Summer Snowboarding on a Glacier?

AC's Mike Kai flying high

     Just imagine, you're carving turns in firm corduroy snow and catching air with your friends. But wait, its July, 2000! This dream for millions of recreational and pro skiers and snowboarders is actually a reality for many.

     Each year, hundreds of avid snow goers from all over the world flock to Mt. Hood, Oregon to enjoy summer skiing on the Palmer Glacier at Timberline Ski Resort, which has over 1500 vertical feet of elevation.

     AC team co-founder Mike Kai (age 17) grabbed his snowboard and hopped a plane to this snowboarding Mecca to attend a summer session at High Cascade Snowboard Camp at Mount Hood. The camp, which is sold-out for months in advance, accommodates about 150 snowboarders weekly, attending from all over the U.S. and Asia.

     Japanese natives Satoru Nemoto, from Lake Tahoe, California and Yukiko Ishikawa who resides in Bend, Oregon, say snowboarding in Japan has grown tremendously in the past few years. 

Satoru Nemoto & Yukiko Ishikawa

     However, Nemoto says, the high cost of enjoying snowboarding has limited it to only a small culture in Japan. For example, according to the two, it costs over a hundred dollars US per day to snowboard in Japan. For these reasons and also to enjoy the snowboard experience in North America, many Japanese people have chosen to spend their summers in Mt. Hood.

     Currently, High Cascade Snowboard Camp is perhaps the leading snowboard camp in the area. It's the closest camp to the Timberline Ski Resort, located in Government Camp, just minutes away.

     Many of the snowboard instructors at HCSC are world ranked. For example, Mikes coach, Mike Estes is both a pro snowboarder and president of DOD Photography based in Portland, Oregon. Campers are encouraged to push themselves to become a better snowboarder by learning new tricks and techniques.

     Snowboard manufacturers offer their best, next-season equipment for boarders to try out. Media teams covering the latest trends in snowboarding constantly film and interview the HCSC campers. At HCSC, snowboard enthusiasts are able to live their dreams.

Name:  Keijiro Kasahara

Age: 23

Nationality: Japan, Nagano

Experience:

Snow Maintenance for HCSC - 2 years
Snowboard Camper - 2 years
Snowboarding - 5 years

Favorite part of camp: Halfpipe and dinner time
                                     (camp served both Japanese and American cuisine)

Achievements:

Japan Nippon Open 17th
US Open 47th

Sponsors: Burton Japan, RSS Burton, Von Zipper, Parrot Boardshop, Area 51

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