Anyone done this?
http://www.whistlerbike.com/camps-lessons/camps/richie-schley/index.htm

Any other suggestions?
I’m going out there for a year, I’m perfectly capable of riding a UK downhill track and jumping the small to medium sized jumps but could probably do with some guidance hitting the bigger stuff in Whistler. Thought this might be a good way to go about it?

I’m going out there for a year,

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And you expect people to comment when you make statements like that….. 😯
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Suggest asking locally would be a better bet tho’ IMHO

🙄

Ask about on Ride.io, the demographic of their forum members are more likely to have spent seasons in Whistler…

i.e. not overweight Audi-driving IT managers!

Ask about on Ride.io, the demographic of their forum members are more likely to have spent seasons in Whistler…

i.e. not overweight Audi-driving IT managers!

Good point.

When are you going?

I am currently filling out my visa so should get there as the ski season starts then get the full summer 2013 :]

25th of July! Visa is waiting for me when I land, can’t wait to get out there!

cool. Though my biggest concern is not being able to ski or snowboard lol. I’m sure I will pick it up easy over an entire season though.

Snowboarding is easy enough. I’ve taught a few people now and by the end of the first day you’ll be able to get down the slope and having a blast doing it!

You could go on the course if you want to ‘fast track’ and shell out £240 ish. TBH I’d say just ride the trails and hit the bigger stuff as you get more confident, which you will.

The ‘big’ stuff isn’t all that bad TBH, most of it is just a head f*&k as it will be a gap, which you will have cleared distance wise on the numerous table tops in the park.

The peak chair ride is also available for $15 top up ticket now too, so that ‘exclusive’ element isn’t valid anymore 😉

Have you sorted a job? Or are you going to wing it when you get there? There seems to be a lot of work about just not much in Whistler.

I’ve applied for a few jobs, mainly maintenance in the hotels. My brother is also on the case as he is currently working for the mountain. Nothing settled yet, but I’m sure I’ll sort something out.

If you’re there for a year you won’t need coaching! I was a pretty crap rider before i went for 2 months last year, was ok at UK dh stuff but didn’t have much confidence on anything that techy or jumpy.. within a few weeks that all changed and by the end i was riding most of the black/double blacks to a reasonable standard! just take it easy to start with so you don’t ruin your season. ps for an awesome combo i recommend blue velvet > black velvet > too tight > crank it up 😀 or freight train > dirt merchant > lower a line > glc !

You’ll definitely build up to the bigger stuff, can’t believe how much i improved over such a short period of time. Still a bit rough on the techier stuff (original sin etc) but the jump trails and wooden skinny bits i was loving!

I had a day’s coaching with one of the guides as I birthday present, Steve Mayer I think. It was a very valuable day’s experience, strongly recommended. If you go to the lift ticket booking office they will be able to advise.

Out there for a year? Lucky guy, enjoy!

Surprisingly cheap to get coached by Richie Schley or Wade Simmons, although their idea of easy warm-up confidence-building stuff is probably different to mine…

Yep, pretty cheap to ride with Richie Schley.. but not to take anything away from the mans talent, there are plenty of superb coaches in Whistler. Maybe not better riders, but better able to break down what you are doing wrong and how to explain things to you on a level that you’d understand.
Coyote had just that. Steve is a superb coach. Coaches for Extremely Canadian in the Winter. He’s a year round professional coach so knows exactly how to get you down the hill and rips on both snow and dirt.

We coach on the bike park too. $40/hr for 1 rider, so you’d get 7 hours of 1-on-1 coaching from us for the cost of the freeride camp.

Enjoy.. oh and skip a-line until you’ve got a good amount of riding under your belt! Seriously 😉

If you can afford to ride with Richie I’d definitely recommend it. He’s a tech guy who’ll be able to tell you exactly what to do or not do. A lot of guides are just pinners who can’t really articulate riding technique.

Yep, pretty cheap to ride with Richie Schley.. but not to take anything away from the mans talent, there are plenty of superb coaches in Whistler. Maybe not better riders, but better able to break down what you are doing wrong and how to explain things to you on a level that you’d understand.
Coyote had just that. Steve is a superb coach. Coaches for Extremely Canadian in the Winter. He’s a year round professional coach so knows exactly how to get you down the hill and rips on both snow and dirt.

We coach on the bike park too. $40/hr for 1 rider, so you’d get 7 hours of 1-on-1 coaching from us for the cost of the freeride camp.

Enjoy.. oh and skip a-line until you’ve got a good amount of riding under your belt! Seriously

Sounds awesome, the booking forms on your website appear to be for accommodation, how do I go about booking just tuition?

Fire an email off to our guiding co-ordinator Tim – linky

Booking forms are to generic for guiding/coaching as everyones needs, expectations and aspirations are so different.

Regards

Jonny