CHILL Perisher Snowboarding Trip 2010
The 2010 CHILL group. Image:: Thanks to CHILL
CHILL Snow Program 2010
CHILL is a not-for-profit, learn to ride board sport program for at-risk youth. Through the medium of board sports CHILL aids young people to accomplish goals they never thought possible, while teaching some of the most important lessons of life. Jake and Donna, the founders of Burton Snowboards, started Chill in 1995 in Burlington, Vermont to bring snowboarding to youth who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity.
For the past few years, CHILL Australia has been running snowboard programs for at-risk youth. This year, CHILL worked with Youth off the Streets to give 14 kids the opportunity to participate in the 2010 CHILL Snow Program.
Between 6 – 9 September 2010, 14 kids, youth workers from Youth off the Streets and CHILL staff hit the slopes at Perisher Ski Resort .
The kids arrived at the Snowy Valley Resort late on the Monday afternoon. After getting fitted out with all their Burton gear, there was time for a quick dinner before they were off to see a movie in Jindabyne.
The buses left at 7:30 Tuesday morning for the slopes at Perisher. Any concerns that the kids might not wake up in time were quickly extinguished when it started to snow at around 5am. Most of the kids had never seen snow before, and so by the time the buses left at 7:30, many had been up for a good few hours!
The first morning on the snow is always the hardest for the kids. They grabbed their lift passes, and then jumped straight into the Perisher snowboard lessons. After the two hour lessons, and with the gentle persuasion and persistent encouragement of Perisher and CHILL staff, most of the kids had picked up the basics. This meant that after a quick lunch on the snow, it was time to hit the 8 seater chairlift! There were more than a few tumbles, as the kids showed off their heel-side skills down front valley.
After a tiring first day on the slopes, the kids settled in for a quick dinner and a few games at the resort, before heading to bed for an early rest in preparation for day two.
Day two lessons saw some of the kids linking their heel-side and toe-side turns on the training slopes. However, when it came to putting these skills into practice from the top of the 8 seater chairlift, it proved to be more than a little challenging! If day one saw some kids falling on their backs, day two saw them tumbling down the hill. However, to their credit, the kids stuck with it, and by the end of the day everyone was having a great time doing runs up and down front valley.
On Day three the kids had the day to ride without lessons and explore their new skills. CHILL staff and Youth off the Streets workers took them up the mountain in groups as to what level they were riding in. Many of the kids progressed so much they found themselves over at Blue Cow with some of the CHILL staff members taking them on a tour. By lunchtime most of the kids, and staff, were exhausted. The weather started to roll in so we had a quick lunch and packed up the gear into the van for the long journey back to Sydney. The kids had one of the best trips and were hesitant to hand the gear over asking if they could get one more run in before we left. Many skills were developed as well as friendships on the 2010 CHILL Snow trip!
Huge thanks to the generosity of Perisher, Burton Snowboards and Oz Snow Adventures. Without their support, the CHILL Snow Program would not be possible.
Testimonies from the kids:
“The first morning I was so tired but was excited about finally seeing the snow. When we finally got there I couldn’t wait to start snowboarding. When we started I was surprised with how hard it was, it took me a while to learn how stop without falling over. After the trainer left us I started to pick it up and started going down the front run. After the first day I couldn’t wait for day 2 to start.”
“We all woke up about 6:30 and it was snowing! The greatest thing I had ever seen and not to mention it was cold. The CHILL Program people Stacy, John, Asher and Michael brought our snowboards for us. We all got separated into groups to learn how to snowboard which was really hard for me but by the looks of the boys they found it easy. Our teacher’s name was Jessica Honey, she was extremely nice, and I gave up by the middle of the lessons because I couldn’t do it, which was pretty stupid of me to do that. But after a while I got back on the board and Stacy helped me and I must say falling down on my butt really hurts on the snow. I finally got the chance to do it properly after learning how to do it; I even taught Lou and another one of our teachers how to snowboard from what I got taught.”
“I was a little nervous at first and the snowboard was a little weird and hard to get used to, but the teachers and staff at CHILL were very encouraging and in no time I was getting the lessons down pat. On the first day I learnt how to break heel side and add direction to me descent. I’m not going to lie and say that I got it instantly in fact I crashed into about 10 people on my first day, but I managed to grasp the idea of it soon enough. I wasn’t very confidant on my first day but by the time free time came around I mustered up enough courage to switch from the small hill to the valley!”
Youth Off the Streets testimony:
“The students from MHC attended the CHILL Foundation snow camp with a clear vision of the values we were building on and demonstrating in our day to day experiences. This was also quite a milestone in terms of having students from the New Pathways Residential Treatment Service attend an overnight camp. We were confident in the group we chose to attend, and worked closely with them in anticipating the challenges we would face, having strategies to address any potential problems and ensuring we had achievable goals.
We knew that we would face challenges because each individual is unique and would deal with problems, insecurities, boundaries and frustrations in different ways, but we also saw this is a fantastic opportunity to face any challenges head on by creating a supportive environment where we all had the opportunity to learn and grow.
It was with great pleasure and pride that student SS exceeded all our expectations, and perhaps his own, in terms of what he was able to achieve. SS has struggled with self-control and aggressive responses to his frustrations. He often finds boundaries difficult to navigate. He has often felt unworthy – even saying that he didn’t think he’d go on the trip because he’d stuff it up. SS has never enjoyed an experience like this because he’s spent most of his school life being excluded from activities. When you work with kids like SS, it’s very easy to see their potential from where we sit. It’s quite something else to be able to open the door far enough for them to see their own potential, and that’s what happened to SS on this trip.
We saw a young man emerge, who was aware of the impact of his behaviour on those around him, who was able to offer consistently positive encouragement to his peers, who let his own, genuine personality shine through, who was kind and supportive to everyone, who made friends because people simply liked being with him, who had a great sense of humour and who actively threw himself into all aspects of the camp. It was a real privilege to share this experience with someone who so clearly gained so much. To his credit, SS has maintained this attitude and we seem to have witnessed a real shift in the right direction.
It was also a great pleasure to work with the team from CHILL – Stacy, Michael, John and Asher. We felt welcomed, inspired, supported and thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the experience. Huge thank you to CHILL for all the hard work put into making this happen for our guys.”
CHILL participants with their Perisher instructor. Image:: Thanks to CHILL
Getting some one on one instructor time. Image:: Thanks to CHILL
Progression!. Image:: Thanks to CHILL
Perisher forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
