Full and Half Day Camps
Explore Grindstone MTB Camps! Grindstone Mountain Bike Camps bring you together with a small group of like minded riders who are tackling the same challenges you are.
For all of our Full-Day Camps we deal with the normal variation between riders by starting weeks before your camp date with a pre-camp phone interview and assessment to see where you are at and double check that this is the right camp for you. This is so that you don’t end up being the “slowest” or “fastest” person at camp. At that time you will receive your first personal coaching session with assignments to prepare you for camp.
For our Half-Day Skill Specific Camps we have pre-requisites to make sure you possess the foundational skills needed to continue your learning.
Between these two approaches we do our best to ensure no one is left behind or held up, and we are all on even footing with everyone else at the start of camp.
***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
Women’s Camps
All of the following three full-day camps have women’s + only camp dates. Just click on the registration link and you’ll find them in the “Pick your Date” drop down menu. Half-day skill specific camps are all co-ed.
New to MTB
Are you curious about trying mountain biking or have you gone on a few rides with your friends and realized that some instruction could dramatically improve your experience? You may not bike much yet or maybe you do more road biking and are looking to get into the woods. This is the place to start for you!
We understand that this sport can be intimidating and there is so much to know and learn, from what bike and clothes to what trails and skills, and that is why we start with a private phone call before camp to get your questions answered and remove any barriers to having the best experience. There are a few fundamentals that you can start practicing on your own time that will greatly accelerate your learning while you are at camp. ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
- Risk management/safety
- Range of motion/body position
- Braking
- Shifting
- Pressure control/pumping
- Pressure control/wheel lifts
- vision/planning-creating conditions for success
- Cornering
- Bridge drops
- Problem solving/self diagnosis
- Practicing methods
- 7:30 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am lunch break
- 12:30 pm ride prep/warm up
- 1pm-4pm afternoon ride w/coaching
- 4:00-4:30pm wrap up talk
- 4:30-5pm pack up
- 5pm camp ends
- Your mountain bike in good working order
- Helmet (mandatory) and any other safety gear (gloves, pads, etc)
- On-bike hydration (water bottle cage or pack style)
- On-trail snack
- Pack lunch (refrigeration, grills, water provided)
- A way to take notes (digital or paper)
- Clothes for any weather, on and off bike (stay warm/cool and dry!)
- You must already know how to ride a bike
- This camp truly starts at the beginning of mountain biking
Journeyman Level 1 MTB
If you’ve been riding trails frequently or for a year or so or maybe have attended a clinic or private lesson already, this is the place for you. Your category of rider has the greatest amount of skill variation between riders of any group. With so many elements to acquire like; balance, cornering, pressure control, braking, vision, mobility, mindset, line choice, etc., we can sometimes end up less well rounded than we’d like often due to the demands of our local trails and the people we ride with.
