February Newsletter: Winter at Coombs Outdoors

Dear friends,

We hope you’re enjoying the winter season and staying warm out there! After a busy fall moving into our new Coombs Clubhouse building, it has been such a joy to start filling it with families, participants, partners, and supporters. We’re so proud to have a permanent space where our community can come to connect, learn, access resources, and feel that they belong - not to mention how much it eases our logistics to have a place to store our gear, park our vans, access Snow King, and hold simultaneous programs!

Both outside and inside the Clubhouse walls, Coombs kids are on the slopes and active in our programs almost every day of the week. Read on to see everything our participants are up to this winter.

Warm wishes,

Jenny Wolfrom Holladay

P.S. We still have a long way to go to make sure this home can be ours forever. If you are interested in a tour or pledging your support to the Coombs Clubhouse Campaign, please reach out to me at jenny@coombsoutdoors.org.

Introducing New Program Coordinators

Welcome, Max! After serving as an Activate instructor this past summer, we’re excited to have Max join our staff team as a part-time Activate coordinator this winter. His favorite candy is peanut M&Ms and he’s loving the opportunity to ski with all the Coombs elementary school kids this winter. We’re loving having his help to keep our busy Snow King learn-to-ski and Ositos Nordic programs running smoothly!

Welcome, Jael! Jael is our new part-time Engage coordinator, helping run our middle and high school programs this winter. His favorite candy is gummy clusters and he’s excited to join the team and help out the community. He is a great asset to our programs like Coombs Club ski days and afterschool workshops, where he plans creative activities and serves as a positive role model while having fun with participants.

Activate: Learn-to-ski and more

Snow King Mountain Sports School

We currently have 155 elementary-aged kids enrolled in ski or snowboard lessons at Snow King. There are also 9 older students enrolled in a learn-to-snowboard class. These beginner lessons have been a staple of Coombs programming since our organization was founded, helping make skiing more accessible for Jackson kids. It’s amazing to continue to see so many Coombs kids out on the mountain learning and having fun.

Rockchuck Racers

We have 15 4th and 5th graders enrolled in the Rockchuck Racers program through Jackson Hole Ski Club, and they are already learning so much in this more advanced program! A highlight has been witnessing the confidence gained by our returning participants alongside excited new faces in the group. Despite icy conditions on the first day, all of the participants skied the full 5 hours with a short break for lunch.

Ositos Nordic ski

We currently have 31 kids enrolled in Ositos, our afterschool cross country ski program. Ositos is a partnership between Coombs and the Jackson Hole Ski Club, with coaches from both organizations leading practices at Trail Creek. 21 beginners participate once a week and 10 kids who are a bit more advanced, or have been in the program before, come twice a week. We continue to be impressed at how quickly the kids progress with their comfort on skis over the first few weeks of the program.

“It’s been great to see kids getting off the bus excited for Ositos every day. Learning a sport like Nordic skiing involves falling a lot and can feel really awkward at first. But constantly falling in the snow seems to have only spurred enthusiasm for the program. One participant in particular has been struggling adjusting to the sport, but despite always being covered with snow he has yelled, “I LOVE SKIING!” at the end of almost every practice. I’ve been having a lot of fun with this group. They have such a good attitude and every day brings something new.” - Max, Activate Program Coordinator

Padres Adult Ski Programs

This year the Coombs Padres program is supporting 22 parents enrolled in ski and snowboard lessons and 33 more advanced parents skiing independently with their families. We also started a Padres Coombs Club for the first time this year, and has already been a highlight of our winter. All 12 of the parents who attended the first day skied together, with more skilled parents taking a leadership role in providing instruction and support for the less experienced parents. Many of the parents stayed at Snow King in the afternoon to ski with their kids once the lessons were over, and we’re so glad to see more families getting to ski together!

Engage: Hitting the slopes, picking up skills

Coombs Club

This is another record year for our Coombs Club ski mentorship program, with 183 middle and high school participants skiing and snowboarding with 73 amazing volunteers. We have 117 kids at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and 54 at Snow King on weekends, and this year 11 participants also joined our new afterschool option to ski at Snow King.

The camaraderie, excitement, and kindness of the Coombs community has already been on full display. Kids have been skiing hard, eating lots of chicken tenders at Casper, and getting to know their volunteers. Thank you to this year’s volunteers, who have been our most reliable and enthusiastic crew ever! We are so proud of our Engage participants and we can’t wait to watch them progress throughout the season.

Backcountry Club

Coombs Backcountry Ski club is back for its third year! We have 13 participants, including 6 returners who have naturally become amazing mentors for the new members of the group. We have 10 volunteer coaches, including ski guides, professional skiers, and long standing Coombs volunteers. The group has weekly practices at Snow King plus weekend backcountry days like skiing Edelweiss on Teton Pass. The group has already participated in robust learning opportunities like Winter Wilderness First Aid and our first ever community Spanish-language Avalanche Awareness Night, both in partnership with the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation.

Afterschool Workshops

This year we have 36 participants joining us once a week after school. These programs give middle and high schoolers a way to have fun, get outside in new ways, stay active and safe, and spend time with friends. Programs are run by staff and volunteers and include rock climbing, ice skating, sledding, sports, cooking, art projects, and more.

Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club

Four of our 6th and 7th graders are on JHSC’s Junior Nordic team for the first time, and making great progress already. We also have 3 participants in the JHSC Alpine Progression Program, who are excited to take on an extra commitment to skiing.

Empower: Winter professional development opportunities

High School Internships & Professional Development

We have 8 interns participating in 3 different internships this winter, including Snow King Apprentice Instructors, Coombs Outdoors Nordic Instructors, and our first JHMR Apprentice Instructors. We will also offer four professional development workshops for interns and interested high school students, covering financial literacy, writing resumes and cover letters, career panels, and mock interview skills. We are also collaborating with Teton Literacy Center, First in Family, Central Wyoming College, and Jackson Hole High School to provide some support for Juniors and Seniors considering college, such as the well-attended scholarship and financial aid info nights we held in December.

We also would like to note that, while they participate in our “Empower” professional development offerings, high schoolers are also welcome to participate in our “Engage” outdoor programming. Engage afterschool workshops have some high school participants and Coombs Club is almost half high schoolers!