With the skies clear and keen coaches we set our gs right away to take full advantage of the day. Thanks to all our coaches, Johnny Davidson, Rob Lahti, and shown here, the lovely Dani Robson, we couldn’t do this without you.

Before we sent them down the course, there’s always time to warm up with some push ups, total beast mode from all present.

To start everyone out right, getting them fired up in the start gate is our guest coach Conrad Pridy, he brings the fire.

So lets get to some action Here are some bad ass action shots from today thanks to our camp photographer Sean Frith. Sean’s also captured what it takes to get those great filming edits as you can see Roger Carry in the background risking himself to get all the action.

The course was so fun even interim head coach Johnny Davidson had to get in on the action… man he’s still got it.

That’s a wrap on another special camp where we have the pleasure of passing our passion for the sport we love so much. Thank you to everyone who support us and to all the racers who keep pushing the limits and dare to go after their dreams. When we can see smiles like this, it’s all the thanks we need.

Until next year… www.seanfrith.com

Day three also brought us to the first day of GS, we brought out the long boards and manny was excited to get the kids into their tucks. Unfortunately our speed was hindered a bit due to some classic Whistler fog.

Not to worry, with Nor am champion Morgan Pridy as our demo man for the day every got a ton of insight into how to make speed in tough conditions.

To Manny’s joy, we got the guys tucking and creating speed down the course. Action shot of the day goes to Jamis Beattie from Salmo, BC. Arc city!

After a lot of hard work on and off the hill, everyone got quiet when it was time to chow down into some dinner. Thanks Brewhouse in Whistler for taking care of us all week! Much love. Photo’s thanks to www.seanfrith.com

That didn’t stop the kids from focussing in and getting fired up in the start gate

Superstar coach Johnny Davidson didn’t have much to say to the kids but man he’s got a nice smile… We’re lucky to have him out as our interim head coach for 2013

Action shot of the day goes to Will Laliberte paired with his quote “I decided to go hard and come at the gate instead of waiting for it to come at me.” Looks like he taught us something.”

Always fun with at this camp and we’ll be back at it tomorrow doing GS . Photos by www.seanfrith.com

Grouping our 16 awesome kids in the morning to discuss strategy for the week. www.seanfrith.com

I can only imagine what life lessons these guys (Sam and Riley) are learning from Manny without me around. www.seanfrith.com

Superstar guest coach Conrad Pridy doing his thing. Thanks to Morgan and Conrad for making this camp extra special. www.seanfrith.com

Action photo of the day goes to Antonia Wearmouth laying it over with grit!!! www.seanfrith.com

Last run of the day… you can almost see our lunch calling our names. www.seanfrith.com

That calls for some lunch. Coaches were the first one to the food, leading by example. www.seanfrith.com

I believe it’s because we have being patterned to believe that the “stresses” one feels before competition, the heightened awareness, anxiety, nervousness, all of this, is due to the a natural fear of competition. We are told that those pre competition jitters are fears and that they must be overcome to succeed. After so many years working with this system, it takes it’s toll on you, it drains you to the point where you wonder where that fire has gone. If one does not become aware of this, the unconscious mind will do what is necessary to avoid such unwanted scenarios in the future. Our bodies are an outward expression of our minds and if our minds subconsciously believe enough is enough, it uses the body as a brilliant tool to do it’s work through chronic pains or the big career ending injuries.

Wether that fear is of failure or of success, we label this pre competition feeling as fear none the less.  We are then taught to be mentally tough to block this out, to push past this feeling. We are even taught to embrace this feeling by some but with the understanding that we are embracing fear which must be harnessed as such. There are many sport physiologist who teach these techniques and they can be very successful in that moment, they have been for me, unfortunately I found these techniques to be unsustainable. Instead of growing stronger from this, you end up attaching your fears to the next race and the next until you hit a tipping point where it becomes too much to block out, push past, take on. For me that tipping point was three years ago where I had injury after injury and it was becoming too much where I almost retired. Something inside told me to keep going, this wasn’t my time to stop and moving forward I was determined to find a new way of competing. I didn’t know really what I wanted at the time but I knew what I didn’t want. I didn’t want to be a nervous wreck from race to race, scared out my mind of not having results, oh and constantly injured.

Before moving on I would like to say there are of course those blessed few athletes out there who have the innate ability or who simply never developed from a young age, these same fears to competition as most of us did. These elite few are able to continue to grow and get better as they age, for it is my view as a close observer of them, that they continue to build, grow, expand upon all their competitions and knowledge instead of slowly closing off to competition and in turn growth. I love watching these kinds of athletes, it’s truly inspiring to see what is possible without the limitations of fear. They raise everyone’s game around them subsequently.

For myself I have come to set my goal on moving completely away from fearing competition to a shifting view of continual growth and to loving it.  All while in the pursuit of reaching successes not yet achieved in my career. This is not an easy feat yet the reward is beyond compare if achieved. Being completely aware of the greatness you now harness that you once feared, is life changing through and through. As I set out to not compete in fear and to set myself free on my skis, I took many paths, serious ups and downs. This at first led me to attempt avoiding that feeling one gets before a competition, the feeling I had patterned to be synonymous with fear. I thought I did not want to race with this feeling ever again. Man was I wrong.

This feeling is not to be avoided and feared, this feeling is to be embraced for it is the essence of how powerful we can be. This feeling tells you that whatever is in front of you means something big to you, something huge. This feeling we get before competition is our true selves coming out for life, coming out to take a breath of fresh air. Simply because this feeling is so foreign to us when we are young we fear it, yet it is only feared because it is unknown. In that moment, when we first met those pre competition nerves, if we were told not to meet these feelings with resistance, to block out or work around, but to greet them as our higher, infinitely powerful selves ready to break free. Would we not then learn to harness it, to grow it, to set ourselves on paths to ever expand it?

I spent many years working around and trying to avoid this awesome feeling which tired me out. From this place even after great results, I did not find the fulfillment I thought would come from these successes. Instead they came with more fears to be attached to the next race or to the next season. I’ve now chosen to embrace this feeling I once feared for it’s true form of higher self. To grow from it and use it as such in the start gate.

I don’t know where it will take me but I do know I’m not choosing fear and instead  choosing to love all these emotions that swirl in before a competition. To make a choice towards the unknown, out of love and openness will forever be mine when put up against one based on fear of not having something I already know to be safe or to have worked. The latter choice one remains stagnant and the former, this is a place from which there can only be endless expansion and growth.

Plus I let myself crush the dessert buffet… although my teammates may argue that I always  allow for that.

Start times are 5:45pm 1st run and 8:45pm 2nd run.