
-Mike Hanley
Summer Solstice was this month. Staff and students are both soaking up the sunshine with the longer and sunnier days. Late June was scorching record-breaking heat. Thankfully the classroom is always a cool spot on campus to reprieve from the heat and students have gone to Brightwood Beach before class and after dinner many times this month.
Students have certainly gotten into a great classroom routine and are working on a myriad of things in class: goal setting, practice PSATs, video clip editing, artwork, Khan Academy courses, previous courses, and Edgenuity courses. Most students enrolled in Edgenuity are about halfway through their courses now. The students taking Edgenuity courses are meeting expectations with a 3.54 average overall GPA.
The Student of the Month for June is Aaron Gander because of his diligent dedication to maintaining pace and great grades and his considerate character.
-Kayla Hokanson
Hey Parents,
Boy have we been busy on the weekends! This past month was filled with exciting trips and much needed rest. We started the month off with a group bowling trip and an adventure to Silver Falls State Park. The kids have gotten their fair share of swimming in so far, with trips to Timothy Lake, The Salmon River, The Deschutes River & Brightwood Beach. We ventured into the city for a day to go thrift shopping, check out The Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, capped off with a stop at a Portland Staple, Voodoo Doughnuts.
We finished off the 4th of July weekend with a rafting trip in Central Oregon & an awesome fireworks show in Hood River.
As you all know, we have moved up to Government Camp for the summer & our kids have been loving it! They have been doing a great job with keeping the house clean & respecting their roommates. We are looking forward for another month of fun & adventure with our students.
-Luke Giacopelli, Marianna Goings & Levi Thompson
June was the month of extremes for the Academy and the state of Oregon. We started out the month with a surf trip to the coast while Timberline was rebuilding their summer public park up higher on the mountain. What a day the team had out there chasing waves and frothing in the ocean! Having the opportunity to hit the coast within a few hours drive, grab rentals, and be in the line up before 10:30am is such a treat. While Timberline continued to rebuild the public park we were met with winter conditions returning to Mt. Hood and almost a full week of snow… in June. That was just one extreme. The crew powered through utilizing campus as much as possible with dry slope sessions, training on the trampolines and in the skatepark before the move up to Government Camp. Half way through the month the weather changed back into typical summer time glory and we had a new park on the mountain to train in. The crew got to spend time riding a near perfect 18 foot half pipe, three medium jumps, and their pick of eight different rails. We had about a week straight of perfect training conditions until extreme number 2 hit. Oregon experienced the most intense heat wave in history with temperatures setting records for three consecutive days from 108, to 112, to 115 degrees. We were able to seek refuge at the coast once again for an impromptu surf trip which never disappoints. To end the month on a high note, June 30 was the first day that brand new private FTC park opened up for us which is what we have all been looking forward to! Summer time is rolling and the snowboarding is all time. July should be even better!
Until next month,
Cheers!
-Brandon Sorel
Greetings Freeski Families!
June has been a busy month here at the Academy. Summer operations started at Timberline June 1st which brought a new park that had moved up to the mile, along with a quieter parking lot in the first half of the month with spring pass folks heading home. Timberlines new Mile park came with a beautiful 18’ half pipe, a 3 jump line, and a series of different jibs down below. There was a little something for everyone and provided for a great training space for all of our athletes! Summer at Mt. Hood can be a wild and temperamental thing.. June 6 it was snowing sideways at the Timberline Lodge, and then on June 25th some of the highest temps ever recorded took place at the same lodge! The last week of June brought a record setting heat wave this year that delayed the private parks opening. With the mountain closed for the day we beat the heat by heading out to Timothy lake with the crew for a day on the water. Timberline eventually got the parks, and rope tows going later that week and we were all pleasantly surprised at the offering they provided, with again, a little something for everyone! Fast laps, good vibes and lots of progression were taking place that first week. This really set the tone for the rest of the summer, and we’re excited to see what July has in store!
