Burton Womens 10 Year Anniversary

Gabi Viteri

Since 8 years old, Gabi has been in love with the mountains and outdoors which was a perfect storm for a career in snowboarding. Having snowboarded professionally for Burton snowboards and a few other companies for over 10 years, she is more than excited to bring her expertise to the ladies at Snowshoe Mountain. Throughout her career she focused mainly on "jibbing" and filming video parts, but absolutely loves anything on the mountain that involves having fun (which is everything). No matter what your level of snowboarding, Gabi is a great teacher to inspire any goal you are looking to achieve. Gabi has been a guest Pro at 3 Burton Women’s Camps at Snowshoe, including the very first camp in 2007. After departing from her professional career, Gabi has become highly involved in writing literature, music and poetry. Staying in touch with nature and practicing yoga on and off the mat is what keeps her ticking year round.

Lesley Betts

In college, Lesley had a business card that simply stated “Snow Enthusiast.” – because that’s exactly what she is, ridiculously enthusiastic about snow. From snowboarder to retailer, and from sales rep to Senior Product Manager for snowboards at Burton, Lesley’s focus has always been to bring energy, excitement, and passion to everything she does. Lesley has been snowboarding for 22 years, and is a 2-time coach at the Snowshoe Burton Women’s camp. She is excited to return for another round of progression, fun and memories! When she’s not snowboarding, Lesley spends her summers actively perusing awesomeness with her 30 Days of Awesome challenge – and has a goal of petting every dog she sees.

Felicia Key

4 years as a Burton Coach, several seasons as a Ski and Snowboard School Instructor and Supervisor, and 2 summers managing the riding stables have pretty much made Felicia Key a part of the scenery here at Snowshoe. Start with fun-loving, add a healthy dose of feisty, mix in some rad snowboarding skills and you’ve got Felicia! Whether it’s jibbing around the mountain, throwing down in the park, or carving up the groomers, Felicia’s snowboarding is bold and strong, and her coaching is on point. When summer hits, Felicia trades in her snowboard for a team of mules and a wagon and spends her days running an outfitter business in the Cranberry Wilderness.

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Caroline Conner

For a girl who grew up in the sand and the sun of the desert, Caroline has turned into a pretty legit mountain girl: 15 years as a snowboard instructor, trainer and supervisor with Snowshoe Ski and Snowboard School, along with 9 winters as a Burton Camp Coach have definitely left their snowy imprint. Caroline couldn’t care less if the girls she coaches are ready to stray off the groomers into the trees or strapping a snowboard on for the very first time; she just wants to be there when they find out what they can really do! The snow melting never keeps Caroline off the trails for long. When summer comes round she pulls out a mountain bike, or better yet, a saddle and just rides on!

Jen Shannon

From excited member of the original coaching team, to accomplished leader of Snowshoe’s Ski and Snowboard School, Jen has been with Burton Women’s Camp from the very beginning. Jen has watched as we’ve grown into the largest all lady Burton Camp in the country, and now sees what she expected from the very beginning, something truly special, and AMAZING. Jen affectionately refers to the Burton Women’s Camp as her “baby”, ensuring all the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed from shred time to social time; but dotted and crossed letters aren’t at the heart of her passion for this camp. Jen is, and always will be, a snowboard coach, and 10 years later she still can’t wait to ride with her girls!

Ellen Heyting

For someone who is from sunny Australia and lives in tropical Singapore, Ellen’s not too shabby on a snowboard. A Snowshoe Mountain veteran, Ellen worked as an instructor, supervisor and Burton coach for four years before moving on to conquer the mountains in China, where she was involved in snowboard camps and coaching competitive high school snowboard teams. These days Ellen only gets three or four weeks a year on snow, but has travelled the world snowboarding and instructing on five continents including such far flung places as Slovakia, China, New Zealand, Canada and Lesotho. Still, she can't wait to get home to Snowshoe for this year's 10th anniversary of the Burton Women's Camp!

Pierce Byrd

Pierce started in the snowsports industry when she was 19 and in college at James Madison University. She worked at the neighboring resort, Massanutten, as a snowboard instructor for six years, while also attaining her AASI Level 2 certification. In her last several years at “The Nut,” she was promoted to snowboard lesson supervisor. She is currently the Children’s Program Manager at Wintergreen Resort where she oversees all of the full-day ski and snowboard lessons and childcare programs. In the summer, she is the Summer Camp Manager and spends her days hiking, rock climbing, swimming, and playing tennis with her campers. This will be her second year as a Burton Camp coach, and she couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this awesome event. She is “shreddy” to get out on the slopes with new and familiar faces!

