While browsing my Instagram feed I saw a clip from Summer Gravity Camps, urging us all to sign up for this summer’s sessions. And I realized that this time last year, I was signed up, paid up, and outrageously psyched up to go!!
Here’s the overview:
SGC Week 4. V2 from Summer Gravity Camps on Vimeo.
My experience was this:
– The riding at Whistler is mind blowingly good!!! There’s a huge variety of trails, for all types of crazy, and the flow trails (my personal favorites) are bigger and better than anything I’d seen before. Some of the corners are banked up to the clouds – you’re riding a nicely sculpted wall at top speed.
– The coaches are amazing riders, and super nice people. I enjoyed riding and chatting with them all.
– I didn’t progress anywhere close to as much as I’d hoped. I got slower as the week went on, though I don’t necessarily think that’s regression – it was a combination of concentrating on new habits, and getting over that adrenaline surge of the first couple of days. The first run of the trip I just launched myself into a fast and unknown trail!! By the end I was being a little smarter 🙂 But my overall riding didn’t take a leap forward, which I was bummed about. I’d hoped to get better at jumping, and maybe learn a whip, or a backflip into the foam pit.
– The after-riding activities were lacking. The marketing materials make you think that there are trips to the dirt jumps every evening, and that the foam pit is a frenzy of activity. It was hard to find out what was happening in the evenings, and I didn’t hear of any trips to the dirt jumps (which were high on my list of things to try). Some of the coaches hit the foam pit some of the evenings, but there wasn’t real instruction there. And no mulch jump, air bag, etc, which they show a lot in the promo videos.
– No photographer or videographer. I was hoping for some good riding pictures, but they didn’t have anyone taking pictures or videos.
– No bike setup sessions. The suspension clinic was really barebones, and came halfway through the week anyway. I would have loved some help getting my (totally undergunned) bike nicely set up.
Was it worth the money? I’d say yes, despite my complaints – the people were awesome, and I would have likely hurt myself without a guide at Whistler!! There are numerous surprises on the black trails that can end very badly – steep drops, technical sections that need to be approached the right way, etc. Having someone who knows the trails well is invaluable.
Would I go again? If I had too much money, I’d go again, because it’s damn fun. But as an investment in my riding, I didn’t get a good return. Not sure what the alternatives are? I’d definitely look into Fluidride here in Seattle.