{"id":25291,"date":"2019-06-12T18:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T00:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/rocky-mountain-neverland-never-summer-riders-corning-blackwell-alito-bring-childhood-verve-to-woodward-copper-camp\/"},"modified":"2019-06-12T18:08:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T00:08:00","slug":"rocky-mountain-neverland-never-summer-riders-corning-blackwell-alito-bring-childhood-verve-to-woodward-copper-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/rocky-mountain-neverland-never-summer-riders-corning-blackwell-alito-bring-childhood-verve-to-woodward-copper-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocky Mountain Neverland: Never Summer riders Corning, Blackwell, Alito bring childhood verve to Woodward Copper camp"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.8916666666667\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-367318-324\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | Local Olympian and World Cup champion Chris Corning, far right, and others participating in the Woodward Copper summer camp eye a line through the summer-time Pipeline Park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Local Olympian and World Cup champion Chris Corning, far right, and others participating in the Woodward Copper summer camp eye a line through the summer-time Pipeline Park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3.jpg\" alt=\"Local Olympian and World Cup champion Chris Corning, far right, and others participating in the Woodward Copper summer camp eye a line through the summer-time Pipeline Park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | Woodward Copper summer campers take a seat and a break in between dropping-in for lines at the summer-time Pipeline Park terrain park beneath them on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Woodward Copper summer campers take a seat and a break in between dropping-in for lines at the summer-time Pipeline Park terrain park beneath them on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-1.jpg\" alt=\"Woodward Copper summer campers take a seat and a break in between dropping-in for lines at the summer-time Pipeline Park terrain park beneath them on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | Local Olympian and World Cup champion Chris Corning executes a rodeo flip off of a rail at the Woodward Copper summer camp Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Local Olympian and World Cup champion Chris Corning executes a rodeo flip off of a rail at the Woodward Copper summer camp Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-2.jpg\" alt=\"Local Olympian and World Cup champion Chris Corning executes a rodeo flip off of a rail at the Woodward Copper summer camp Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | A Woodward Copper summer camp skier eyes a landing mid-flip while riding through the Pipeline Park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>A Woodward Copper summer camp skier eyes a landing mid-flip while riding through the Pipeline Park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-3.jpg\" alt=\"A Woodward Copper summer camp skier eyes a landing mid-flip while riding through the Pipeline Park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | A young Woodward Copper summer camp skier bundles skis while riding the Magic Carpet lift, nicknamed the\" super back to top of the on-sno pipeline terrain park on june at copper mountain class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>A young Woodward Copper summer camp skier bundles skis while riding the Magic Carpet lift, nicknamed the &#8220;Super Tube,&#8221; back to the top of the on-sno Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-4.jpg\" alt=\"A young Woodward Copper summer camp skier bundles skis while riding the Magic Carpet lift, nicknamed the \" super back to top of the on-sno pipeline terrain park on june at copper mountain><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-5.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | Woodward Copper summer camp skiers and snowboarders pass down the line their boards and skis transported from the mountain's base area before they ride the summer-time Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Woodward Copper summer camp skiers and snowboarders pass down the line their boards and skis transported from the mountain&#8217;s base area before they ride the summer-time Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-5.jpg\" alt=\"Woodward Copper summer camp skiers and snowboarders pass down the line their boards and skis transported from the mountain's base area before they ride the summer-time Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-6-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-6.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | A Woodward Copper summer camp skier spots a landing mid-air while riding through the Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>A Woodward Copper summer camp skier spots a landing mid-air while riding through the Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/CorningWoodward-SDN-061319-3-6.jpg\" alt=\"A Woodward Copper summer camp skier spots a landing mid-air while riding through the Pipeline Park terrain park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/rocky-mountain-neverland-never-summer-riders-corning-blackwell-alito-bring-childhood-verve-to-woodward-copper-camp\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/rocky-mountain-neverland-never-summer-riders-corning-blackwell-alito-bring-childhood-verve-to-woodward-copper-camp\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">COPPER MOUNTAIN \u2014 A 10-minute, bumpy van ride over a rocky mountain road brings you to what feels like the equivalent of Neverland for skiers and snowboarders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Here, above 10,000 feet, is a place where kids can mingle with their snowboarding idols while those same Olympic-level stars can channel their inner-camper once again on slushy, summer snow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">To paint the picture in a different way: If Peter Pan was a shredder, this summer\u2019s scene at Woodward Copper\u2019s Pipeline Park is precisely