The Blue Angels Youth Ski & Snowboard Program has been providing California children and teens with the opportunity to learn and fine-tune their snowboarding and skiing skills with friends and other snow-sport enthusiasts for the past 24 years. In 1992 the camp was awarded the prestigious New Skier/Snowboard Development grant by the Snowsports Industries America (SIA) for its contributions to the growth of winter sports. This season marks the 25th anniversary of California’s most established youth ski and snowboard program, contributing close to 100,000 skier days* to California resorts over the past two decades.
To celebrate the milestone, Blue Angel Snow teamed up with web development/design and online marketing expert Brad Fernbaugh of SR3 Group to create a visual and interactive platform to share the on-snow experiences of the many children and teens in our communities and introduce #GOSNOW, a new initiative to promote youth skiing and snowboarding. The new look for Blue Angel Snow provides a fresh new face for the brand. With easy access to information and content, the interface presents the user with a rich user experience. The new website is fully functional on all devices.
The Blue Angels Youth Ski and Snowboard Program offers a five Saturday camp catering to children and teenagers (ages 7-16) of all ability levels and provides an environment in which youth can ski/snowboard with friends while learning from a professional coach. Program participants are placed in similar level groups of 8-10 and assigned to one instructor for the duration of the program. The consistency of having the same coach each Saturday and having groups of equal age and ability is ideal for learning and the camp structure lends itself to developing many other skills as well. According to one parent, “My son learned more than I could ever teach him! He also gained many other skills from his experience, such as keeping organized, using good judgment, observing weather conditions and maintaining energy during a long day. The program is the perfect way for kids to ride all winter long when parents don’t have the time, energy or money to make multiple trips to the mountains!”
The resort instructors also enjoy being a part of the program. According to program director Heidi Emery, “Blue Angel Snow is very rewarding to the instructors. It gives them a chance to really get to know each participant and work individually with everyone in their group. Assessing participant’s progress over five Saturdays gives the coaches an opportunity to fine-tune each participants’ skills. In fact, the program is so popular with the instructors that they have been known to rearrange their schedules to compete for a position to coach the program.”
The on-snow experience is not the only feature that draws young snowboarders and skiers to this unique program. They also enjoy the lifestyle aspect of the sport that includes socializing with other young snowboarders and skiers during lunch and at the days end. The private group area designated for “Blue Angels Only” features a kid/teen friendly area with music, pro-rider appearances and sponsor giveaways.
As we approach our 25th season, we reflect on the amazing kids and parents we’ve known along the way, some of which may now even have their own kids hitting the slopes! We have been honored to work with some many amazing volunteer chaperones and ski/snowboard instructors as well. We can’t wait to meet our new crew in 2017! For more information about The Blue Angels Youth Ski and Snowboard Program or #GOSNOW, head on over to www.BlueAngelSnow.com or call us at (858) 509-8926.
*Skier Days – A day of skiing purchased in a ski area, used to measure the number of skiers in any one particular ski area.