After a Kit Day in March which saw 230 people kitted out with ski and snowboard gear (thank you to our last minute kit saviours, Oakley, Tran Am, Moah and Vans) and a staff training weekend for the 70 staff and volunteers at the Bowles Outdoor Centre we were well and truly ready for Snow-Camp 2010. Five full coaches rolled out of London heading for the Alps and the start of a fantastic week full of new experiences, adventures and a whole lot of skiing and snowboarding. The weather was good to us, fresh snow the week before and sun most of the week gave our young people the perfect opportunity to progress. The resort offered fantastic greens and blue runs and with the help of the UCPA instructors and Snow-Camp volunteers, the young people progressed amazingly. One special moment of many was looking 180 degrees around the huge bowl at top of Vars gondola and just seeing group after group of Snow-Camp young people all learning, laughing and loving being in the mountains. The Life-skill sessions brought up the usual emotions and challenges and enabled the young people to learn about themselves alongside their new snowsports skills. And the award ceremony topped it all off in Club Le Lem, a fantastic night to finish and recognise all the achievements of the week. The Movie will be the only way to truly capture what happened, but for a taster in photos see link below.

Movie Premiere 2010 – VUE cinemas have kindly confirmed they will be hosting our Movie Premiere evening once again – at Fulham Broadway VUE on 14th June. Put the date in your diary and watch this space for details.

http://www.qubephotography.com/snowcamp2010.zip

The first ever Graduate Programme ended with a fantastic weekend at Milton Keynes on the 6th / 7th March. Tim Fawke, CEO of Snowsport England who co-fund the course, was on hand for the final session to see the progress the young people have made with their skiing and snowboarding, and to hand out the awards and certificates. Tim commented "I’m so impressed with the commitment and enthusiasm shown by the young people, and the level of proficiency reached – we are very proud to be supporting this project through Snowsport England."
35 young people graduated, and we are already planning the next course starting Summer 2010. If you are a company that could offer an opportunity to one of our graduates, please get in touch!

We are very pleased to welcome Chabris Napier-Lawrence and Elaine France to the Snow-Camp team after an evening of interviews on the 25th March. Chabris joins as Youth Volunteer Coordinator and Elaine as Commercial Manger, and we are positive both will be fantastic assets to the charity.

Discussions are well underway with a leading snowsports company to produce his and hers Snow-Camp ski jackets in time for the next winter season. We are very excited about the possibilities of this opportunity and will keep you posted on developments. Who knows, maybe a Snow-Camp Ski jacket could be on your Christmas list this year...!