what the boy-who-never-grew-up would build with a snowcat. It\u2019s an expanded, summer-camp snow park that towers over the school buses that drop campers off at its top. Once those campers strap into their snowboard or ski boots at this snow sports Neverland, Never Summer\u2019s pro riders play the role of The Lost Boys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The oldest of the group, Dylan Alito, 28, of Lakewood, knows the snowboarding soul of the summer camp well. Once he was able to drive at the age of 16, he drove to a snowboard camp in Oregon to take part in their dig-to-ride program, meaning he\u2019d help dig out the summertime park to ride it for free. But these days, Alito says Woodward Copper is where it\u2019s at. The camp is one giant hangout session where riders can casually come up to a pro like him and ask to tag a long from one jump and rail to the next, hopefully learning a bit more about a new trick along the way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe kids just want someone to have fun with,\u201d Alito said. \u201cWe are like big friends to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Alito\u2019s fellow Never Summer pro rider, U.S. Halfpipe Pro Team member Chase Blackwell, 20, of Dillon, played the part of big friend to many young snowboarders this week. The way it works at Woodward Copper is each group of skiers and snowboarders has their own group coaches they learn directly from. But, when a kid feels like approaching Never Summer pros such as Alito, Blackwell, Olympian and world champion Chris Corning and street-specialist Sam Klein, it\u2019s as chill a feel as there can be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Earlier this week Blackwell found himself messing around on the quarter-pipe at the base of Pipeline Park, smitten with how well the pipe rode with all of this winter\u2019s excess snow compared to last summer. While at the pipe, Blackwell said he noticed a young camper, maybe 12 years old, throw down a nice front-side air on the pipe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI said, \u2018Dude, you so got a crippler,\u2019\u201d Blackwell said, referring to an inverted trick. \u201cAnd he was like, \u2018I wanted to learn a McTwist.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Well we can do a McTwist if you want to, but if you can backflip all three jumps you can so easily do a crippler in this quarter pipe.\u2019 And we actually got him to try some yesterday. I think he will get it by the end of this week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It\u2019s scenes like that atop the snow and under the summer sun that speak to Never Summer week at Woodward Copper. Blackwell\u2019s donned in all-black helping kids out on the quarter-pipe. Alito\u2019s dressed in what he described as a Hulk Hogan-like outfit, complete with a bandana and eccentric glasses, acting his goofy self while leading creative lines through the park. And then there\u2019s the Summit County local Corning. The 19-year-old two-time defending FIS snowboard season World Cup champion most always carries a quiet, serious energy to him. As Never Summer\u2019s self-described \u201cpositive-vibe guy\u201d and marketing manager Joey Herman put it, Corning is the kind of personality who does what he wants to do.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That said, Herman also makes it clear that you may never meet another person in your life who loves snowboarding as much as Corning. Sure, Corning may give off a much more austere energy than the goofy Alito. But once Corning is ready to strap into his board and ride with the kids, he too is a kid again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Heck, just five years ago Corning was in the same spot as many of the kids he rides with. He began attending Woodward Copper as a camper a decade ago before he transitioned to visiting pro in the past couple of years. And, even if he is the more quiet type, the Team USA slopestyle and big air star hasn\u2019t forgotten that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI just want to hang out with the kids,\u201d Corning said. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to film a video part here or nothing. I\u2019m just trying to hang out with them. That\u2019s super important and that gets missed a lot is when people come to summer camps \u2014 a lot of guys ride for themselves. But we ride for the kids. And they ask what it\u2019s like to be a pro snowboarder and all stuff like that. And I tell them, \u2018You\u2019ve got to have fun. You got to enjoy your time before you become really good at it. You learn when you\u2019re having fun.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One of those little shredders having fun this week is August Radding of Durango. The pint-sized 9-year-old had spent some time through the week riding around with Blackwell. On those laps, the youngster said Blackwell and his Woodward coaches were helping him to learn back flips on the air bag at the base of the park next to the pipe. The air bag is an ideal spot for kids to improve their aerial awareness and confidence with new tricks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Three and a half years after Radding first learned to snowboard, he\u2019s having fun while progressing his skills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe bring fun,\u201d Herman said. \u201cAnd if you are not having fun on skis or a snowboard, then you may be in the wrong place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/rocky-mountain-neverland-never-summer-riders-corning-blackwell-alito-bring-childhood-verve-to-woodward-copper-camp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Local Olympian and World Cup champion Chris Corning, far right, and others participating in the Woodward Copper summer camp eye a line through the summer-time Pipeline Park on Wednesday, June 12, at Copper Mountain Resort.Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com Woodward Copper summer campers take a seat and a break in between dropping-in for lines at the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 22:59:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25291\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}