Oakley Progression Sessions: Day 1

Wow ok, I have put this off for far too long.  The reason I procrastinated on this post is because I felt like there was so much to talk about; I couldn’t possibly fit all of my excitement in a blog post!  Well, I won’t cover everything (after all, I want to leave you with some incentive to come check out OPS for yourself!) but I will try to hit all the major highlights.

 

I’ll give you a quick background on Oakley Progression Sessions first for those of you who haven’t already heard me rambling on and on about this program.  Oakley Progression Sessions (OPS) is a two-day ski and snowboard camp for women looking to hone their skills on the mountain.  The camp comes to four locations throughout North America.  Each camp is led by professional coaches and Oakley Team athletes who are ready to share the lowdown on how to ride like they do.  You also get a sick swag bag and custom Oakley goggles.  The price ranges from $189 - $300 depending on the location but it pays itself off really fast.

That's me on the right!!

I literally can not say ENOUGH good things about this program.  Through OPS I’ve hit backside 180s, started to work on 360s, became comfortable riding switch, improved my confidence level, and forged lifelong friendships with like-minded ladies.  THAT is PRICELESS, in my opinion.

ANYWAY—my trip to OPS started out a bit rough this year.  We were headed to Squaw Valley and I missed my flight (user error: I left my cell phone at home and decided I couldn’t possibly live without it—I know, I know…cut the cord already!).  But after riding standby on FULL flights all the way to Reno, I made it!  I picked up my girl Meggie and we drove to Squaw to meet up with my snowlmate Julie and our Little One Chelsea, who would be staying in a cabin on the lake with us.  Cha would meet up with us later that evening as well.  We relaxed and then headed to The Village to pick out our custom goggles, pick up our swag bag, and reunite with our friends from OPS 2012.

Left to right: Chelsea the "Little One", Julie "Snowlmate", Meggie "Megatron", Cha "Cha Cha Real Smooth" and me (I need a nickname still apparently...)

Day 1 was a WHIRLWIND!  Blue skies, sunshine, perfect hoodie weather.  Could we ask for anything more??  We spent the morning exchanging hugs and smiles with girls and coaches we had met at OPS Mammoth last year.   Our morning yoga was led by the one and only Lacey Calvert.  Once our bodies were stretched and warmed up, we were ready to split into groups and hit the slopes.  We were split into groups based on our skill level and off we went!

Our first coach was Jenny Jones.  Ok, three things you must know about Jenny Jones

1.       She is a BADASS (youtube her)

2.       She is British

3.       She is hilarious

 

Seriously—I couldn’t even pick a favorite coach if I tried because they all bring something different to the table; Jenny is definitely top 5 though.  Anyway we spent the morning with her working on riding switch, ollies, and jumps.  I perfected my Indy grab and started working on tail grabs.  It was so epic. 

 

In the afternoon we switched coaches and went riding in the smaller park with Marie-France Roy.  Ok MFR (youtube her also) is literally one of the coolest people I’ve ever met.  Not coolest pro, not coolest lady snowboarder, coolest PERSON.  She’s the most down-to-earth, generous, sustainable French-Canadian I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.  I consider her more than a coach, I consider her a friend.   So we spent the afternoon with her, working on some more skills.  She convinced me to work on frontside and backside 180s in order to start getting comfortable with the idea of throwing 360s.  I was hesitant at first, but when MFR says jump, you just say “which kind”.  Or how high I suppose, but I prefer which kind.

We ended Day 1 by running into the Oakley crew at the bar and sharing some stories and shotskis with them.  Couldn’t have picked a better ending to a better day.  I love my girls, I love Oakley, and damnit…I LOVE SNOWBOARDING.

Doing some Acroyoga with Jenny Jones

Shotskis!

 

Holy Crap It's 2013 Y'all

I haven’t updated this blog in a year!  FOR SHAME!  The good  news is…it’s because I’ve been so super busy LIVING!  So let me restart my commitment to my blog with a quick update of…gosh…the past year?  Don’t worry, I’ll keep it short and simple, I promise!

·    March – Moved to Valley Center to live with my boyfriend and our 5 dogs.  Huge step for me!  The dogs are SO much happier in VC.  They have an acre to run around on, birds to watch, gophers to chase, and dirt to roll in.  Happy dogs = happy me J

   ·    June – One year anniversary with my honey AND the puppers first birthday. 

·    July – 26^th birthday spent in Grand Cayman with my parents.  The downside: perforating my eardrum on the first scubadive and not being able to scubadive the rest of the week!  Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!  Don’t worry, I still had fun J

 

·    August – Started my new job at Bilstein Shock Absorbers!  Definitely one of the coolest gigs I’ve had thus far (except dog washing at Petco…obviously).  And won a rock climbing gift certificate at a raffle.  Date night!

·    September - Ran my SECOND Half Marathon with Team in Training to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Disneyland Half Marathon was my run of choice.  So much fun!  I ran in memory of my Uncle Steven, who died when he was just 26 after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma 6 years prior.

 

 

·    October – SEMA!  Ho-ly-Crap!  I got to attend SEMA.  It’s basically the biggest automotive show in North America, no biggie.  Downside: I had to work the entire time; Upside: I got to sit in the Audi R8 that had just won the 24 Hours Race at the Nurburgring.  Unreal.  Oh and Snoop Lion walked by our booth, that was cool too.

 

 

·    November – Riding in a Nascar stock racing car with my dad!   Also, watching him bond with my little Peanut on Thanksgiving (heart melt!).

 

·    December – The best Christmas I’ve ever had.  Not only did I get to spend time with my family, but I also got to spend time with Jared’s.  I’m so blessed to be a part of two loving families.  And my mom got me a bunch of workout clothes for Christmas; she knows me so well J

 

·    January – It’s 2013!  New Year, new start, new ideas, new me, new everything!  We started off our New Year’s with a ride in the desert with Jared’s fam.  I got to ride in the buggy for the first time!  Ho-ly-CRAP that is fun!  Those things rip!  I can’t wait to get a quad so I can join that badass crew

February – Whew, here we are!  We’ve come full circle!  February was action packed though!  Here are some highlights (which will soon have their own dedicated entries):

·       Snowbasin with my honey and my parents!

·       Huge gardening project

·       Crossfit 858 Team Competition

And March.  Don’t even get me started on what’s coming up in March. 

     ·        Oakley Progression Sessions at Squaw Valley

     ·        Oakley VIP Session & Brand Ambassador Awesomeness

For 2013, I decided I would make monthly goals (which are a bit easier to stick with than one big lofty goal).  January’s was to Crossfit at least 3x a week (goal met!), February’s was to avoid dairy (epic fail—who knew I liked cheese so much???).  I think March’s will be to update my blog at least once a week.  Get me in the habit of updating this thing a bit more frequently.  Sorry Facebook—you might have to take a backseat for a bit, mama wants to try something new J

 

Thanks for hanging in during that update!  More to follow after this weekend (Oakley Progression Sessions!)