by
Shanti Sosienski
The idea for the Jeff Fulton Snowboard Camp was born last Spring after Jeff,
Craig Kelly, and Steve Klassen went to Japan to film their segments in Exit
with AdventureScope. In Japan Jeff met an Australian named Willy who ran
a restaurant called Gravity Worx that was connected with a snowboard shop
with the same name in a place Hakuba.
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The man, Jeff Fulton and Snowboard Connection's Tahru. |
Willy and Paul Chetwood were the group's guides and hosts while the crew filmed at the legendary deep pow resort Tingendara, and after the trip was finished Jeff decided to stay with Willy and the Gravity Worx folks for a few weeks.
"I became good friends with Paul and Willy, and one night while we were all sitting around bullshitting, we came up with the idea to do an American run snowboard camp in Japan," said Jeff. Apparently there hasn't ever been a snowboard camp in Japan that brought in big name American pros to teach the Japanese how to ride on their own turf.
"When the Japanese snowboarders go to Hood they are on vacation, so it's a lot different when they are here. They take the experience much more seriously in Japan," he explained. "An average Japanese camper tends to be a little older than the American campers, and they've usually saved up for this. In the U.S. it's Mom and Dad who've sent them to camp and so in a way I don't think the American kids are as serious. You can tell the difference between these kids and the ones who get sent to camp."
Running a snowboard camp made sense to Jeff, who has been a snowboarder for around seventeen years and has coached at Windell's for the last five years. So, with the idea in the works, Jeff added a Northwest flair by inviting a number of Mt. Baker celebs to coach the camp, and also brought in Japan's number one worshipped pro Jamie Lynn.
At the time when the plans for the camp first began taking shape Tsugaike, a resort on the edge of Hakuba and close to Gravity Worx where Will worked, was looking for a way to encourage more snowboarders to come to the resort. The mountain had recently designed a snowboard park, but still wasn't seeing much traffic in it. Jeff lay down a proposal to the mountain that he would redesign the park for them next season, and he would bring in a camp for two weeks that would generate hype for the resort. Thus the Jeff Fulton Snowboard Camp was born.
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The entire Jeff Fulton Snowboard Camp in one little photo. How special. |
The goal of the camp was to have at least 60 campers per session. However, being that it was the end of the season and most snowboarders in Japan spend their savings on snowboard trips and supplies earlier in the season, the camp only had a total of around 50 people for both sessions.
"I think the biggest problem, was that a lot of the Japanese campers didn't really believe we were going to bring the pros like Jamie here," said Jeff. " We got calls from people asking us if this was a joke."
When Jamie Lynn arrived at the camp it was obvious that the campers who had spent over a thousand dollars to be there were not sorry at all that they spent the money. For two days he signed autographs non-stop, personally autographing and drawing pictures on campers jackets, posters, blank autograph-specific note cards, and anything else that was shoved in front of him. He posed for pictures, handed out awards on the last day, and overall was an excellent addition to an already fun camp experience.
In the week that campers were there they were coached by Tom Nordwal, Kris Swierz, Brian "B" Hartman, Joe Bailey, and Josh Barrett, as well as by a group of top Japanese pros like number one vert skater and pro snowboarder, Caba and the fifth ranking snowboarder in Japan, Rio Tahara. The coaching seemed to work well as campers couldn't even drop in from the lip of the pipe on the first day, and by the last day they were hucking 360s and methods like they'd been riding pipe for years.
The camp is currently still underway and will probably take place over the same weeks next year.
"My main emphasis in snowboarding has always been to have fun, because I think we all get a little too serious at times," said Jeff. And that's exactly what the Jeff Fulton Snowboard Camp seemed to be all about as the first session came to a close, and campers walked away with some nice goody bags, a lot of autographs, and great memories of a week snowboarding with some good ol' boys from the Northwest.
For more information on the Jeff Fulton Snowboard Camp in Tsugaike: www.hitpark.com
Wrap-Up:
The Twisting Road To Nagano
Day 3: Sliding
On the Japanese Pro Scene
Day 2: Patience
Is Not An American Trait
Day 1: Welcome
To Japan: Now Get In Line