This is a great time to lock in your technique for the things you are already doing well and get up to speed on the areas where you are behind. Plus, riding with new friends is the best! ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
- Risk management/safety
- Range of motion/body position
- Range of motion
- X and Y axis
- Rotation (Z axis)
- Angulation (bike/body separation)
- Braking
- Quick stop
- Braking on steep descents
- Shifting
- for bigger moves
- For climbing
- Pressure control
- pumping
- Front Wheel lift
- Rear wheel lift
- Level lift (English bunny hop)
- Vision/planning
- For braking
- For wheel lifts
- For turning
- Balance
- Track stands
- Ratchet crank
- Cornering
- Speed assessment
- Braking
- lines/vision
- Body position
- Mindset
- How to view challenges
- Building your experience catalog
- Observing your physical and mental state
- 7:30 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am lunch break
- 12:30 pm ride prep/warm up
- 1pm-4pm afternoon ride w/coaching
- 4:00-4:30pm wrap up talk
- 4:30-5pm pack up
- 5pm camp ends
- New to MTB or equivalent private coaching
Journeyman 2 MTB
If you have been riding trails frequently for over a year and have attended a skills camp or clinic before, formally covering all of the basics of riding, and practiced those techniques then this is your next step. You are becoming more confident with what you can do, but also realizing where some of your gaps are. This camp will really get you to the next level. ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
- Range of motion
- Rotation
- Angulation
- Braking
- All Level 1 Skills
- Stoppies
- Front wheel skid
- Shifting for bigger moves
- Pressure control
- Advanced/lateral pumping
- Wheel lift combos
- English vs J Hop
- Pumping in turns
- manuals
- Vision/planning
- For speed control
- For air time
- For more technical lines
- Balance
- Static
- Rolling
- Weight shift for techniques like 180 spins, transfer landings, etc
- Drops
- Bridge review
- Send
- Intro to manual drop
- Intro to Jumping
- Mellow jumps
- Tables
- Gaps
- Speed judgement
- Intro to steeper jumps
- Pre req’s
- Every wheel every way
- High manual
- Pre req’s
- Mellow jumps
- Cornering
- Types of turns
- Flat
- Berms
- Off camber
- Line Choice
- Body Position
- Trail conditions
- Types of turns
- Mindset
- Riding in the present
- Conscious choice catalog
- Managing expectations
- State assessment
- 7:30 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am lunch break
- 12:30 pm ride prep/warm up
- 1pm-4pm afternoon ride w/coaching
- 4:00-4:30pm wrap up talk
- 4:30-5pm pack up
- 5pm camp ends
- Journeyperson MTB Level 1 or private coaching equivalent
Skill Specific Half Day Camps
Skill specific camps are what they sound like and emphasize skills such as Wheel Lifts, Drops, Cornering, etc., but always call into play the whole body of mountain bike knowledge to execute more safely and reliably. You can’t “only” learn drops without learning pressure control, wheel lifts, speed judgement, etc. as well. Safety is always our number one priority and we’re not here to help you “check a box” at the risk of injury or setting up false expectations. That is why we have camp prerequisites in place. These camps go beyond the “intro” level and will dive deeper into variations of the skill and give you the opportunity for extending your experience as your skill consolidation increases. ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
Morning Camp
- 8:00 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am Camp concludes
Afternoon Camp
- 12:30 pm arrival/check-in
- 1:00 pm camp starts
- 4pm camp concludes
Cornering Deep Dive
Cornering happens, but for a lot of us, some corners can be stressful and disappointing. It’s not like a big log that you can dismount and walk over, we feel obligated to just suffer through it and hope the next one is somehow better. After this half-day camp you will look to the next corner with gleeful anticipation! When you learn the range of techniques and how to apply them to different cornering situations, your cornering experience goes from dread to shred! ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
- Body movement for cornering
- Bike movement for cornering
- Speed judgement
- Flat turns
- Banked turns
- Off camber turns
- Switchbacks
Morning Camp
- 8:00 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am Camp concludes
Afternoon Camp
- 12:30 pm arrival/check-in
- 1:00 pm camp starts
- 4pm camp concludes
- New to MTB or Journeyman Level 1
- Private coaching equivalent
All the Wheel Lifts
Some people know how to do one type of wheel lift, but most of us don’t have proficiency in all 4 of the basic types of wheel lifts. The lift you might use to get over a large rock on an uphill climb probably isn’t the same one you’d want to use to keep your front wheel out of a puddle on a fast downhill. This half-day camp covers the four basic lifts and the very different techniques used to execute them and how they apply to many various trail situations. ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
