The goal of The BASICS program is to not only reach the kids that we teach sporting fundamentals, but to show by example the training and prerequisites that go into the rad feats of athleticism that we all watch in action sports movies and on the internet. People need to know that Shane McConkey did hundreds of skydives before his first base jump, that X-games champions train single backflips into water in the summer time and that Five Ten’s elite team of climbers all started on some rope on some humble wall somewhere with a whole bunch of dedication, passion and patience. The action sports world has enough risk in it even when prepared. We have to use our heads and avoid the avoidable risks.
Our first camp took us to the Utah Olympic Park where we were hosted by Axis Freeride. We had a ton of fun. Trampolines with pads everywhere, aerated swimming pools to land in. I did 25 backlfips into water and my next one will be off Squaw Valley’s kangaroo kicker once Siberia opens. We stayed at Glenn McConkey’s and got to hear some stories about Shane and see some funny boyhood photos of the legend himself. Special thanks to K2 skis, Axis Freeride, High Fives Foundation, Max Kuszaj, Rob Greener, Timy Dutton, Chris Haslock and Glenn McConkey for supporting the first BASICS camp.