Winter’s on the way – and great snowboard-camps are waiting for us. XsportSisters spoke with Tammy Esten (33) who’s running Mint Snowboard School in Portes du Soleil since 2005. The professional coach tells us more about her current programme - and why she’s one of the few women who are allowed to teach snowboarding in France.
What can we learn in the camps of Mint Snowboard School?
Tammy Esten: All sorts of things, as we run different camps for different levels. There’s a camp for beginners/novices who want to learn to snowboard or improve basic skills. Then there’s the camp for intermediate/advanced snowboarders, the “Just Performance Camp”. We improve your technical skills with an aim to using the perfect techniques on any given terrain – on piste or off piste. Coaching also includes freestyle, so anything from jumps, spins, rails, halfpipe and learning jibs & butters. In the “Just Freestyle Camp” we teach anything & everything freestyle. New this year is the ACME Camp which is freeride focused teaching you about backcountry snowboarding, safety issues & riding techniques. And then there’s the “Just for Girls Camp”. Here you’ve got two options: either a program similar to the performance-camp, where you learn a bit of everything; or the other choices focuses on freestyle. However, if there’s powder, we ride it of course!
Why do you offer a Girls Camp?
Tammy Esten: This is how we started. Over ten years ago there was nobody else doing it. But there were many girls who wanted to learn snowboarding in a comfortable environment, without having to compete with the guys. It’s a more relaxed way of learning and it’s totally different coaching girls.
What’s different?
Tammy Esten: You tell guys what to do and then they give it a go, usually fear doesn’t come into it. Often guys are not so into perfecting technique before progressing further. In comparison, the girls want to learn a trick perfectly and get comfortable before they move on further. They also like a supportive environment that allows them to progress with confidence.
You manage your own school. What are you proud of?
Tammy Esten: I guess, I’m proud of our team. We have managed to achieve a great reputation due to the skills of the coaches. We gained this reputation because all instructors have the highest international snowboarding qualification. We were qualified in the British system but attained it internationally. When people say they had a great time with Mint – that’s a driving force for me to carry on and makes me really happy.
… unfortunately qualified snowboard-coaches are facing problems in France.
Tammy Esten: Yes, it’s difficult. In France they don’t allow snowboard qualified instructors to teach – only people with a ski qualification are allowed. Which is pretty crazy, because skiing and snowboarding are two different sports! Six years ago this case was taken to the European Court, as it’s against the European law. We were 30 people, with the highest qualification who were given permission to teach in France – amongst them were only two other girls and me. There’s a huge demand, due to the high quality of our teaching.
You teach in a beautiful region: Tell us more about it!
Tammy Esten: Mint Snowboard School is in Morzine. But my team teaches also in the Avoriaz, Les Gets and Chatel. The resorts are all part of the ski area of Les Portes du Soleil. The area is huge and has many snow-parks. Avoriaz, for instance, has five parks right in the centre! So it’s ideal for all coaching-levels, it’s fantastic! And Geneva is very close, just one hour away, if you want to visit a bigger city. For me it’s a great place to live. In summer I spend a lot of time travelling around. I don’t feel like being stuck up in a little valley.
You’re from England. But you feel at home in the Alps, right?
Tammy Esten: Yes! I was born in England, but I spent my whole time at primary school in Geneva. My dad was a mountaineer, so I started skiing at the age of three, and I was climbing through the Alps as soon as I could walk. I was brought up in the mountains, and the love for the mountains was given to me at a very early age. I have spent more time living in the Alps than in England. But England still remains a great place to see my family and friends.