- Wheel lift mechanics and physics
- The three types of front wheel lifts
- rear wheel lifts
- Pedaling wheel lift
- English (level) bunny hop
- American (J) hop
- Wheel lift practice drills
Morning Camp
- 8:00 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am Camp concludes
Afternoon Camp
- 12:30 pm arrival/check-in
- 1:00 pm camp starts
- 4pm camp concludes
- New to MTB or Journeyman Level 1
- Private coaching equivalent
Drops Deep Dive
Drops are more than a walk of shame or fail video waiting to happen. With the right information and practice, drops can be a done deal, feel normal, natural, and even fun! But, there are a number of aspects that you will need to understand and gain control over for that to happen. In this half-day camp we will break down drops into safer and more manageable bites and build a strong foundation with a repeatable process that allows us to earn our way to ever larger drops as we desire. Whether it is a steep roll down or a full send, by the end of the day you won’t need to automatically get off your bike for a drop ever again! ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
- Types of drops
- Drop physics- you, and your bike
- Steep rolls downs
- Sending drops
- Safer practice and accountability
Morning Camp
- 8:00 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am Camp concludes
Afternoon Camp
- 12:30 pm arrival/check-in
- 1:00 pm camp starts
- 4pm camp concludes
- New to MTB or Journeyman Level 1
- Private coaching equivalent
All the Rocks
Why do people say they like riding rocky trails?? Are they just masochists (maybe, lol), or do they know something we don’t? In this half-day camp we break down the different challenges that rocks provide and learn some techniques to turn those challenges into creative riding opportunities. You may even find some flow in the rocks by the end of camp! ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
- Strategies for rocky terrain
- Specific techniques for rocks
- balance
- wheel lifts
- pressure control
- pedaling variations
- incorporating line choice
- Mental Approaches
- Rock flow
Morning Camp
- 8:00 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am Camp concludes
Afternoon Camp
- 12:30 pm arrival/check-in
- 1:00 pm camp starts
- 4pm camp concludes
- New to MTB or Journeyman Level 1
- Private coaching equivalent
Jumping Level 1
Jumping may be more mysterious than cornering and more intimidating than drops, but it also has an irresistible allure for a lot of us. Lets take your love-hate relationship with jumping from a morbid curiosity or painful disappointment and show you the path to flying free like a little birdie! Remember, we can all get in the air fairly easily, but landing safely is the hard part. Everything you do in the lead up to your wheels leaving the earth is amplified as you soar through the air, so precision matters! Level 1 Jumping is where you will learn what you need to master to REALLY jump just about anything at any time. There may not be as much jumping glory happening here as you hoped for, but you need this half-day camp to get your foundation set. ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
- Review of Wheel Lifts
- Jump types
- Jump Physics and Mechanics
- Why your brain doesn’t want you to jump (correctly)
- Bump Jump
- Small table tops
- Small gaps
Morning Camp
- 8:00 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am Camp concludes
Afternoon Camp
- 12:30 pm arrival/check-in
- 1:00 pm camp starts
- 4pm camp concludes
- New to MTB , Journeyman Level 1 or Private coaching equivalent
- and
- All the Wheel Lifts or Journeyman Level 2
Jumping Level 2
Jumping Level 2 half-day camp delivers the goods! But, it requires the consolidation of all Jumping Level 1 skills in order to be able to move on responsibly. Once we leave the ground there isn’t a way to “bail out” safely and try it again. Confidence is definitely key to success, but we gain that through competence, not cockiness. Would a pro basketball player think they could do some fancy dribbling with a ball that had no air? Level 1 inflates the ball, Level 2 gets into the fancy dribbling. This is where things get exciting because you’ve already done the work. Consider taking Level 1 again if you have any doubts. ***All camps and coaching are for riders age 18+ only***
- Review of Level 1 topics
- Judging speed/distance
- Boosting jumps
- Larger gap jumps
- Transfer jumps
- Shark fins
- Whale tails
- Wall rides
Morning Camp
- 8:00 am arrival/check-in
- 8:30 am camp starts
- 11:30 am Camp concludes
Afternoon Camp
- 12:30 pm arrival/check-in
- 1:00 pm camp starts
- 4pm camp concludes
- Jumping Level 1
- and
- Journeyman Level 2 or Private coaching equivalent