Day 4 (cont'd) and the Devil's Dandruff

By the time we only had a couple hours left we were pretty spent so we decided to slow down the pace a little, grab a camera, session and get some filming in. We had a couple whip off’s, sessions and train shots before finally settling on the last step-up of steamshovel for a last massive session. Jonas Burke had his x-ups absolutely clicked and all our jaws collectively hit the floor when Liam pulled a 90’d moto-whip nac-nac. So cool. Finally we decided to put down the camera and make our way down to the bottom. We ended the day with a massive bar-hump train on the last step-down and called it a day with smiles on our faces while laughing over the day’s events.

The final day saw the weather turn against us. We arrived at 9am to find the clouds unleashing the devil’s dandruff all over the top two-thirds of the hill, inspiring Safety-Ken to shut down the lift on us. We were told we would have to wait it out until the snow melted off the wood structures, so we took over the empty child-minding center, found a TV and DVD player and plugged in some riding movies while deciding on our next moves. We got word that we would have to wait until at least lunch to ride so after a couple movies we decided to open the floor to the kids on any topics they were interested in. Getting shut down on riding turned out to be a really positive opportunity for the kids to learn from us as we got to discuss our experiences growing up riding, our careers, the bike industry, filming, racing, building jumps, hitting gaps or lines for the first time, injuries, recovery and strategies for minimizing risk. A bunch of the kids I talked to afterwards were very appreciative of what we had to say and took a lot from it so I was happy. After lunch Safety-Ken decided that the hill would remain closed to the public but that the camp would be allowed to load the lift, ride half way down the hill on fire roads and access the bottom of the hill from there. The top of the hill was indeed coated in a couple inches of slush but the bottom of the hill was in decent condition. I rode again with Group 6 and we collectively decided that the weather was not going to hold us down or back. The last hour or two of the camp even saw sunshine. By the end of the day my back had had it with the 6^th day straight of riding, so when one of my kids got a flat on 24” wheels I switched him bikes and walked out. When I got to the bottom of the hill the campers were gathered at the trucks and we handed out prizes and schwag. Afterwards we took a group shot as well as lots of individual pictures and said our goodbyes to the 2011 Freeride Camp.

Despite all the challenges of running a camp of this size, the roadrash, strained tendons and nerve damage I sustained and the ensuing tendonitis that decided to plague me afterwards from riding hard for 5 days on an injured wing, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and would not have given it up for anything. I love coaching and the camp presents such a unique opportunity to work with so many upcoming riders, many on a multi-year basis, that after 9 years of being involved with the camp I am sure I will be back for a 10^th year and well into the future. I wish all of the riders all the best and hope to see them all next year!

Justin Terwiel