Most of the camps have pro coaches who work with campers full-time, so you will definitely get to log in some serious riding time with them. As full-time coaches, they’ll be there to help you on the hill as well as off, so you’ll have plenty of time to hang out and get to know them. At Windell’s, Chris Englesman, Lance Pittman, Adam Merriman, Rob Kingwell, Blotto, and Mike Estes were on staff, while Tricia Byrnes, Athena, Wendy Wyvill and others worked at High Cascade.

But there’s kind of this pecking order with pros, where the more established, shall we call them "comfortable" ones who have been around a little longer can afford to hang around and do less work because their names attract campers. These pros are considered "guest coaches," which essentially means their only obligation is to show up and ride that camp’s pipe but not necessarily put in any real coaching time, although some do take it upon themselves to get involved with campers just because they enjoy it. So don’t expect to be throwing out shakas to Terje, ’cause it probably isn’t gonna happen. But what’s cool is that you might get to see Peter Line or Daniel Franck do their thing in the pipe outside of a contest situation where they’re just going off and trying new things with no worries.

Being at Hood and seeing those guys ride live is even more impressive than the videos. Other big pros like Todd Richards (who spends the majority of his summers at High Cascade and often works with campers), Jamil Kahn, Shannon Dunn, Ian Spiro, Hillary Maybery, Jimi Halopoff, Jennie Waara, Kevin Jones, Jon Sommers, Devun Walsh, J.F. Pelchat, and countless others swarm all over the glacier, often building tremendous kickers for photo shoots. They had this one 80-foot table top that claimed at least one injury a day, but it was siiiick to watch.

The best thing to do when choosing a camp is ask which pros are full-time coaches and which are guest coaches. The full-timers are more committed to actually giving you the time of day, but with a little luck, if there’s a guest coach you’re interested in meeting, it might be worth it to take your chances; some of ’em will take the time to work with you, some won’t, but either way you’ll get to see them do their thing.

Many of the best pros to hang with are the up and comers, the guys at the bottom of the totem pole who don’t even have the clout to coach yet. They’re often diggers, which means they gotta work their asses off, but they’re usually really involved with the camp and super dedicated to snowboarding. I’m thinkin’ of people like Dave Smellie and Brodie Dowell from Jackson—two of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and ripping, just not blown up (yet). So stay tuned—your camp’s digger could be huge next season.

— Alison Berkley