If you’re into skateboarding, most of the camps have somethng for you to session. When I was at Windell’s, Dave Lee, C.B. Burnside, Andy Hetzel, Matty Goodman, Mike Ranquet, Dave Smellie, and Blotto had an epic session one night after dinner, dropping in one after the other, over and over again in a cycle of amazing talent. Everyone was super stoked, cheering each other on, laughing, whistling, and just having fun—no cameras, no contest, no money. On any given day, Todd Richards can be found at the High Cascade ramp, demostrating exactly where his snowboarding halfpipe abilities came from.

During sessions like that, there aren’t too many campers out there, except the groms like Shaun White and Nick Larson. But the off-hours, say around noon, are the best time to go out and get experimental. The one day we didn’t go snowboarding, there were a bunch of—dare I say it—in-line skaters ripping it up. There were tons girls out there, too. One camper dropped in from one of the higher decks, something she’d been working toward all session. I imagine a lot of things will be easy for her after accomplishing that.

Most of the camps have demo equipment available for skateboarding (and snowboarding), so no worries if you don’t have your own deck.

What else is there to do?

You name it—wakeboarding, mountain biking, skateboarding, movies, shopping in Portland—whatever. All the camps offer a ton of activities if you don’t feel like going up on the hill. The best is the trampolines. They have snowboards you can strap into with your sneakers and practice grabs and spins or whatever is your fantasy.

— Alison Berkley