It's the middle of July and just a few short weeks since the bike park chairlifts have began turning again at
Sun Peaks Resort. I am sitting in the back of a rental R.V. listening to rain drops pelt the rooftop in between identifying the lyrics of popular Canadian chart topping songs turned Swiss acoustic cover ballads. Interesting audibles. Matt Hunter is laying on his back atop what these travelers use as a kitchen table while our friend and physio therapist, Seth Burke, presses and pulls against the recently recovered muscles of his shoulder. The Swiss riders who pilot this R.V. are sitting in folding camping chairs and smoking cigarettes just outside the door. One of them keeps raising his gray baseball cap to scratch his forehead and tells me, "make it feel like you're at home, bro." Another steps back into the R.V. every couple minutes to offer me samples of his varying selection of baked goods. He insists he purchased the snacks at the Sun Peaks Starbucks, but they are packaged in zip-lock baggies and I'm pretty sure Sun Peaks doesn't even have a Starbucks.
Though at first glance it may read like a sketchy scene, situations like this are something I am truly thankful to be a part of. My favorite trails in the world are open for riding again and I am shredding them with my best friends. We blasted them so hard today that spending a few comforting moments with a physio therapist feels more than necessary. Luckily, all those high speed chairlift laps were pumped out on tacky trails and it wasn't until the lift turned off that the storm clouds rolled in. And although their musical taste may be questionable, I met a group of generous riders today who are more stoked to be at Sun Peaks than anyone else in the parking lot. They traveled across the globe for the chance to ride the trails that I ride daily and call my own. If anyone is going to re-adjust my perspective on the world today, it is likely going to be this crew of Swiss keeners.
I feel like I am really lucky to be sitting here, dodging trace amounts of cigarette smoke while inhaling an atmosphere of such high spirits. Aside from making the acquaintance of this rowdy bunch I have also had the honor of coaching a full week of freeride camps alongside all of the famous Kamloops talents. Spending day after day helping younger riders realize their potential and progress toward it at rates previously inconceivable to their little eyes is one of the greatest gifts I will ever receive. So I try hard to make sure they have a lot of fun, learn some interesting touches for the trail and keep it sketchy, but safe at the same time. It isn't always easy wrangling teams of pre-teen boys and keeping them excited for each and every coming turn. But when their eyes light up after conquering a nasty pile of rocks or some other unsightly feature along the trail that they had written off as impossible, it makes the work more than worth while.
The days I spend at Sun Peaks and the riders I am fortunate to meet are endless stories of their own. Stories I have told before in varying times and tones for as long as I have been riding. I am telling all my best ones to my new Swiss friends, trying to increase their already peaking excitement for the park. And though they may not know it, there are still more stories to tell, but stories I cannot shape with words. Tales of all the little nooks and crannies, the secret paths and seldom seen lines that litter the Sun Peaks trails. All too intricate and far too furious, words would simply fail in doing justice. Cashing in on stories so hard to tell seems like the perfect way to start a relationship between Silvia and Sun Peaks. So Matty Miles hit the trails hard, smashing and slashing his way around the mountain with a style that can't be faked. I'm not sure what the Swiss riders will be doing or which resort's parking lot their rental R.V. will be resting in when they see this article and watch this video. But I hope it reminds them about how stoked they are right now, chilling with some brand new bros at the Sun Peaks Bike Park.
www.sunpeaksresort.com
ROCK ON!
that's absolute shreddage.
