COPPER MOUNTAIN RESORT — Abbie Luman is giving herself four years to land a sponsor and become a professional freestyle skier.
“I want skiing to be my career because I love skiing more than anything,” she says through a mouthful of braces.
The 14-year-old from Logan, Utah, knows what she needs to do. She’s got to have perfect front flips and back flips. She must be buttery smooth on rails and flawless and aggressive in the air.
Until recently, Abbie’s path to stardom involved “hucking and hoping,” a bone-threatening approach that demands countless hours of uncertain leaping and midair praying over hard-packed snow. Not anymore.
Abbie is among several dozen teenage campers at this summer’s first and one-of-a-kind Camp Woodward at Copper Mountain, a training program and facility crafted to deliver the dreams of aspiring X Games superstars.
Inside a 20,000-square-foot indoor training barn are foam-packed landing pits beneath precipitous ramps, extra-bouncy trampolines and professional athlete coaches.
“It feels safer here,” says Lewis Courtier-Jones, a 14-year-old skier from the United Kingdom, as he readies himself to ski down the plastic- carpeted three-story ramp into a swimming pool bulging with thousands of puffy foam blocks. “I like that I’m learning to do this right.”
Lewis reaches his arms over his head and forms a circle. Coach Rick Shimpeno down below does the same — all’s clear — and skis are soon sliding down the water-dampened 42-degree ramp. Lewis hits the jump at the end, tucks his chin to his shoulder and spins a perfect 360 before landing in the billowing blocks.
“This building is about taking baby steps,” says Shimpeno, a professional snowboard coach. “It’s about helping you to slowly get better and develop the skills that lead to the big tricks.”
Progressing the sport
That’s just what Justin Clements needs. The 13-year-old skier from Alabama broke his wrist last season trying a back flip at Beaver Creek. He admits it could have been much worse.
“I need to learn how to do it the right way,” he says, teetering on the big ramp’s precipice.
Woodward is the eminent road to action-sport glory. Born in central Pennsylvania’s Amish country as a gymnastics camp 39 years ago, Woodward has evolved into the epicenter of extreme-sport training.
Even the pros are flocking to Woodward at Copper to hone their twisting, grabbing, high- flying maneuvers.
“This place really progresses the sport,” says professional snowboarder and Woodward coach Josh Sherman, 23. “It’s not just for kids. It’s nice to have a place to train in a safe way that pretty much eliminates injuries.”
The Woodward curriculum is anchored in its gymnastic roots. Copper’s program manager, Phoebe Mills, won bronze on the beam in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Before jumping, campers go through calisthenics and on-the-mat flipping and rolling, learning not only what to do when busting out the big move but also how to react when the big move dissolves in the air.
“Remember to keep your chin to your chest,” Mills says as a crew begins front-flipping onto mats.
“When you are a 12-year-old kid and you are doing a back flip, that will be so good for you later in life, no matter what you do,” says Chad Otterstrom, a 30-year-old professional snowboarder and Woodward coach from Breckenridge. “I wish I had a place like this when I was a kid. Can you imagine?”
“Go faster, spin harder”
Campers in the weeklong summer sessions go through typical camp-life activities between their training. There’s free time for climbing, hiking, skateboarding, hanging out in Woodward’s game-laden lounge and the most popular, go-karting.
“It’s really fun, and I ski the best when I’m having fun,” says 16-year-old Daniel Riley of Westcliffe. “That’s when I throw down the most.”
Hidden inside the Woodward syllabus of good times are lessons in goal-setting and drive.
“We get so many kids here who are so energetic and focused, but all they all probably hear is ‘sit still,’ ‘slow down’ and ‘behave,’ ” Shimpeno says. “It’s fun to be the one in here saying, ‘No, you need to go faster, you need to spin harder, you need to jump higher.'”
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com
Extreme schooling
Woodward at Copper offers more than just six summertime sessions for aspiring young athletes. There are programs geared toward adults, women and teams. Mandatory introductory sessions at Woodward’s training facility, known as “The Barn,” are $69, and following drop-in sessions run $25. Week-long camps cost about $1,400 with overnight lodging and $900 without lodging.
AT THE BARN:
•Six Olympic-grade trampolines
•Three foam pits with 23,000 foam blocks
•A 35-foot, 42-degree ramp, coated with a plastic, simulated snow known as Snowflex
•A smaller ramp with rails, boxes and a quarterpipe
•Three skateboarding bowls and a halfpipe
•A miniature “jib park” for street-skating tricks
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