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Women take to Whistler’s trails

Sold-out Sugoi Dirt Series camp has another successful weekend showing female riders the ropes

Catherine Sloan pulls up to a wooden makeshift stunt in Rebagliati Park and pauses just before she executes a perfect wheelie drop.

Under her full-face helmet and covered in biking armour, Sloan looks like the dozens of other women learning stunts around the small Whistler park under the blistering sun.

The fact that she’s more than 50 years old isn’t important when she can wheelie drop with the best, and the youngest, of them.

But her age does make her a little more cautious and anxious to learn the technical skills properly before she hits the trails.

That’s why she’s back at the women’s only Sugoi Dirt Series camp for the second time since she started mountain biking four years ago.

"When you’re that old you have to be cautious!" she said.

Whether it’s learning the technical skills like Sloan, or getting confident on a mountain bike or getting stoked about a new sport, these days women are coming out in droves to participate in the Dirt Series camps.

When Whistler girl Candace Shadley came up with the concept four years ago, she wanted to create an environment which was safe and supportive for women to truly learn the different skills to mountain biking.

"That’s my favourite thing – to give people skills and make it easier for them to learn," said the 32-year-old coach.

She started four years ago and since then, more than 650 women have done a Dirt Series camp. Every camp for the past two years has been full to the brim, a testament both to the popularity of the sport and the growing interest from women.

The camps run throughout B.C., in Alberta and in some northwestern states.

Participants come in all shapes and sizes and range in ability from first-timers to seasoned riders.

But they do have some things in common.

"For some reason they are all super friendly," said Shadley.

"(And) everyone who comes is active."

The camp is made up of two full days of mountain biking.

In Whistler, the morning sessions are centred out of Rebagliati Park and are followed by an afternoon trail ride, where the morning skills can be put into practical use.

Whistler’s mountain biking trails have a special significance for Shadley.

It was on these trails where she honed her own mountain biking skills years ago.

Although the camps now travel far and wide, Shadley said it’s nice sometimes to teach on familiar ground.

"The trails are really well-built and well-maintained and we know them really well," she said.

"(They) are ideal to teach on."

The Whistler camp from July 24 to 25 saw dozens of women take to the local trails, some tackling the stunt-infested A River Runs Through It while others explored the undulating gravel terrain tucked behind Lost Lake.

The trail rides on Saturday and Sunday afternoons topped off two mornings packed full of skill sessions, which included lessons on wheelie drops, teeter totters, braking, taking tight switchbacks, riding straight lines, to name a few things.

Vik Peck, a Vancouver Island mother who is trying to rediscover the sport after a three and a half year hiatus when she had a little girl, was mastering the wheelie drop move by the end of the second day.

"A lot of women are very intimidated by it (mountain biking)," she said.

"It’s nice to get out here with a bunch of women who are really gung-ho and not intimidated at all."

If there was any anxiety at the outset of the weekend it was soon put to rest during the coaches’ introduction, which sounded like a who’s who in the Canadian mountain biking scene.

Among them was soft-spoken Sylvie Allen, the 2002 Canadian National Downhill Champion, X-Games gold medalist Aleisha Cline, who was once a member of the Canadian Mountain Bike Downhill Team and pro-elite racer Kelli Sherbinin.

It was quickly apparent that the riders, whether they had one day’s experience or a few years under their helmets, were in good hands.

For many, the camp was also a great chance to ride with other women.

"It’s so nice to be around feminine ladies who like to do it," said 26-year-old Salinas Vanrikxoort, who has been riding for a year.

"When I’m riding with guys I feel like I’m always behind."

That was a common complaint among the riders at the camp.

But Shadley is getting a first hand view of how the sport is evolving, bringing more and more women into the fold.

"I think I see more women participating in outdoor sports all the time," she said.

And the mountain biking industry in particular seems to be responding to the growing consumer base.

"The industry sees women as a much more viable consumer group than ever before," she said.

The camps can handle 36 participants. The Whistler camp enticed riders from as far away as Gold River on Vancouver Island, and Seattle, Regina and Calgary.

Dirt Series will be hosting their last camp of the season Sept. 18-19 in Whistler.

It’s a two day jam packed co-ed reunion camp (all of the other camps are women’s only).

For more information or to register go to www.dirtseries.com.