On a bluebird day at Park City Mountain, two young snowboarders darted through the trees off Detonator under the watchful eyes of their SOS Outreach mentor, Vicente Flores. Now a University of Utah mechanical engineering student, it wasn’t that many years ago that Flores was doing the same thing as a young boy, picking up a passion for the mountains through sport.

To me, programs like SOS Outreach and Youth Sports Alliance are sources of great community pride. They offer a lifetime of enrichment through sport. SOS Outreach, which has been operating in Park City for nearly a decade, provides not only access to winter sport but mentorship that impacts far beyond the mountain slopes.

“It’s nice to be a little older now and see kind of where these kids are, and thinking back to when I was in that position. It’s great to be able to know certain things that they don’t and help them in those situations,” Vicente said.

It was a crisp, clear pre-spring day as we gathered at First Time. Our group for the final SOS Outreach Saturday ski day of the season included Marco, 10, and Key, 12.

Vicente got his start in snowboarding through an SOS Outreach predecessor program, Ninos on Skis.

“I didn’t like it when I first did it,” he said with a laugh, thinking back to third grade. “My mom was kind of forcing me to do it that first year. The next year, I said, ‘No, I’m not going to go anymore.'”

Then in ninth grade, a mentor came along to tell him about this new program in town, SOS Outreach. At that time, he had a buddy who was a snowboarder.

“He was like, ‘Dude, let’s do it.’ I was a little more interested and more open-minded,” Vicente said. “So I was like, ‘Hey, why not?’ Let’s give it a try.'” 

The SOS Outreach mentors provided a real boost to his riding.

“My first mentor was able to give me the confidence to learn how to ride and really get my turns down — to feel confident on a board. In my last two years, I was able to move up to the higher skill level group. I was nervous. I had seen these guys ride. They were a lot better than me. My mentor, Alex, said, ‘Dude, that’s the only way you’re going to get better.’ He was like a big brother.”

SOS Outreach opened doors to Vicente for the joy of snowboarding and being in the mountains. But it ultimately meant so much more.

“My first two years in college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” he recalled. “I knew I loved snowboarding, since I did it with SOS. I enjoyed coming out every season. But I didn’t have that passion yet for something I really wanted to pursue.”

Two years ago, Palmer Daniels from SOS called him about an internship opportunity with Armada as part of an SOS Outreach career development program.

“I didn’t even think about combining those two worlds,” Vicente said. “That’s when I had the idea that I could combine my passion for snowboarding with my skills in engineering.”

Today, he still has that passion for snowboarding. He loves hiking Jupiter Peak. He works at Bazooka’s at the resort, helping rent and prep skis and boards. And he looks forward to SOS Saturdays, riding with boys and girls to instill that same passion in them — like Marco and Key.

After the run down Detonator, Marco and Key set their sights on Tunnel of Fun off Saddleback Express at Canyons. We rode down and loaded into the Quicksilver Gondola.

“Are we in Canyons now?” inquired Marco, his eyes getting bigger as the gondola crested Pinecone Ridge and headed down into The Colony. “Hey, it looks like a neighborhood,” said Key.

The kids strapped in, shooting down White Pine to Cascade, catching hits on the sidehills all the way down to Timberline.

On the ride to Tombstone base, he reminisced about his life in the mountains: how his father came to Park City in 2001 for a construction project, how his mom got him into sports, and how a young Vicente had become enamored with the mountains.

“I just love being in the mountains — it’s really a part of me.”