SOAR Blog

The 2008 IMBA World Summit started in Park City Wednesday with several pre-conferences and opening ceremonies at the Utah Olympic Park. One of the conferences was for one of our clients Trips for Kids.

Close to 30 people representing 12 Trips for Kids chapters attended, and two attendees even came from as far away as Israel and New Zealand. Both of them want to open Trips for Kids chapters in their respective countries, which would be the first international chapters in the organizations 20 year history. Trips for Kids provides mountain bike rides for at-risk youth.

During the Trips for Kids conference topics such as how to start a chapter, how to find and work with volunteers, and how to effectively fundraise were discussed. Along with Jen Nibley, director of Trips for Kids Utah Valley, and Rick McFerrin of Two Wheel View/Trips for Kids Calgary, Canada, I spoke to the group about how to approach and work with a public relations agency on a pro-bono basis.

IMBA, which stands for the International Mountain Bicycling Association, is a non-profit association whose mission is to “create, enhance and preserve great trail experiences for mountain bikers worldwide.” Every two years, IMBA holds a world-wide conference bringing mountain biking advocates, land managers, ski resort professionals, trailbuilders, park and urban planners, tourism officials and the bike industry together for collaboration, planning, and celebration. This year’s Summit runs from Wednesday, June 18 through Saturday, June 21 at the Marriott-Park City.

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Wow! That was awesome!

When the Olympics were in town (Salt Lake City 2002), the only event I went to was the skeleton. I had always been a fan of the sliding sports (luge, skeleton, bobsled) and I wanted to attend one of these events when the Olympics rolled into town. So we went to the skeleton.

Last week, I had the opportunity of a lifetime. It was the first time I had been back to the Olympic Park since the day that Jimmy Shea took the gold for the United States. It was a Father’s Day present from my parents to take a ride in the bobsled. And what an experience.

Leading up to the ride, I read all of the information about how fast you go (up to 70 mph), how many Gs you pull (4 Gs), how far you drop (the equivalent of a 40-story building), how banged up you may become, etc. They even had me sign a waiver in case you die. So naturally, my anticipation and anxiety were at peak capacity.

They give you a whole bunch of instructions, ensure you’re equipped with a helmet and load you into the sled one-by-one. They buckle you in and give you straps to hang onto during the ride. It’s a very tight fit. The sled itself is equipped with a roll cage in case you crash at those high speeds.

So, as we loaded ourselves into the sled, I’m thinking two thoughts: 1- Please let us live, and 2 - please let us beat my brothers (who were in the next sled). As soon as we were situated, we were cleared to go, and off we went.

It’s hard to explain what happens on the ride. There are a bunch of turns, a lot of speed and some incredible G-forces. But it was awesome! We finished with the top time of the day at 101.97 and the fastest speed of the day at 68.3 mph to that point.

What an adrenaline rush it was! It had to be one of my favorite rides of all time, rivaling some of the roller coasters or ziplines I’ve been on.

So, if you’re ever in Park City, and you’re in good health, stop by the Olympic Park to check out the fun adventures. It was sweet!

This weekend was the 2008 Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships at Deer Valley and Shelly was back in town. David and I were lucky to have met Shelly several months ago on a flight back from a client meeting. A couple months later, Shelly came to Utah for the Visa Freestyle International and I had chance to go to breakfast with her the Friday before competition.

The next day my wife, Debbie and I went to Deer Valley to watch Shelly compete, but an ill-timed exit from the chairlift made it so we missed watching Shelly win! (Deb and I were riding the chair down from the race course to get warm, didn’t have skis on and had to sprint out of the way of the chair and Deb didn’t quite make it. The chair hit her, knocking her to the ground. She felt a little loopy, so we went home.) David was there for Shelly’s win and has been meaning to blog about it for awhile.

This time Shelly was in Utah to compete for the national title in individual and dual moguls. She’s been the Duals National Champion for the last three years straight. Deer Valley’s Champion run, where the course was set, is one of Shelly’s favorites. It’s one of the steepest on the circuit, which makes it a very technical course with lots of speed.

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