Mountain Biking Skills Clinics

How ever you ride your bike, we’ll help you ride it better

How ever you ride your bike, we’ll help you ride it better

Mountain Biking Skills Clinics

Be more confident and in control – and have more fun on the trail. Our mountain bike skills clinics are taught by Bike Instructor Certification Program (BICP) certified instructors and give you the bike handling skills you need to take your riding ability to the next level. As a non-profit, we keep our clinic prices low so that everyone can have the opportunity to learn to ride better and have More Fun (on) Trails!

MTB Foundations

New to mountain biking or wanting to improve with a skills clinic? Our Foundations: Beginner for new riders and Foundations: Intermediate for experienced folks will help you feel more comfortable on your bike and become a better rider. You’ll learn about, watch and practice a range of basic skills that are the foundation of mountain biking at any level.

Progression Sessions

Are you an experienced rider wanting to improve your skills? Each progression clinic covers 30 minutes of basic Foundation skills and then focuses on one or two skill areas in depth. Choose from Climbing & Descending, Cornering, or Hucks & Drops.

MTB Series

This four-class novice-level clinic series will cover MTB Foundation skills and climbing, descending and cornering techniques. The weekly format allows you to practice skills on your own between classes so you’re ready to build on those skills throughout the month.

Private Clinics

We offer 2 hour private clinics for up to 6 people. Request a Private Clinic.

Clinics are also availible in Spanish. Contact us to learn more.

Upcoming Skills Clinics

Our Clinics

Foundations: Beginner

We’ll move through the skills you need to get started and apply them on beginner features at Valmont. This is an introductory class at the novice level. You’ll learn how to:

  • Brake properly
  • Shift to the correct gear
  • Ride with balance and body-bike separation
  • Climb and descend on trails
  • Steer and corner
  • Performing basic front wheel lifts
  • Roll down small drops

FOUNDATIONS: Intermediate

This clinic covers the same fundamental mountain bike skills as MTB Foundations: Beginner but is tailored for intermediate riders. We’ll move through skills at a faster pace and practice on bigger obstacles and features. You’ll learn how to:

  • Ride with balance and body-bike separation
  • Brake effectively and clear obstacles
  • Roll down drops of about a foot and hone other trail skills
  • Approach small jumps and drops
  • Corner and ride berms
  • Perform basic wheel lift techniques

PROGRESSION SESSION:
CLIMBING & DESCENDING

Living in Colorado, it seems we’re always going up or downhill. In this clinic for more experienced riders, you will continue to find ways to improve your riding. We will spend the beginning of the class reviewing Foundation skills and then apply these skills to navigating up and down rock features throughout the park. In addition to Foundation skills, you’ll learn:

  • Navigate roots, logs, and rocks in both directions
  • Perform wheel lifts for clearing obstacles
  • Apply climbing and descending techniques
  • Roll down large drops and land air-off drops
  • Dismount while climbing or descending

PROGRESSION SESSION: CORNERING

You’ve mastered a lot of skills, but now you’re looking to ride that twisty trail more smoothly or faster. In this clinic designed for adept riders, you’ll discover how to corner with confidence in tight switchbacks and rail corners at trail speeds. In addition to reviewing Foundation skills you’ll learn how to:

  • Perform high-speed cornering
  • Tackle berms
  • Corner at low speeds for tight switchbacks
  • Master track stands
  • Develop vision to look through the turns

PROGRESSION SESSION:
HUCKS & DROPS

You’re an intermediate rider ready to get air. In this clinic designed for more experienced riders, you’ll discover how to ride larger drops (like the first drop on the large Slopestyle line at Valmont) with confidence and learn the basics of getting into the air with basic jumping skills. This clinic will cover:

  • Review Intermediate Climb and Descending skills
  • Manual and bunny hop
  • Multiple ways to drop off obstacles
  • Proper landing position and technique for drops and jumps
  • Safely approach a jump and boost the lip to get higher in the air

MTB Series

In this four-week novice-level clinic, you’ll be paired with the same BICP certified coach to cover MTB Foundation Skills and climbing, descending and cornering techniques. This is an introductory class at the novice level. Participants will learn and practice new skills during the first three sessions at Valmont, then take it on the trail for the final session! 

