August 27, 2010 (Craftsbury Common, VT) – Our second BKL camp of the summer just finished up, and it was a success! The camps are run by the Green Racing Project athletes, and are aimed at kids ages 7-13 and introduce them to summer ski training. We had a lot of help with this camp, and are really grateful to everyone who made it possible.

Monday started off with a rollerskiing in the morning and canoing in the afternoon. The kids were introduced to orienteering on Tuesday, with the help of orienteering masters Adrian Owens, Allison Van Akkeren, and Simeon Daniyov. While a number of kids concluded that orienteering was “hard”, they did a great job and learned some good compass skills.

Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, kids had a chance to try both sculling and biathlon. Sculling was taught by Small Boat Training Center athletes Johnny Hood and Tom Jennings and Craftsbury Sculling Center coach Taylor Washburn; there was only one flip each day, which was pretty impressive considering that most of the kids had never sculled before! GRP athletes were assisted by junior national champion Ethan Dreissigacker and Ethan Allen Biathlon Club director John Madigan. Biathlon sessions culminated in a small running and shooting relay race, giving the kids a taste of what it’s like to shoot with an elevated heart rate, adrenaline, and the pressure that comes with racing!

Thursday, Jess Graham from Dirt Divas was on hand to teach the kids (boys too!) some mountain bike skills. The clinics started in the soccer field working on bike handling around cones and over wooden planks, but eventually moved onto the trails. By the end of the day, all the boys were riding on the Center’s singletrack.

Friday was the culmination of the camp, and there were plenty of exciting activities planned in celebration. The day started off with an adventure race: three stages (canoeing, biking, and running) with several orienteering points for each stage. The faster teams also had the chance to do some additional orienteering stages if they finished early. Plus, there was watermelon! After the race, everyone biked down to the Dreissigackers’ camp to go off the rope swing, make pizza, and hand-churn ice cream.

A great week was had by all, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s BKL camps! First, though, we will get to ski with the BKL program in the winter – so if you have an elementary-school aged child, make sure to sign them up this fall!