-Brian McCarthy & Topher Newett
May is the most underrated month of the year in the Pacific Northwest. We have been able to enjoy every season over the course of a single month with sunny days in the 80’s & pounding snowstorms with everything in between. All of the students have had unrestricted access to all of the amazing campus facilities regardless of the weather. I have been incredibly impressed & proud of the entire staff making the most of what every day has gifted us with on the hill, in the classrooms & on the weekends. The average GPA of the students has never been higher & the rate of progression has them all on track to the X Games! It is great to see that the students are exhausted at the end of every day while still smiling about what the next day has in store. The students requested some different food for breakfast & it was fun to see our culinary crew cook up breakfast burritos for everyone the very next morning. My mouth started watering the following week when I walked through the kitchen & watched them prepping fish tacos for dinner. The campus is about to be filled up with over 1,000 campers over the next two months so it is great to see everyone making the most of their time here. It is a privilege to work with all of you & your wonderful young adults.
-Mike Hanley
Summer is here and students are stoked! The energy is high on campus. Students are soaking up the sun with more training and activities during the day and only two hours of class time this summer. Students are making great use of the time given and are grinding away at their classes. Students are coming to class punctually, prepared, and focused. Students this summer are mostly spending their time on Edgenuity or Khan Academy and some are even splitting some of their academic time working on editing video clips for their social media accounts.
The Student of the Month for May is Ryan Buttars because of his sunny disposition, politeness, and positive mentality about learning.
-Kayla Hoakenson
Our students participating in a Ice Breaker activity on Arrival Day
Hey Families!
What a month May has been! We have had a few action packed weekends since our students arrived on campus. We started off with a Saturday trip to The Columbia River Gorge where we went skateboarding, picnicked on the river, went swimming and ate ice cream. The following day we gave back to our community by picking up trash at Ski Bowl then followed with a hike to a locals favorite spot, Little Hawaii!
The following weekends have been filled with trips to The Portland Zoo, Par 3 golfing, a stop at Tactics skate shop, amusement parks, waterfall hikes & hanging at the beach. We are looking forward to more fun weekends in the future!
-Luke Giacopelli, Marianna Goings & Levi Thompson
What a start to the spring term! Beautiful weather, a small team who hit it off on what seems like the first day hanging out! Aaron took down Elijah in some one on one basketball so he’s been on cloud nine, rematch will be coming soon! Lorena been holding down as only girl on campus but keeping up with the boys and showing them a few things about how to get it done on hill and off as well.
Everyone is working hard and progressing everyday with something new! The coach to student ratios have been small so it’s been awesome getting after it with the smaller groups!
Flow park was going off on the mountain and there was the reminiscent of its tits (snowboarding for breast cancer awareness) and we hit lots of transition the first week, kids were loving it working all directions regular and switch!
There was one of the best 22 foot pipes we have seen that time of year so we took full advantage and how the fundamentals of toe and heel side carve play into going massive in a pipe! Lorena stomped first alley-oop andrecht!
We currently have campus to ourselves! It’s going to be an amazing summer!!!
Brandon, Elijah and Crew!!
Dear Freeski families,
We have had a great first month at the Academy, and each student athlete has quickly found themselves at home here on campus. We have had a wide range of action packed days over the course of May! From utilizing the trampolines to break down tricks and really focus on fundamentals, to having some great sessions on the dry slope rail setup where each athlete has walked away with a new trick. We took full advantage of a rainy day and fired up the Airbag Jump where everyone got dialed in on some unnatural tricks and had the ease of mind to try tricks prior to taking them to snow.
Our time on snow has been incredibly productive. The main focuses have been overall fundamentals: line selection, body position, air awareness and proper takeoffs. The growth of each student from day one to today has been exponential! In addition to the focus on park fundamentals we have pushed each of them on their actual skiing technique which directly translates to their park performance. To close, the overall vibe is at an all time high with every student getting along and feeding off of each other making for the best learning/living experience possible. We have been really stoked on this crew and hope to see everyone again soon!