Laura Palimeno

As a WVU Mountaineer, Laura started working at Snowshoe during winter breaks. Upon graduating, she moved to the sunny and sandy Outer Banks, but returned to "the Shoe" in search of a thrill on the snow covered slopes. Becoming an AASI certified instructor, Laura found her passion was to give beginner students a safe and fun learning experience, and inspire a lifelong craving of snowboarding. She is now focused on her full time career as a landscape designer, but still finds time to fulfill her love of snowboarding and coaching.

Kelsey Beverage

Kelsey (yes her last name really is Beverage) was born and raised in Pocahontas County, home to Snowshoe Mountain. She grew up on these slopes and spent her college years and beyond coaching, supervising and training for Snowshoe’s Ski and Snowboard School. A 7 time Burton Women’s Camp coach, Kelsey is no stranger to showing the ladies how to reach their ultimate riding goals and is stoked to do it again for the 10 year anniversary. In the summers, Kelsey can be found rafting it up on the New and Gauley rivers during the day and playing her banjo at open Mic night in the evenings. You never know when she might break out her banjo so you won’t want to miss the evening socials!

Julia Brown

Julia is returning to "The Shoe" after a two-year hiatus in San Diego. This JMU Duke followed her brother's footsteps and started working as a snowboard instructor during college. She fell in love with the mountains and soon found herself spending more time hitting the slopes than the books. During her time at Snowshoe, she coached two Burton Women's camps and taught many kids how to "play snowboard." These days, there's more sand than snow, but Julia couldn't be more excited to trade in her flip flops for snowboarding boots and enjoy this awesome event!

Karen Vanover

After retiring from a career as a high school teacher, coach and athletic director, Karen joined the Snowshoe Team as a full time instructor in 2000 where she has been able to combine her love of teaching and sliding. During her time here, Karen attained her AASI Level 1 snowboard certification and PSIA Level II ski certification so she can share her love of sliding on any type of equipment. Karen is a 9 time Burton Women’s Camp Coach and loves working with the beginners so she can introduce ladies to the adventures and excitement of snowboarding. In the summers, you can find Karen relaxing at her lake house with a beverage in hand in Lexington, KY.

Danielle Lambert

Danielle truly enjoys teaching others what she loves, Snowboarding. You can normally find her in the park, pipe, trees or trying to find fun things on the mountain to bonk! Danielle has been snowboarding for 20 years and has been an instructor for 8, obtaining her AASI level 3 teaching certification in 2015. Danielle is ecstatic to be back at Snowshoe to coach Burton Women’s Camp again and is ready to throw some sick tricks with the park ladies. If you tell her a trick you want to try, she will make sure you have it mastered and she will even let you name the trick! During the week, you can find her in the office as a Structural Engineer and in the summer Danielle is either wakeboarding, wake surfing, surfing or camping -- whatever it takes to stay outside.

Allison Welder

Snowboarding has influenced almost every major life decision Allison has made in adulthood. It determined what college she went to, the places she has lived and even the man that she married. Some of the most joyful, ecstatic, fun experiences have been on a board in the wintry woods of Eastern & Western North America. Because of this deep love of the sport, Allison became an instructor while attending Appalachian State University and continued her professional snowboarding career while pursuing and attaining her AASI level 3 snowboard instruction certification. The snowboard instruction community is a small one and when she met a couple of Snowshoe female coaches at a training event, she was persuaded to come coach at Snowshoe for Burton Women’s Camp and can’t wait to be back! Although these days Allison doesn’t get 100 plus days on snow, her deep connection with the sport remains. Now she spends her days with her 18 month old snow bunny in the making and teaching yoga just outside of Asheville. Snowshoe is still one of Allison’s favorite places to visit and ride – she’s really looking forward to seeing women descend upon the slopes for the 10 year anniversary!

Keely Hoffman

Now residing in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, Keely left a piece of her heart in our wild, wonderful mountain home, and is thrilled to return and coach the Burton Women’s Camp again for the 10 year anniversary! Keely, once a Ski & Snowboard School supervisor here at Snowshoe, has been snowboarding for 17 years. After coaching for almost as long, she'll tell you her favorite part is sharing the sport with others. From first turns, to sliding your first fun box and everything in between she's excited to help you get there. Off the snow you can find Keely writing, camping, and obsessing over anything dog-related.

Ashley Schneider

Since Ashley was a child, snow sports have been a paramount part of her life, whether she is skiing or snowboarding. This is Ashley’s seventh season at her home mountain, Massanutten. During her seven seasons as an instructor, Ashley has pursued Level 1, Level 2, Freestyle Specialist 1, and Children Specialist 1 certifications. Ashley’s passion is to teach mini future shredders in the children’s program at Massanutten, and inspire women to pursue the sport that she fell in love with. Monday through Friday and most Sundays, Ashley holds a day job with the Washington Redskins. Every weekend that she doesn't have a home game, she travels down to chase the snow.

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