Mountain Sports Highschool MTB Camp

 The Mountain Sports Team hosted a July mountain bike camp directed for the high school mountain bike athlete. The camp consisted of four days filled with fun single track and skill sharpening mountain biking.

The camp officially started with a warm up on the trails behind campus giving the campers a chance to explore the single track out the back door of Western State Colorado University. The next morning everyone woke up to a skills clinic with World cup downhiller Kain Leanord and a bike fitting with local physical therapist Tim Poppe. After the skills were honed and bikes dialed the riders took their newly learned skills out to Hartman Rocks area for an afternoon ride. As with most afternoon rides in the Colorado high country, the campers saw some rain but were not deterred and reaped the benefits of the tacky dirt post afternoon storm. The next day campers had the opportunity to ride the lifts in Crested Butte to practice their downhill skills. In total the campers did up to 23 miles of downhill on all of the terrain that Crested Butte Mountain Resort has to offer. The coaching of Dave Weins, Kain Leanord, Jenny Smith and Bryan Dillon only heightened the experience. After some quick pizza at the Brick Oven in Crested Butte it was back to the dorms to watch bike movies and rest for Saturdays’ epic ride.

Saturday started early with a full day of backcountry riding and rafting. At 8 am the group took off to ride Doctors Park. 2500 feet of vertical pushed the limits of all the campers, with a nine mile climb up Spring Creek Road then the real climb up the Doctors Park jeep road. At the top the views can only distract a little from the excitement of the nine mile downhill that lay ahead. The group descended this legendary downhill in one piece only suffering a couple flat tires. The aspens and flowers were popping all the way down with speed reaching up to 30 miles an hour. As the group reached the parking lot lunch was passed around then on to the next adventure. A rafting tour of the Upper Taylor River by Scenic River Tours gave the campers a nice cool-off after the long.

The way back to campus the rains started to come down in buckets giving us an assurance that early starts are worth it. The camp finished with a banquet where parents, campers, coaches and guest sat down to eat and talk. With advice given by Dave Wiens and local orthopedic surgeon Rhett Griggs campers and parents took home some great knowledge for the developing mountain biker. With the last night in camp wrapping up, a quick movie and passed out campers meant a camp well spent.

Thanks for everyone that came out and participated. We hope you had a great time because we sure did!