“Higher” Learning: Rookie-Freeride-Camp at Bikepark Leogang

Successful Youth Freeride Camp

Leogang, Austria, August 3rd 2012 – Despite of the tremendous preparations for the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships that are to be held in Saalfelden Leogang at the end of August, organizers of the Bikepark Leogang still found the time to establish their first Rookie Freeride Camp. The camp, aimed at the professional training of youngsters, was a complete success: eleven young riders experienced memorable moments of success while enjoying riding in the summer sun.
Learning can be so easy – as long as the conditions are right! The Rookie Freeride Camp at Bikepark Leogang took place on July 22nd – 24th 2012. With the surrounding alpine scenery, the best weather conditions one could hope for and the largest variety of tracks at one of Europe´s biggest Bikeparks, the atmosphere couldn´t have been any better. These junior riders made the most of these ideal conditions to significantly improve on their bike handling skills. The youngsters benefited from the efficient teaching methods used at the bike school, developed by Elements Outdoor Sports; for example, two coaches trained groups with a maximum of six riders. Thus, communication between youngsters and coaches was good and safety was maximized. No wonder the groups had achieved noticeable improvements on the long and demanding “Hangman I-trail” after just half the camps duration. Even the youngest rider aged 8 mastered the difficult roots in the trail´s wooden section and as we all know, success is a strong motivation. In this case enabling participants to perform difficult maneuvers such as wallrides, table-tops and even no-footers, will gain them the respect of the older, far more experienced Bikepark-visitors.
Furthermore, the first Rookie Freeride Camp proved its solid potential as a versatile social adventure: these open-minded kids made friendship with each other at lunchtime, discussed the latest bike designs and motivated each other to try bigger jumps. Due to the high demand, the Bikepark´s organizers will establish the Rookie Freeride Camp as a 3- and a 5-day-event in 2013. To maximize the learning curve, young freeriders will be able to use the Jochen Schweizer-Bagjump at both these events – the oversized airbags ease the learning of challenging tricks without the danger of serious injuries. Evidence that Bikepark safety is paramount for all park-users and that the people behind the Bikepark in Leogang pay the highest attention to it. Finally, with the possibility of training on small segments of the World´s DH-course, the Rookie Freeride Camps get even more attractive for 2013. Find both dates for the Rookie Freeride Camps on Bikepark Leogang´s website shortly.
There are three camp-highlights within the next few weeks: at the FREERIDE-Youthcamp youngsters will have the chance to practice wallrides and doubles with Bike-professionals such as Tibor Simai or top all-rounder Rob J, following the slogan “Ride with the Pros”. Moreover, students will learn fundamental DH-riding techniques with former German elite-master André Wagenknecht or improve upon their traction on berms coached by German 4x-icon Guido Tschugg. The wide range of possibilities, makes this seven-day event (starting this Sunday, August 5th) unique and only possible due to the great diversity of tracks to be found at the Bikepark Leogang.
The second Freeride Camp – for Freeride-beginners and advanced riders will allow participants to build their skills on a selection of demanding terrain. This camp will be held on September 15th/16th 2012.
The final camp highlight – the riding technique camp by the renowned Mountainbike-Academy and led by “riding-guru” Stefan Herrmann takes place on September 21st till 23rd 2012. It is aimed at tweaking your riding style to iron out all the little mistakes, which can make a big difference in advancing to harder trails.

Apart from the camps, Saalfelden Leogang hosts the 2012 Worlds, which will present the battle for the UCI-crown in Downhill, Cross-Country and Trials. The Worlds take place from August 29th until September 9th 2012 with the Eliminator-race in Cross-Country having its 2012 debut in this picturesque Austrian region. A spectacular agenda underlining the adaptability of the Bikepark Leogang – there can be no doubt that for the MTB community, Saalfelden Leogang and Bikepark Leogang is the place to be this summer.

Find more information on the Bikepark Leogang right here:
www.bikepark-leogang.com or click www.facebook.com/Bikepark.Leogang

For further information on the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships in Saalfelden Leogang go to: http://www.saalfeldenleogang2012.com or http://www.facebook.com/SaalfeldenLeogang2012.