Some of the world's best mountain bikers are in Squamish this weekend to participate in the ninth annual BC Championships High School Race Camp.
National Team members will spend two days training and riding with the province's top high school riders. Olympians Lesley Tomlinson, Alison Sydor and Roland Green are just a few of the world-class riders who will give technique and nutrition tips. And students will get to pick the brains of National Team members and assistant coach Houshang Amiri during a question-and-answer period.
At the camp's core is The Shore Group, a group of five elite riders, including Tomlinson and Sydor, who banded together to share their enthusiasm for outdoor recreation.
"They've always been very, very strong supporters of the high school league," said North Shore High School Mountain Biking League chairman Sam Scorda. "They've been there since day one. They actually were the inspiration for starting to the league in the North Shore."
Most of the riders attending the exclusive camp are there by invitation only, and include only 50 of the province's top riders, 38 of whom placed in the top five of last year's BC Championship.
Several students from Don Ross and Howe Sound Secondary who placed in the provincial competition's top five category were invited along with high school students from Argyle, West Vancouver, Chatelech and Rockridge.
It's the second year the group has brought the camp to Squamish after facing costly accommodations in Victoria and Mill Bay. Scorda says that Don Ross and Howe Sound Secondary's strong riders make Squamish "the hub of high school mountain biking."
"It's just a tremendous area," he said.
Participants will stay at the Squamish Hostel and the weekend's itinerary includes a mechanic workshop, a discussion of good riding clothes, strength and flexibility, massage release and pedal stroke techniques.
The final activity will be a hike of the Chief on the afternoon of Sunday (March 21).
