One of the coolest events SheJumps puts on is our (S)heJumps into the Canyon ski camp at Alta, UT. We offer the local athletes a chance to give back to their community and teach inner city Boys & Girls Club kids how to ski. This year, we were psyched to see most of our skiers from the Hispanic community. The truth is, skiing is quite the white man's sport so it's great to see this diverse group of kids get stoked on being skiers for life. Thanks to all of our coaches. Here's a wrap on each week (the last being March 28). —Vanessa Pierce, SJ VP & Co-Founder (Photos: Re Wikstrom)

WEEK 4
It was a beautiful sunny day at Alta, and we were so excited to be able to take ALL of the kids to the top of the mountain for the view. I was a little nervous to take Evelyn, 13, who was still in a wedge and had only been on the easiest runs thus far. But she was excited to go up with her boyfriend, Chippy, for the first time during the month. So we made it happen, safely of course. She did fantastic! On the way up the lift, she told me about her goals. In a big Hispanic family, she is carving out her niche. She wants to be an author covering the "genres" of science fiction and poetry. She rattled off one she wrote about Chippy, so cute (wish I could remember it). They have been together for 3 months. Stay tuned, I gave Evelyn a chance to write a column about her adventures/poetry on our website. She plans to start with a story about her experience learning how to ski. She's excited, and we are
excited to welcome her as a columnist (at 13)!

WEEK 3
I had a chance to ski today with Brooke, 16. The daughter of a cop comes off tough, and she is, but also so so nice—and determined. She was very excited to get her parallel turns down. This was just her second day of skiing ever, but you wouldn't have known. Being athletic definitely gave her an edge. Plus, she's familiar with mind-over-matter. "I used to get bad grades," she said, "but I wanted to get my lip pierced and my mom said, 'OK if you get a 3.8.' I got a 4.0." She figured it was way more worth it to get good grades, and it's paid off. She will be getting her Associates Degree before she even graduates high school due to advanced class loads, and lots of motivation. I'm proud of Brooke because she didn't have to be a go-getter, as both her older siblings never went to college, but she said she wil certainly attend. Thanks for taking up the ski challenge, too. Good luck in life, you're on your way!!


WEEK 2
It was a blizzard, more than a foot had dropped at Alta in 24 hours and 22 kids showed up to ski at week 2 of (S)heJumps into the Canyon. Valerie was was one of the new ones, a never ever who grew up in Texas. "I hate snow," she said. But she came, and gave it a go. After a trying morning/afternoon of balancing and stopping, we took our first trip up Sunnyside chairlift. With wobbles and bunches of falls, Valerie made it back down the green Crooked Mile run. "This is soooo fun!" she said with a beaming smile and covered in snow. She's coming back next week, and we've successfullying got another kid stuck on skiing. Thanks to all of our coaches on Sunday (Hannah Whitney, Pip Hunt, Lindsey Van, Meggan Klassen, Meredith Riley, Kate Hourihan, and photographer Re Wikstrom)—and a big thanks to Alta Ski Area. Photos coming soon. If you want to coach for the last two camps (March 21, 28), please email vanessa@shejumps.com). It's a great opportunity to give back to the SLC community, especially by being a mentor to many of the kids from the Boys & Girls Club who wouldn't have the chance to ski without this program.

WEEK 1
Just wanted to let you know that our kickoff 2010 (S)heJumps into the Canyon event at Alta was a huge success thanks to our volunteer coaches (Meggan Klassen, Lizzy Sherry, Lindsey Van, and Kate Hourihan, plus photographers Lynsey Dyer and Re Wikstrom). About 14 teens from the Boys & Girls Clubs of SLC arrived at 9 a.m. Once we decked them out with donated Rossignol (head to toe) outfits, we got them started on the rope tow while Fox 13 TV filmed (see video). We had 10 never-ever skiers, which takes quite the effort from coaches, but ALL were skiing with the rest of the beginners (four others) by the afternoon. At that point we were in a food coma from the donated Peruvian lunch buffet, but kept charging. It was so awesome to see the kids do so well. Many of them come from large Mexican families, and don't necessarily get the chance to try skiing. All of the teens were so thankful for the experience. We have three more consecutive weeks with the kids and welcome any Alta skiers to volunteer as a coach (if interested, email vanessa@shejumps.org).—Vanessa Pierce, SJ VP