All the best,
Brian McCarthy & Topher Newett
Our Guest Speakers include Academy Alumni & X Games Gold Medalist Alex Hackel, and Trustee member Luke "The Dingo" Trembath. You can find the graduation via Facebook Live by using this link:
www.facebook.com/wyeastmountainacademy/live
If you have any questions, please email Luke@wyeastacademy.com. We look forward to seeing you all there!
March epitomizes life at Wy’East Academy with students applying to college while working on school on the road for competitions & film shoots. Time management is one of the hardest skills to master in life & all of the students have been applying what they have learned to balance the rigors of maximizing their time to progress athletically, academically & residentially. Time waits for no man & we are proud of all of our students who did their best to stay on top of their busy schedules while competing for spots against the best in the world & producing amazing content for social media. I have been amazed by our staff here who have been working together to support each other across all of the different departments to help the students stay on pace to finish the year strong & achieve their goals. Spring has sprung & while there is still a lot of snow on the mountains, we have started to get more sunny days as a reminder that summer is just around the corner. We are looking forward to finishing the 2020-2021 school year as the best year ever with two of our students moving forward in the most prestigious video ski contest in the world matched by our seniors stacking up acceptance letters to over a dozen four year universities in three different countries! This year would not have been possible without the support of our amazing parents so thank you all for working with us over the course of the last seven months.
-Mike Hanley
March has been a spectacular start to a sunny spring here in Sandy, Oregon. Each team was able to travel this month, and the students did a great job of preparing for their trips by getting ahead in classes. During school breaks, students have been taking advantage of the sunshine and enjoying our facilities on campus: the outdoor supertramp, the concrete jungle, and the mountain bike trails especially.
With the School Day SAT around the corner, April 13th, students signed up to take the SAT are preparing for the standardized test by taking additional practice tests, studying tips and tricks, and going over test answer explanations
The campus overall average GPA is 3.33 (B+); students are getting closer to achieving the Wy’East Mountain Academy goal of earning a 3.5 GPA. As the end of the semester approaches, students are working towards improving their grades and finalizing their coursework plans with our academic staff, and seniors are anxiously awaiting graduation.
Kayla Hokanson chose Madison Weisman for Student of the Month because she works proactively, she produces exceptional work, and she sets high goals for herself and works diligently to achieve them.
Jaime Vincent chose Hazel Predpelski for Student of the Month because she always comes to class first/early, applied to a few colleges, and has been staying focused!
Robbie Walters chose Joey Killeen for Student of the Month because he is always on time and on task with a respectful attitude. He is a pleasure to have in class and always meets or exceeds expectations.
-Jaime Vincent, Kayla Hokanson & Robbie Walters
With the weather getting warmer and dryer, students have been able to enjoy the never ending wonders of campus. They have been soaking up the sun while skating in the jungle and setting up the mountain bike airbag. You know it is springtime when the tie-dye comes out! Each team will have the opportunity to create a bag or dye something of their own. We had a few teams go adventure off campus in search of waterfalls near the Columbia River Gorge. Eagle Creek was closed due to a recent storm but the students were able to find some beautiful waterfalls nearby. The skate team had to put their mind to the test while also experiencing a fun way to build some positive team energy at the Escape Rooms in Portland. While they did not complete the challenge, they were presented with all new puzzles and a completely new and surprising storyline. For students who haven’t been behind a wheel yet, they went down to K1 Speed for some go-karting! The mountain bike team did pretty well at K1 speed with Harper getting 3rd place. We are very excited for the students for the next upcoming adventure this semester has in store for them.
-Alissa Hetzel, Phil Geyselaers, Asa Howe, Levi Thompson, Aaron Reynolds & Natala Thorenson
Hello Bike Families,
The end of the semester is quickly approaching and we are all still working hard to get everyone ready for the race season coming up. We will be starting a Race Team this summer with the hopes of keeping everyone involved throughout the summer and supported at the races. If you have any interest, or know of anyone who may be interested please let me know. We will still be offering a Summer Academy Semester as well as Camps. We are also starting to fill up for next year so if you are planning on returning I recommended confirming your spot sooner than later.
