On Friday afternoon I headed north to beautiful Blue Mountain to shoot the Wade Simmons mountain bike camp for the second year in a row. I got up to Blue late in the afternoon and met up with Graeme to arrange my park pass and bike. Wade was just wrapping up his camp for that day and I met up with him at the lift to say hi and go over the game plan for Saturday. The group looked like they had a blast and I was pretty excited to shoot with him and his crew for the next day. The village was alive with weddings, vacationers and day trippers. It was hot and the forecast looked good for our shoot.

Last year I brought my strobes and set them up for each shot. I was hiking and could therefore bring whatever gear I could carry. This year I decided to ride along with the camp and shoot exclusively with available light. I knew I would be skunked in the forest but that the mountain had enough to offer that I could make it work. I packed quite a lot of glass however and my pack came in at just under 60lbs. I was a bit nervous because it had been three years since I had ridden a DH sled or at Blue for that matter. I also chose this opportunity to ride flat pedals for the first time in my life. I wanted to be able to get off the bike and shooting quickly. I also didn’t want to hold the camp back while they waited for me to set up.

I met up with Wade and the group at 9:30am on Saturday for a little meet and great. Once we all got acquainted, Wade went over some basic bike setup principles and theory. Local rippers Keith Grant and Mike Towers came along to ride and help teach for the day. They are both good guys and solid riders with a lot to offer the group.

From there we made our way up to the pump track at the top of the hill where Wade went over body position and demonstrated how to work the terrain.

Peter Sutcliffe, Blue’s most excellent ops guy, built three small drops specifically for the camp and everyone had a blast on them. Thanks Pete!

We hit the hip on O-Chute then had one more run to get in before lunch. One shot that I had in the back of my mind all day was a sweet train shot through Happy Valley. The wild flower and tall grass look so epic right now.

After lunch we headed back up to session a few berms and Wade showed the group how to hit a wall ride.

Wade wrapped up the day with some final words of wisdom and prizes for the most improved riders. Everyone left a with a big smile on their faces and a few more skills to help them have a safer, more exciting day on the trails. I managed to keep the rubber side down for the day and had an absolute blast riding with them. Here is a shot of the motley crew from Saturday. Thanks for the fun day guys!

Once the camp was over I headed back up the hill to try and bang off a few shots with Wade and Keith. The light was failing fast but we chased it around hard for 2 hours to get what we could. Here are a few fruits of our labour.

Huge thanks to Wade, Kit, Sarah, Graeme, Pete, Keith, Mike and all the riders who came out for the camp. Blue has a lot to offer as a destination and riding with Wade is just the icing on the cake. This camp is amazing, so spread the word and I’ll see you out there next year. Happy trails!