Graduate Interview: Chloe Pinder

Where is home?
Bath

Years riding?
Properly for about 6 years

How did you find out about the Peak Leaders course ?
Found it through searching around on Google - it looked super professional and had brilliant reviews and testimonials. The setup sounded ideal for me, for my first lengthy trip away from family. What could have been better than living in Whistler for a good portion of the summer, riding my bike everyday?!

What stood out?
Gaining both IDP and CTC qualifications stood out for me when looking at the course as it meant I could be flexible in looking for future jobs back in the UK and anywhere else in the world I wanted to be. It meant that I had knowledge in a wide range of the different aspects in being a mountain bike guide and coach.

Chloe taking a progression lesson.

Did you know about riding in Whistler before your arrived?
I spent a week in Whistler with my family in the summer of 2014 and had an absolutely amazing time! I knew about it before then just because of its awesome reputation and watching many movies and edits featuring the bike park.

What were your expectations of the course?
I expected it to be challenging and full on but lots of fun and for my riding to progress a long way.

Starting out with the basics...

How did you find it?
I can easily say it was the best thing I've done in my life so far! I enjoyed every aspect of the course, living with such like-minded people, being surrounded by some of the world's best riding and being taught, guided and coached by some incredibly experienced people in the mountain bike industry.

Any highlights?
Riding Top of the World and Kyber's Pass (despite many crashes down Kyber's) were brilliant. I was also ecstatic to conquer by biggest fear - the Dwayne Johnson drop in order to pass the IDP level 2 exam.

Next up, 'EZ does it'.

Big challenges?
I would say living with over a dozen boys was pretty tough at times - some of them were a little less domesticated than I had hoped!

Did it change your approach to riding?
Definitely - more than I had ever hoped for. I am so much more confident and willing to push myself on a much more regular occurrence. The prospect of going out next season has meant I am constantly looking for ways to improve my riding - learning the coaching and guiding techniques means I have been able to analyse myself and my riding a lot more accurately.

Then on to 'Top Of The World'!

Has it changed your perspective of stuff riding back home?
As I said, my confidence has been upped a huge amount - there's stuff I wouldn't have even considered riding before Whistler. My skills have been greatly improved and I'm keeping up with people I was a long way behind before the course!

How did you like living in Whistler?
Living in Whistler was fantastic. I never got bored, even off the bike. The food, the shopping, the weather and the people were all completely top-notch! Being so close to the bike park was fantastic, to be able to ride there within 10 minutes was so handy and meant there was never an excuse not to go out and put in a few laps!


Best thing about it?
I loved the atmosphere of the village and the lifestyle out there. Everyone was ridiculously friendly and it was so great to meet new people to ride with on our days off.

Did you get up to much outside of the bike park, non riding wise?
We rode to Lost Lake a couple of times and had a lot of fun swimming and messing around in the dingys which was great! I made many trips to Purebread - an absolutely amazing bakery in village for delicious cakes and bakes. Some pretty good shopping around and about too!

What was your favourite trail?
Top of the World was unbeatable - the views and the exposure and the sense of adventure coming down there made it my favourite trail we rode together.


How was Crankworx? Live up to expectations?
Very busy but good fun. Definitely did live up to expectations and watching the events there was even more impressive than on a laptop screen.

Overall highlight of the course?
Getting up everyday to ride the best bike park in the world, gaining invaluable new life skills and having a blast every single day of the course!



Are you considering getting a job related to the MTB industry?
Yes I am hoping to go back out to Whistler for the coming season to hopefully get a job with the bike park guiding and teaching.

What are you riding/travelling/racing plans for the future?
Doing a few enduro races next year as well as travelling to South Africa to support teams racing the Cape Epic - one of the toughest cross country races out there.

Any plans to go back to Whistler?
Of course - once you've been once you can't not go back!

Want this to be you next summer? Check out our website for more information on the courses we run!

Ski, Snowboard & Mountain Bike Instructor Courses & Camps
www.peakleaders.com | Tel: +44 (0) 1337 860 079
Join us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter @PeakLeaders | Add us on Instagram @PeakLeadersDirt