Mt Hood Ski Racing Camp For Girls: 14 Summers Strong!

Many of our coaches and campers alike have shared the sentiment that spending time on Mt. Hood with Keely’s Camp is their favorite part of the year. This summer was no exception as it was filled with incredible on-snow training, world class coaching and mentorship, and all the merits of summer camp fun. We wanted to share some of our favorite moments from our 14th summer of the Mt Hood Ski Racing Camp For Girls with all of you!

Starting off strong with one of the most impactful factors at camp: the snow quality and quantity was outstanding this year. Arriving on the glacier in mid-June felt like mid-winter with the surrounding snow covered peaks. The amount of snow made for incredible training conditions and generous space to work on skills and drills outside of the course. Our athletes loved practicing synchronized skiing (which is so fun and also great for pole plants and forward movement) on the freeski lane. We were even able to ski all the way to the parking lot for all four sessions of camp this year!

Each year we are reminded by how fun whitewater rafting on the Deschutes river is! The guides at Deschutes U-Boat were so helpful, knowledgeable, and made rafting such a unique experience. During Session 4, a few of our coaches decided to float the section in inflatable kayaks called Duckies. It was very entertaining to watch them bob through the rapids!

This year had the biggest group of returning Keely’s Camp friends we have ever seen! So many athletes coordinated with their camp friends of previous years to attend the same session. Watching these friendships develop and grow over the years is so powerful and something many of our camper-turned-coaches on staff can relate to. Stay tuned for a blog post about the power of Keely’s Camp friendships soon!

The last highlight we want to share is how much our athletes learned from the off-snow coach mentorship opportunities this summer. Throughout camp we offered a variety of talks surrounding ski tuning, ski journaling, breathwork, and even a Q/A with Keely’s Camp alumna, current coach, and US Ski Team Member Katie Hensien. 

Thank you to all our coaches, staff, parents, and sponsors: Tecnica and Blizzard, Stio, and Shred for making this summer happen. Join us for more fun this fall at our Big Snow Slalom Camp, Big Sky Ski Racing Camp, Copper Slalom Camp, and our Thanksgiving Colorado Thanksgiving Ski Racing Camp.