Words and pictures by Doug Bishop

Mont Avila D-camp is under way!

Today was the first day of the D-camp at Mont Avila, so I packed up the gear

and headed out to check out the scene.

The morning started off with a meeting of everyone at 9:00am at the D-structure

tent. (which I missed due to about 4 too many snooze buttons) Here, the 24 campers

met up with coaches Phil Belanger, Phil Larose, Phil Dion, and Thomas Rinfret.

Each coach split off with 6 of the hungry young skiers, and headed off to the

Mont Avila snowpark. With the small groups, each camper recieved time with the

coaches to work on their tricks, and get personal feedback on what to do better.

The park was set up well, despite not being finished yet. There was two main

jumps, one with two takeoffs that were smaller to learn tricks, and the final

50' money booter to show off the skills. The hill was dusted with rails, and

this is where many of the groups headed to get warmed up.

I know the picture is bad, but it gives you an idea of what the park is

looking like.

There was a wide range of talents amongst the campers, some learning how to

spin the jumps and slide the rails, and others working on putting sytle into

their corked spins and throwing every trick imaginable onto the rails. I have

never seen so many spins onto rails in one day from a group of skiers. Just

goes to show the high level of talent that can be found in Quebec. My theory

is it's something in the poutine.

After a morning of rails, and getting the jumps dialed in, the campers met

in the D-lounge for Soup, Sandwiches and Base. The food and energy drinks helped

everybody recharge after a hard morning of skiing. It was nice to take a load

off in the D-lounge away from the crowds of public skiers in the rest of the

building.

The campers got a chance to meet the pros, and banter around the tables. Things

turned silly when Thomas Rinfret was paid $5 to eat a cheezie covered in mayonaise

and Base. Ehttp://www...

Thomas eyes up the disgusting mess...

After lunch and consuming as much base as possible, everybody jumped on the

chairlift ready for a huge throwdown in the afternoon. The sun was shining full

force, the landings were soft, snow great and the jumps perfect.

Rinfret and Belanger riding the chairlift with some of the campers.

Joining the party were a few guests who were skiing in and around the camp,

showing what it takes to make it to the bigtime. No camp is complete without

guest pros riding around showing off their skills.

Kim, Phil and Iannick

Charles Gangier showed his face as well

The afternoon went off, spins were thrown in all four directions, whether on

jumps or rails as the campers stepped it up a notch, feeding off the energy

of each other. The D-camps have such a great vibe it's hard not to push yourself.

Kim cleaning the flat-down box

Day 2 starts at 9:00am sharp tomorrow, so if you're in the area I highly recommend

coming to check out the action! I will update this article tomorrow with more

of what happened. I will also remember the correct camera, so that we can get

some better action shots and video!

DAY 2

I just got back from Day 2 of the D-camp. The tempature was much more Quebec-like today, with the snow firm and the air crisp. The sun was still shining, so it was a great day regardless. There were two new features open in the park, a set of two boxes with stepdown, and the staircase feature from the empire shakedown last year. Down-flat-down rail in the middle, and c-boxes going both ways on each side of wooden stairs.

The bad news is that due to some technological difficulties (the camera charger is not here) there are no updated pictures. The video should be ready in a few days (when chris gets back with the charger).

I spent some time following around the various groups today, getting a feeling for how everything was run, and doing my best to take video.