  • Ride with balance and body-bike separation
  • Brake properly
  • Climb and descend on trails
  • Shift to the correct gear
  • Steer and corner
  • Approach obstacles including basic front wheel lifts
  • Roll down drops

Tips for Beginners

“Heavy Feet: Light Hands”

Make this your new mantra. Unless you’re going uphill, stand on your pedals with weight on your feet instead of your hands, you’ll have more control over your bike.

Look ahead

Look way up the trail while scanning the trail in front of you. Keep your eyes looking where you want to go – and not at the rock you want to avoid.

Maintain balance

Are your feet still heavy and your hands still light? Perfect! In this position your bodyweight should always be over the center of your bike. Going uphill requires you to shift forward, while going downhill means your butt is behind your saddle.

Stay Loose

Try to keep a bend in your knees and elbows and relax your muscles, this is your body’s natural suspension and will smooth the trail for you.

Get in ‘ready’ position

Get your body low. Now get lower. Keep your butt low, your elbows high and pedals level. Resist squeezing your seat with your thighs.

Brake gently

Use only your index finger and apply constant, gentle pressure to both brakes. This will help you avoid the dreaded “endo”.

Our Instructors

Kelsey Wisinski

Kelsey has been part of BMA since moving to Boulder in 2018. She is an active BMA volunteer as a ride guide and board member, in addition to volunteering for Boulder Mountain Bike Patrol. She has a long history of coaching and teaching in her previous sport, muay thai, for over a decade and is a Level 2 BICP skills instructor – she is excited to take her passion for instructing to the trail.
“My favorite part about teaching is to be able to share something I love – there is nothing more rewarding that passing your passion on to someone else, no matter their skill level or experience. We all make each other better!”
She races professional downhill, and in the summers you can find her at Trestle bike park in her favorite Hawaiian shirt or at Bitterbrush after work.

 

Aaron Juretus

Aaron has been riding bikes his whole life, but really started getting into mountain biking around 2012. He was actually a BMA skills clinic student in 2016, and it was a big help to his riding ability. Along with teaching as a Level 1 BICP skills instructor, he also volunteers as a BMA ride guide and is a member of the BMA Brute Squad. If you want to talk bike parts and gear, Aaron could go all day. He loves working on his bikes and tends to be pretty picky about which parts go on them.

A.J. Kamish

AJ combines two of his passions to deliver mountain bike skills clinics – people and bikes. His professional strengths are related to communication and he has a particular knack for explaining an idea using metaphors and plain language to keep it simple. He has volunteered with BMA to lead Social Rides and act as a Skills Clinic assistant in years past and is BICP Level 1 certified.

“I love seeing people light up when they discover that they can do something – it lights a fire in them and is contagious. I’m looking forward to meeting new people interested in progressing their mountain biking, helping them to do so, and continuing to learn myself along the way!”

Art Schwadron

Art has been mountain biking for 25 years and working on other 2 wheel skills for even longer. He is still making progress and excited to help with yours. Art is an BICP Level 1 Certified Instructor.

Christian Vargas

Christian is a BICP Level 1 Instructor.

El habla español.

David Holshouser

David has been riding mountain bikes since 1993, and participating in long rides since 2005. He even celebrated his honeymoon by riding with his new bride for 8 days across Scotland. David is a BICP Level 3 certified skills instructor and has served BMA since 2013, teaching technical MTB skills to over 400 clinic participants. “I am very excited about the opportunity to give back to the community and help others get more enjoyment from their mountain biking. Since participating in my first MTB skills clinic in 2010, my passion for mountain biking has only grown stronger. Being able to pass on knowledge to others has brought a level of fulfillment to a sport that I consider to be an integral part of my life.”

