Part 4 in Ryan’s series features more Whistler action at the Camp of Champions & with Eric Lawrenuk in the Bike Park…



Don’t forget to enter to win great prizes over at Pinkbike

Since time began it seems like Specialized has always had one of the most insane bikes in the DH world. Ever since one of our snowboard coaches, Shaun Palmer rode them and did pretty well on them, we’ve wanted one. Sam Hill is fast, on Specialized he’s even faster. One thing we always wanted at COC, and I’m sure our campers wanted as well, was to have Demo 8′s available to ride in our demo fleet. For 2011 we will now have Specialized Demo 8′s and Gord Calder our Ops Manager is losing his mind due to being over stoked, his screen saver changed the second we got the “we’re in” from Specialized. We will be building the Demo 8 frames up with our usual COC World Cup caliber build with the help of our sponsors like RaceFace, Straitline, Spank, Maxxis, Chromag, Formula, X-Fusion, Elka and others.

Two Years
Gord Calder worked for two years to bring the Demo 8′s into the COC fold, and as he puts it, “This is my dream bike. I figured if it’s my dream bike, I’m pretty certain I’m not the only one that dreams of ripping the Demo 8 through the Whistler Bike Park all summer”. We couldn’t be happier to have Specialized on board for 2011. Usually I would add something about how stoked we are etc, but I think Gord has pretty much covered that. It’s going to be an amazing summer, our bike fleet just keeps getting sicker, and the reasons you have for not being out here just keep getting fewer.

Here’s a bunch of links to the Whistler Bike Park trails that I filmed for Ken over at Camp of Champions.  It was a big day of riding, lots of laps! In fact, Tippie and I set a record for the most trails shot in one day!  Check out a few or all of the GoPro movies here…

1-Lower A-Line

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I flew back to Canada in late June. In my first week back I met with the guys at Race Face, rode with the Camp of Champions in Whistler and made it to Vancouver Island to hang out with the guys at Straitline.

Once I got back to Fernie I got my Wildcard built up with parts I smuggled over from Taiwan. It was going to be my back up bike for the summer but after a couple of rides on it I was not sure I would be able to put it second.



Once I had my Scythe finished it was not hard to put my Wildcard into the basement. Just based on the look of my Scythe I was in love. After my first ride on my new bike I was hooked. After the first couple of rides my face was sore from the permanent smile I had while riding.

My 2010 Banshee Scythe:



Frame: Large Banshee Scythe
Fork: Manitou Dorado
Shock: Fox DHX Coil
Headset: Cane Creek Flush
Stem: Spank Spike Direct Mount
Bars: Spank Spike 777 Evo
Grips: ODI Ruffian with Blue Camp of Champions Locks
Brakes: FUNN
Rims: Spank Spike Evo
Hubs: Hope Pro II
Seat: Spank Subrosa
Cranks: Race Face Atlas FR
Chain Guide: Straitline Silent Guide
Pedals: Straitline
Shifter: SRAM X.O
Derailleur: SRAM X.O Short Cage
Chain: SRAM Hollow Pin
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The Camp of Champions with help from GoPro has spent the last month filming every trail in The Whistler Bike Park in HD from two angles. The footage was then synced and tagged with a GPS point. Set up in a split screen format, you can ride with / follow COC coaches Alan Hepburn, Xavier Raventos, Brett Tippie and friends Andrew Baker, Kyle McDonald and others through the Whistler Bike Park. See the lines the pros take. Be safer by knowing what to expect. Learn new lines and get a better idea of what a trail looks like, use it to get rid of your intimidation of a certain trail, or just wish you were riding Whistler with us. (continue reading…)

The Camp of Champions is blowing up. Literally. The Camp of Champions is blowing up the 365 Sports Big Air Bag all summer in “The Compound”. You can now ride at COC from 10AM to 10PM. Like the idea of a foam pit, the 365 Sports Big Air Bag is designed to help riders learn new tricks by having an amazingly soft, safe, landing. The 365 Sports Big Air Bag is enormous so you can attempt any trick you can think of. Best of all you don’t use all your energy digging yourself and your bike out after landing like you do in a foam pit. The 365 Sports Big Air Bag is like a stunt bag you see on movie sets for jumping out of buildings, but designed for going big and learning tricks on a mountain bike and BMX bike. It sets the new standard for learning. 365 Sports, The Camp of Champions and “The Compound” have added a whole new dimension to summer camps and riding in Whistler. (continue reading…)

Well, it’s been a long road and we made it.
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