Sometimes the most positive things in life tend to happen when you least expect it. This grand mystery of life plays itself over and over, providing the lesson that one needs to keep vigilant less they miss something that might affect their existence. This example even holds true in the small and closed world of snowboarding.

One of the mainstays of the general public is the shared opinion that snowboarding is mostly the pursuit of social outcasts who live for the moment engaging in a damn the torpedo's kind of existence where the only thought given is to hedonistic pleasures. While this scenario is less true with every passing year, snowboarding is still looked upon with a jaundiced eye, seen as a sport that takes more than it gives. This perspective is rapidly undergoing a severe paradigm shift as snowboarding develops a social conscience in areas throughout the US

A place in which the myth of the uninvolved snowboarder is fading fast and where this new boarder consciousness can be felt is in Vail, Colorado where a group of riders known as the Snowboard Outreach Society has made a dramatic impact by raising money through snowboard related events and donating the proceeds towards many community organizations that are working with the youth of the Vail/Eagle Valley area.

As with most progressive ideas, whether on the snow or not, it usually is up to the determination of one person to start the process of awareness. In the example of bringing the Snowboard Outreach Society to a viable association, that determination belonged to Arn Menconi, a snowboard instructor at Vail Associates.

Arn's impetus for the formation of the Snowboard Outreach Society was to show "that attitude doesn't necessarily mean bad" and to change the "typecasting by many who feared the look, feel and style of snowboarding." This is of primary importance as Arn feels that "SOS came together to show that being different can also be a means of making a difference." This idea was to be the overriding factor as Arn spread the message and gathered riders of all ages and attitudes to volunteer their time and energy for something larger than just riding on snow.

The Snowboard Outreach Society's first event to raise money was a snowboard halfpipe contest and was the precursor to more events both on and off the snow raising funds for a myriad of youth organizations in the Vail/Eagle Valley including: Vail Associates Project Challenge, Colorado Youth at Risk, The Jimmy Huega MS Center, and The Vail Recreation District's Youth Grant Program.

The value of this story is not the money that is raised, but to what level the consciousness of those who participate is raised. For it is the changed attitude that will make the difference in the lives of others as snowboarders take their unique abilities as individuals and make them work in a society that many did not feel that they belonged. The Snowboard Outreach Society is a unique group of riders who have made a difference.

It is through these efforts that snowboarding will be seen not only as a sport for youth but as a sport that gives back to youth its best quality; snowboarding's sense of community that riders have always shared in the company of each other.

Snowboard Outreach Society
Arn Menconi at (970) 845-7040
[email protected]

Snowboard Outreach Society
P.O. Box 2020
Avon, CO 81620

Greg Johnson ([email protected]) is head halfpipe judge for the FIS. He lives in Vail, Colorado.