South America Snow Sessions, or SASS, the premier summer camp for teenagers and young adults chasing an endless winter in South America, has six athletes competing in this years US Open of snowboarding at Stratton Mountain Resort, Vermont, on March 19th and 20th. All six SASS athletes, as well as their coach Travis Moore, will be at the US Open. Below is a short biography on Travis Moore and the SASS athletes:

Travis Moore — Travis Moore is one of the three owners of SASS and one of the top rated snowboarding coaches in North America. Travis was formerly the Director of Snowboarding at Loon Mountain Resort, New Hampshire. With over ten years of coaching experience, Travis is able to speak to media about the process of getting to the US Open, results of the Open, the SASS campers competing this year, and more.

Sean Ryan – 18 year old Sean Ryan, from Newtown, CT, will be competing in this years US Open hoping to take a shot at the title after a successful run at the US Open last year. A SASS rider and Coached by Travis Moore, Sean is hoping for a great finish at this years Open. Currently a freshman at Skidmore, Sean is also a member of the Varsity soccer team there. Most recently Sean finished 5th at the Aspen Open and 1st at the USASA Men’s Open Slope style at the Copper Mountain Series, at Copper Mountain, CO. And most recently Sean took fifth place at the final Revolution Tour stop at Sugarloaf Mountain Resort, Sugarloaf, Maine.

Jacob and Micalea Aaronsen – Brother and sister Jacob and Micalea Aaronsen, ages 13 and 15, from Needham, MA, will be competing in this year’s US Open after three years of competing in the Junior Jam. Jacob and Micalea are looking to show case their skills and push their riding to the next level at this years US Open. Jacob and Micalea were recruited by Travis Moore at Loon Mountain to snowboard competitively in 2003.

Other SASS athletes competing at this years US Open include –

Scott Kutchinski, age 20, from the Pocono’s of PA, competing in the US Open slope style event.
Steve Denmark, age 19, from Stratton, VT, competing in the US Open slope style event.
Natalie Gough, age 24, from Calgary, Canada, competing in the US Open slope style event.

Founded in 2004 by friends Luke Shelley, Travis Moore, and John Sang Wilbur, SASS is a skiing and snowboarding summer program for teenagers and adults. With U.S. offices in Tahoe, CA and Lincoln, NH, every summer SASS takes campers to Catedral Alta Patagonia resort in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, where they live up to their slogan “La Montana is our park.”

As much as SASS focuses on the skiing aspect of their trip, they also make an effort to encourage the kids on their trips to see the cultural side of Argentina, enrolling the kids in a local Spanish school, and making sure they have ample time to tour the villages and absorb as much of the local culture as possible. The founders of SASS are continuing to chase the dream of an endless winter, and they’ve brought that dream to a whole new generation of skiers and boarders through this summer camp.