Ski and Snowboard Trip Recap: Ruka, Finland

Wy’East Mountain Academy’s full ski and snowboard teams spent 10 days in Ruka, Finland eating reindeer, seeing the northern lights, and sending new tricks on snow. After three months of dry land training, landing bag sessions, nightly trampoline sessions, and lots of hard work, our students were ready to transfer their skills to snow.

This was the first international travel for a lot of our new students. Long flights, never ending layovers, and jet lag can be difficult to navigate, especially with 50 students, but our team handled it with ease. Adjusting to new cultures and food can be tricky, but our students embraced the food and customs. As one student writes, “Another new experience was trying all the different foods in Finland. Reindeer are very common there and are farmed, so reindeer meat is a popular dish. I tried it in two different ways: on pizza and as a fillet. On the pizza, the reindeer was thinly sliced and smoked, resembling prosciutto in both texture and flavor. When filleted, it had a more unique taste, similar to the beef in a Philly cheesesteak or venison. I also tried a shrimp dip appetizer, which was interesting—I ordered it by accident, thinking it would be a shrimp cocktail.”

Because of a late winter and little snow here in Oregon, our teams spent most of their training on our new landing bag. This bag is perfect for trying new tricks and developing confidence. Our student athletes reported accelerated progress and increased confidence due to time spent on the landing bag. One student said, “This trip was very good for progression from airbag to snow as I was able to put down harder tricks with the airbag confidence” and another reflected, “Having the airbag all fall set everyone up perfectly for success on the Ruka jumps, and I could really feel that transfer once we were on snow.” We are proud of all the hard work put in by our students!

With new tricks, new experiences, and a very tight team, we are ready for upcoming competitions. One of our snowboarders writes and the rest of the team echos, “I am super excited to take these skills we’ve honed over the past 10 days and take them to snow in the first USASA comp next month!”

Kiitos Suomi ja lumilautailusta!