Fort Lewis College MTB Camp
In the summers of 2021 and 2022, Ethan Werschky (RO Staff) attended the Fort Lewis College Mountain Biking Camp in the MTB heaven know as Durango. It was attended by forty other high school riders, both guys and gals. The Fort Lewis coaches and college riders have hosted the camp for over 20 years.
The camp goes from a Saturday to a Friday. Ethan’s parents drove him the six hours to Fort Lewis from Monument. His parents gallivanted joyously throughout Durango and Ouray for the week while Ethan was at camp.
Ethan went with a buddy from home and they stayed in a dorm room together. Kids came all the way from Alabama, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Each morning, the campers were split up into 4-5 groups, depending on skill level, and led on a 2-3 hour ride. They rode a variety of trails around Durango - flowy, technical, grippy, or loose. Ethan was stoked to improve his technical skills like navigating through rock gardens, step ups, and drops.
Ethan racing with his high scool team. He finished top 100 at XC States for his age group in 2022.
Their afternoons consisted of bike games, like foot down and bike tag, and free time. One hot afternoon, their instructors took them to the river to float on tubes. Their evenings were filled with speakers like Olympian Christopher Blevins and pro riders and married couple Cole Peyton and Savilla Blunk (who live in a van, but not down by the river). The guest speakers also rode with the kids in the morning.
Campers ate all their meals at the dining hall and Ethan thought the food was great (unlimited ice cream!) He has stayed in touch with a lot of the kids throughout the year and even saw some of them at races. He plans on going back again this summer.
