After a 27 year run as one of the premiere freestyle camps in North America, Camp Of Champions is calling it quits.
Related: Vail Resorts Purchased Whistler Partly To Hedge Its Bet Against Climate Change
The owner and founder of the Whistler-based ski camp, Ken Achenbach made the announcement this week after experts indicated that the current snowpack is not sufficient to build the massive jumps necessary to host the camp. The problem with this winter was it got too cold and too snowy– go figure.
“It may look like there is plenty of snow to use on the glacier but in reality this season’s snow pack is not very dense and is full of air. When this snow gets moved and the air escapes it makes for much less snow than meets the eye. Keeping snow on the glacier will prevent melt, therefore regulating jump size is very important.” – Whistler Blackcomb
All that cold weather created a snowpack full of air that is less than ideal for building intermediate/expert jumps that last through the summer months. Instead, park builders prefer the warm and wet Cascade “cement” which is the perfect consistency for building such ramps.
According to Achenbach, Whistler’s Horstman glacier has lost up to 140 feet in some places since he started hosting the camp in 1989 simply claiming, “it’s the effects of global warming.” In order to issue refunds, Camp of Champions will also file for bankruptcy and asks campers respond to a letter from the receiver in order to obtain their compensation.
“I refuse to let you fly and drive from all over the world to ride a park that wouldn’t even be worth driving from Vancouver for.” – Ken Achenbach, Founder and Owner of Camp of Champions
Finishing off his emotionally charged letter, the owner and founder of Camp of Champions encouraged any campers to reach out to him personally and issued his sincere apology saying, “sorry for letting you and your family down.”
Find the entire letter here: THE CAMP OF CHAMPIONS 1989-2017