The holidays are over, but for Jasper’s young snowboarders, the winter fun is just starting.

Snowboard Jasper Free Mountain is beginning group lessons on Jan. 15 and 16, with three different skill levels.

Sean McCarron, part of the Free Mountain team, said the conditions are great for the riders up at Marmot Basin right now. Because the club seeks out good conditions and can use the entire hill, they can find hidden gems amidst the trees, or ride the terrain park.

McCarron said the kids are practising “martini riding”, which means if they develop their skills, they can ride the entire mountain regardless of conditions and enjoy themselves. 

The group has so far been broken up into three; one group has a talented collection of 15-17 year-old riders, the middle group is made up of all-mountain riders developing their skills further, and the third is younger, less-experienced riders that need to build on their fundamental skills. 

The club tries to build self-confidence, skills and teach respect on the hill. The coaches also focus on air-awareness and teaching skills that the students can work on when riding by themselves. 

“We’re not just taking kids to the park all day,” McCarron said. 

The skills will teach the students to progress naturally and “[choose] to do jumps that they will be successful at.”

So far there are three coaches working with Free Mountain. McCarron hopes to have a few more sign on and become certified under the Canadian Snowboard Federation. 

Many of the experienced students are going to age out of the program at the end of the 2010/2011 season. McCarron hopes to entice those older students into coaching classes. 

Snowboard Jasper Free Mountain is the only non-profit snowboarding program in Jasper. It has generated interest from Hinton, and McCarron hopes they can expand it in future years so that a bus can bring kids to the hill from the town for the day. 

The program recently received a boost with donations from Northface Pizza and the Marmot Mountain Challenge. The program was able to digitize their logo so that the kids could wear it on their clothing on the hill. McCarron said they are hoping to raise some funds to help the coaches purchase vests that can be worn while on the hill with the groups. 

“The coaches are actually buying [the vests] themselves,” McCarron said. 

More information on Snowboard Jasper Free Mountain can be found online at www.freemountain.org