Been riding 3-4 days a week for a while now on my downhill bike, and I'm still not happy with my progression/confidence on my bike. Rode whistler yesterday and was pretty embaressed. I've been thinking of attending a skills camp or clinic to step my riding, and maybe pick up some tips.
Suggestions? Endless biking doesn't seem to have much until august. I've never done anything like this before, and would prefer a freeride/downhill oriented type clinic.
Whistler is always a different beast than riding anywhere else. You can't expect to feel good on the local trails here and then rule at the bike park.
Best thing to get better at Whistler is to ride Whistler lots, of which there is no downside! Maybe take a camp up there.
Going to try and find a specialized fatboy/hemi and ride the local bmx track too.
Endless is your best bet , drop them an email . maybe they can put something together for you.
Whistler is always a different beast than riding anywhere else. You can't expect to feel good on the local trails here and then rule at the bike park.
Best thing to get better at Whistler is to ride Whistler lots, of which there is no downside! Maybe take a camp up there.
^^^^ This!
As for camps, there's always Shandro's SGC or if you're looking for a little more one-on-one, Chris can teach you a lot.
If you want to progress fast at Whistler, budget in a few visits to the clinic.
My suggestion, don't rush it, take a lesson or two with Chris and work on whatever he tells you to do. Before you know it you'll be sideways in the berms, clearing all the tables and flying through the tech.
I strongly recommend taking lessons. Endless Biking are good. I've done some of their progression lessons and one day sessions.
I like the look of that SGC but 1) It's a little expensive and 2) I'm usually pretty tired after one day in the bike park - seven consecutive days would be too much.
Don't discount the WB two-day camps. I think they are called "Elevation Camps" now and are geared toward adults. They have all ability levels and select coaches respective to your ability level. The surprise is often the coach. My wife is a strong rider and signed up for an advanced class, with a focus of wanting to work on her jumping and line selection in steep stuff. She shows up and has two days of instructing by Mason Mashon. What she learned in 2 days solidified solid bones that she still builds on now. So much so, that she has a WBP pass and I don't….
Also, someone can correct me if I"m wrong, but the Kovarik camps are private camps run on the mountain through a user agreement and therefore are not entitled to lift line priority, which could be an issue if you're paying for a private lesson on a busy Saturday. Again, I could be wrong, but I often see him and his students in the "normal" line.
My kids do a spring ski camp through a licensed private provider (Slayers), and it's the same thing. No lift line priority.
Years ago I (along with a bunch of friends) did the Schley camp at Whistler, best instructor we had was Mike Johnston. I gather he still does instruction, get a couple of friends together and book him for a semi-private lesson.
One thing the Schley camp did teach me is that teaching bike skills and being a bike pro are different skill sets. Being able to teach is actually more important.
Don't discount the WB two-day camps. I think they are called "Elevation Camps" now and are geared toward adults. They have all ability levels and select coaches respective to your ability level. The surprise is often the coach. My wife is a strong rider and signed up for an advanced class, with a focus of wanting to work on her jumping and line selection in steep stuff.
I'll look into that. Endless also do a 1-dayer in the bike park.
I definitely need to work on my line selection in the steep stuff. On the DH bike I can just point the bike and go, but on the AM bike I need to be a little more careful (as was proven by an endo at the top of Executioner this weekend!)
One thing the Schley camp did teach me is that teaching bike skills and being a bike pro are different skill sets. Being able to teach is actually more important.
Definitely agree with that. Like most activities I guess.
Don't discount the WB two-day camps. I think they are called "Elevation Camps" now and are geared toward adults. They have all ability levels and select coaches respective to your ability level. The surprise is often the coach. My wife is a strong rider and signed up for an advanced class, with a focus of wanting to work on her jumping and line selection in steep stuff. She shows up and has two days of instructing by Mason Mashon. What she learned in 2 days solidified solid bones that she still builds on now. So much so, that she has a WBP pass and I don't….
Also, someone can correct me if I"m wrong, but the Kovarik camps are private camps run on the mountain through a user agreement and therefore are not entitled to lift line priority, which could be an issue if you're paying for a private lesson on a busy Saturday. Again, I could be wrong, but I often see him and his students in the "normal" line.
My kids do a spring ski camp through a licensed private provider (Slayers), and it's the same thing. No lift line priority.
I did an Elevation camp last summer and highly recommend it, so much so I'm doing another one in a few weeks. Last year was my first year back in mountain biking since the 90's and first time in the park. The camp was a huge boost to my skills and more importantly my confidence in all areas. They break the camp into ability levels with groups of 5 or 6 riders per coach (And the coaches are good at teaching). At that time I could clear CIU and ride blue tech trails so I ended up in the middle group. By the end of the second day we were getting into some of the easier single black tech and jumping Blue Velvet. This year I hope to be in the advanced group as I'm comfortable on single black tech and getting into dbl blacks. Would be nice to notch the jumping skills up as there are still 2 or 3 jumps on A-line I am casing.
It's a great value for the money at $209. You get lift line cutting privileges and they give away legit prizes at the Sat night GLC apres (last year included a new Boxxer World Cup). You won't learn to drift like Kovarik though :)
Sylvie Allen does camps/coaching too http://www.sweetskills.ca/
The Trek Dirt Series offers three co-ed camps at Whistler this year: https://www.dirtseries.com/
(and has lift line priority)
We would be happy to help you out Sleeper! We are one of only a handful of companies to have a contract to teach in the WBP each year (11 years in a row!) and we do have regular programs scheduled. We have some in June, July and September as well as offering Private Lessons at any time.
Drop us an email and we can put together a quote for some days, times and topics you would like to cover and we would be happy to help you out. Even a few hours will make a big difference in your riding, I assure you.
We hope to have the opportunity to ride with you!
DB@EB
Lessons, Rentals & Tours - since 2004
Is the Whistler elevation camp strictly DH or would it be of value for me as an AM rider?
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