(VIDEO) Bahamas winter Olympian, Korath Wright takes nine teens to the first ever Bahama Snow Kids Camp
By The Bahamas Weekly News Team
Aug 27, 2009 - 12:48:34 AM
The video here was produced by Alex Neun and features the first ever Bahama Snow Kids Camp!
From left to right, Jonathan Miller, Justin Rowland, Korath Wright, Andrew Hindley, Matthew Armstrong, Tony Varga, and Kendora Lightbourn. Photo: Alex Neun
Oregon,
USA - Korath Wright, the first Bahamian to represent The Bahamas in a
winter Olympics this coming February 2010 in Canada realized his dream
of taking kids from The Bahamas to the slopes of Mount Hood in Oregon
this summer for the first ever Bahama Snow Kids Camp at High Cascade.
Nine
lucky teens (eight boys and one girl) in all attended one of two 9-day
camps, most of them experiencing snow and snowboarding for their first
time.
Korath selected teens from New Providence and Grand Bahama through tryouts in June 2009, and via the help of local sponsorship, these kids had an experience of a lifetime.
Attending the camp was
Matthew Armstrong, John Silvera, Stephan Anglade, Justin Rowland, Matthew Konstantakis, Andrew Hindley, Tony Varga, Kendora Lightbourn, and Jonathan Miller.
The video here was produced by Alex Neun and features the first ever Bahama Snow Kids Camp!
Camp 1 of Bahama Snow Kids. Left to right: Stephan Anglade, Korath Wright, John Silvera and Matthew Armstrong. Photo: Alex Neun
Sponsors
who helped make this camp a reality are ABC Construction Ltd,
Environmental Projects Ltd., Frecon Construction Ltd, Mr. Michael
Lerch, Wendy’s, Theo Tsavoussis, Antonio Braga, and anonymous others. Through this kind support, these kids experienced the Bahama Snow Kids Camp. High Cascade
on Mount Hood, in kind, offered their facility for Korath’s training because of this camp.
Having access to the hill and the half pipe was a major training opportunity for Korath leading up to the winter Olympics.Matthew Armstrong, one of the participants from Grand Bahama had this to say, "Thank-you Frecon Construction for sponsoring me! It was a lot of fun
hanging out with my friends and shredding the mountain with Korath, and I hope I can come again."
"Awesome, this camp was awesome!" said Tony Varga of New Providence.
"I had a fun time hanging out shredding with Korath on the mountain and at the skate park. I made some new friends and that was fun too," said Justin Rowland.
"I want to thank my sponsor. I had a really good time snowboarding at High Cascade. I've
never been that high before!" said Jonathan Miller of New Providence
.
SLIDE SHOW: Bahama Snow Kids Camp underway in Camp 1. Campers Stephan Anglade, John Silvera and Matthew Armstrong. Bahamas' winter Olympian for snowboarding, Korath Wright in yellow. Photos: Alex Neun
What's next for Korath? Well he just finished competing in New Zealand in the
LG Snowboard FIS World Cup Halfpipe, a part of 100% Pure
New Zealand Winter Games at Cardrona Alpine Resort, and will continue
his training for the upcoming Olympics - now only 6 months away.
Korath was born
in Nassau, Bahamas and moved to Calgary, Canada at the age of two and
in his youth took up snowboarding. His skill and passion increased by
attending the same High Cascade summer camp. After qualifying for the
Olympics he made the monumental decision to represent his birth country
and be the first ever Bahamian in a winter Olympics.
Korath
would like to thank The Bahamas Weekly, the Pelican Bay
Hotel, the YMCA in Grand Bahama, and the New Providence Community Church for their support.
"I am pleased to have accomplished what I set out to do, and that was to let kids from The Bahamas experience my sport by attending the first ever Bahama Snow Kids Camp. I hope to get even more kids there next year," said Wright.
Kids are encouraged to hone their skateboarding skills as it is relative to skills in snowboarding.Any teens who live in The Bahamas and who want to keep updated on the Bahama Snow Kids Camp in summer of 2010 can send their names to: SnowKids@TheBahamasWeekly.com
Campers of camp 2 with Korath in yellow and the 11 thousand foot summit of Mount Hood in the background. Photo: Alex Neun
Jump-kick with camp 2, From left to right: Jonathan Miller, Justin Rowland, Korath Wright, Andrew Hindley, Matthew Armstrong, Tony Varga, Kendora Lightbourn.
Photo: Alex Neun
First time snowboarder Jonathan Miller falls down but is unscathed. Photo: Alex Neun
Korath Wright with Kendora Lightbourn from New Providence, the only girl at the camp. Photo: Alex Neun
Korath "butters" around with the campers from The Bahamas. Photo: Alex Neun
Camper Jeremy teaches Jonathan Miller-skateboarder, how to "pump" or generates speed when riding a skateboard ramp. Photo: Alex Neun
Jeremy from Nassau performs a blunt stall maneuver on the skateboard ramps at High Cascade Snowboard Camp. Photo: Alex Neun
First time snowboarder Justin Rowland performs a toe side turn down the challenging Palmer snow field at Mount Hood. Photo: Alex Neun
Matt and Tony from Nassau taking a short breather before going off to catch some air time. Photo: Alex Neun
Matthew, John and Stephan stand in the foreground with Korath in the air behind them. Photo: Alex Neun
Korath cheers on Stephan while he catches air showing off his newly acquired skills on a snowboard. Photo: Alex Neun