In March we added a few new places to the list of places we have ridden including Capital Forest, The Lumberyard and Windrock, Tennessee. We had a great trip for the Tennessee National which was our first National Event as well as our first trip flying with bikes. We had some success and learned a lot. Some highlights were Etan getting 3rd and Jackson 10th in Cat 1 U16, Kade getting 10th in Sport U21, and Taylor, Harper and Coach Asa’s lines in the RedBull Freeride event.
-Wynn Berns & Tyler Vollopito
The snowboard crew has just returned to campus after a stellar month spent in three different states riding big named destinations like Copper Mountain, Mammoth, Squaw Valley, and Boreal. March provided some seriously good times starting with our finals days in Colorado. We soaked up the sunshine riding Woodward at Copper before the second Rev Tour stop; however, on competition day, the weather proved to be challenging with a storm rolling in. Isabella and Arianna both managed to push through the conditions and made the best of it. Everyone was looking forward to getting home after almost three weeks on the road, while Oregon recorded something like 18 feet of new snow, so we were welcomed back with a whole new park set up at Timberline that made for some great training!
Our time in Oregon didn’t last too long before we packed back up and hit the road down to sunny California for an event at Mammoth and some days in Lake Tahoe. Day one at Mammoth provided the crew with an unexpected pow day that did not disappoint! We managed to get some local intel about an area of the mountain that was untouched so naturally, that’s exactly where we went and stayed for most of the day. To complete the full Mammoth experience we then ventured out to the hot springs during the evening to enjoy a good soak and appreciate being in a new place. The team was able to practice for the event for three days before competing on that Thursday with a pretty big field of snowboarders. Hazel, Arianna, Kennedy, and Willie represented for the academy!
We wrapped up our time in Mammoth on that Friday, hopped back in the van and sent it a few hours north up to Tahoe. We turned that travel day into a very fun adventure stopping at Mono Lake, three different skateparks, Sierra Nevada University, and dipped in Lake Tahoe all before ending up at our Air BnB in Truckee. I think it’s safe to say that everyone was blown away by the beauty that Lake Tahoe holds as it truly is something special. We decided to take Saturday morning to continue our adventurous spirit and drive around the lake, starting on the West shore and going south to Emerald Bay, South Lake, and then back up to North Lake and Truckee. That evening the crew went to Boreal for some sunset into full moon boarding- I don’t know what could have made that day any better. Our final day on the road was spent at Squaw Valley with warm temps and sunshine. What a way to end the trip!
While most other resorts are starting to think about shutting down this month, it’s time for us to unpack our bags and settle in for the much anticipated Spring riding at Timberline. We are very much looking forward to our final month of the semester as things are just heating up here in Oregon and are looking amazing for the summer program shredding!
Cheers to spring!
Elijah Teter, Brandon Sorel, & Luke Giacopelli
Greetings Ski Families!
We have been on the go all of this month with snow storms, private park shoots, and a team trip to mammoth. It really has been March madness in the best sense of the saying! Timberline is logging 485” of annual snowfall this season which is the most they’ve had in years. With all of the snow has come some amazing terrain parks and training opportunities for us.
The highlight of this month was our trip to Spokane, who really rolled out the red carpet for us! They were excited for us to come up and create some content for us providing us with lift tickets and meals for the entire squad. Their park was a fun mix of large, small and everything in between sized features with a creative layout. All of this was accessed by a nostalgic single pole double chair that took you to the top with a great view of Spokane and the surrounding area. They even set up a sunrise shoot where we loaded the lifts at 5:30am, and were greeted at the park by the mountains marketing team, a hired photographer and a fleet of sleds to tow the students back to the top of jump! They were stoked on our team and have extended an for us to come back anytime!
Now that the bulk of our travel for the semester is over we look forward to spending some time at home and enjoying some slushy spring laps on Mt. Hood!
-Brian McCarthy, Kevin "Tweak" Merchant & Griffin Dunne
