Local youths summer ski at Mount Hood

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POCATELLO — Most gradeschoolers dream of summer when they can fill their long days with swimming, riding bikes and camping. Oh, and snow skiing.

Say what?

Three Pocatello gradeschoolers and ski racing pals are heading to Mount Hood in Oregon this weekend to attend the Mount Hood Summer Ski Camp. Landry Walker and Brook Chilton, both 9, along with Jake Gebo, 8, will ski the still ample snow on the mountain’s glacier at 10,000 feet. The students will be trained in the finer points of ski racing by former and current World Cup athletes.

“In the sweltering heat of July,” adds Landry’s father, Bob Walker.

Actually, at nearly two miles above sea level and starting at 7 a.m. in the morning, it’s still plenty nippy when the skiers hit the hill. However, it quickly warms up and the young athletes begin to shed layers.

Brook, Landry and Jake all competed this winter with the Pebble Creek race team.

Besides being fun, their weeklong experience should give them a leg up for next year’s racing.

“It’s just a nice way of getting the kids on snow so it’s not such a big gap from winter skiing,” said Walker. “For them to run gates for six days in a row with a lot of coaching should springboard them a whole season ahead.”

Jake’s dad, Paul Gebo, said his son is anxious to learn.

“He wants to work on his slalom skiing so he gets closer to gates,” Gebo said. “He’s got some goals.”

Brook’s dad, Brad Chilton, grew up going to race camps, but notes that this camp is a lot different than those he experienced.

“She’s nine and that’s a little young, so you’ve got to keep it fun,” Chilton said.

Chilton explained that this camp is not as intensive as others where participants ski during the morning and have grueling workouts the rest of the day. Instead, the participants can choose from whitewater rafting, rock climbing, soccer, cliff jumping, hiking, mountain biking, volleyball, windsurfing, paintball, softball or tennis, among other pastimes in the afternoons.

“It’s all about fun at this stage, not necessarily about making the U.S. team this winter,” Chilton said.

Still, skiing is the focus. The camp includes instructors with vast experience.

The lure of summer skiing, combined with World Cup instructors, brings lots of people to the camp, Chilton said.

“The kids will meet people from all over the country and possibly all over the world, which is fun,” he said.

The warm weather that beguiles participants also presents ongoing maintenance problems. Keeping the courses from becoming too soft requires the groomers to employ an interesting practice.

“They salt the daylights out of it,” Chilton said.

While people use salt to melt ice on their walks and driveways, salt keeps the snow from melting, keeping the race courses firm for the racers.

It can take a lot of salt. One ski camp reported using more than 50,000 pounds of salt on its Mt. Hood course last year.

Chilton said if the snow pack becomes too thin, the U.S. Forest Service forbids the practice, as it affects the underlying glaciers. There’s no danger of that this year.

“This is a big snow year,” Chilton said. “It’s almost one of their record snow years.”

Walker said the girls are anxious to participate in the unique experience.

“She can hardly stand herself,” Walker said of daughter Landry. “She and Brooke are both super excited.”

Gebo said he is as excited about the event as his son is.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so excited for those kids,” he said. “They’ll never be on a level playing field with the kids from Sun Valley or Jackson Hole, but I don’t think that’s any of our goals. We just want them to enjoy skiing.”

“It’s just a wonderful experience they get to have,” Chilton said. “It’s 95 and we’re getting ready to go to the ski hill for a week.”

By John Bulger

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