David has raced the Bailey Hundito, Dakota Five-O, Firecracker 50, 24 Hours of Moab, 18 Hours of Fruita, PV Derby, Laramie Enduro, Breck 32 and 68, and ridden Boulder to Steamboat, the BMA Sufferfest, the Triple Bypass, and part of the Continental Divide route.

Diane Pappas

Diane moved to Colorado in 2008 and immediately picked up cycling as a great way to stay in shape and meet new friends. She has been involved with Boulder Mountainbike Alliance as a volunteer Ride Guide and Mountain Bike Patrol since 2009. Diane holds her BICP Level 1 Instructor Certification and enjoys working with beginner and beginner/intermediate riders who are just learning to love the sport of mountain biking. She has also mentored for the past 8 years with a youth group that advocates getting more girls on mountain bikes! Diane describes herself as an “normal” person who just happens to love mountain biking and wants to share her love of the sport with others. “When you come to Boulder it can be intimidating with all of the high-level athletes in the area. I want to show that an average, normal person can enjoy this sport and get out on the trails without being an extreme athlete”.

 

Jeff Herrick

Jeff is a BICP Level 1 Instructor. A bike has been Jeff’s primary form of transportation since he was 6, and after years of trail running, his go-to for recreation. He became a certified instructor after seeing that mountain bike skills can help anyone, of any age, and any ability, become more confident and have more fun on any bike – both on- and off-road. When not riding, he develops tools to increase our common understanding of land health, and leads workshops – allowing everyone who walks, runs, rides a horse, manages livestock or rides bikes, ATVs and motorcycles across public lands to work together to support sustainable land management.

El habla español.

 

Josh Boyd

Josh has actively participated in IMBA chapters as a ride leader, and volunteer for MORE in the Washington DC area as well as BMA in Boulder Colorado. He is a member of the Boulder Mountain Bike Patrol and a BMA Brute Squad rider. Josh is a BICP Level 2 Instructor and is in his 3rd year teaching skills courses with BMA.

Josh has raced his mountain bike sponsored and individually for the past 8 years. He has completed long endurance races such as the Lumberjack 100 and Shenandoah 100. He mostly enjoys stage racing and has completed Moab Rocks and Breck Epic races.

In the winter time you’ll find him spending time skiing in the resorts and in the backcountry.

Josh is passionate about mountain bike skills:  “A strong foundation in bike handling skills translates into confidence on the trails and will lead to a good time”.

Kim Ober

Kim has been mountain biking since 1998. She and her husband spent their honeymoon in Moab, over 20 years ago! Kim has been a member of BMA since 2012. After attending a few skills clinics, she decided to take the plunge and become a BICP Level 1 certified skills instructor. Kim is motivated to help others become their best and increase their confidence on the mountain bike. “It’s not only about developing skills on the bike but having the will, desire, and commitment to be your best” Kim is a 4-time finisher of the Leadville 100 mountain bike race. When not training for endurance gravel or mountain bike races, you’ll find her active in organizations that get more girls on bikes.

 

Sebastian Wankmuller

Sebastian started mountain biking in 2010 in Germany’s mountain biking capital Freiburg and has been a passionate biker since then. He is a huge fan of long rewarding downhill descents and he takes whatever climb is necessary to get to the top. Soon after moving to Boulder, he joined BMA and volunteered to become a ride guide and a member of the skills teaching team. Since spring 2022, he is certified as a level 1 BICP instructor benefiting from his experience as a sport climbing coach. As an engineer, he loves getting to the nuts and bolts of every technical skill, working on the details, and improving the abilities of his students. 
Er spricht deutsch.

Libby Felts

Libby has a lifelong passion for cycling and has been an active BMA member and volunteer for 10 years. She has a background in cross country and enduro racing, as well as yoga teaching. Libby is driven to help riders progress their skills and become confident, safe, and fun-loving mountain bikers for a lifetime. She is a BICP Level I instructor.

 

Pricing

As a non-profit, we keep our clinic prices low so that everyone can have the opportunity to learn to ride better and have More Fun (on) Trails. We’ve tailored our class size and pricing so you receive the maximum value from BICP Certified instructors. BMA members save on clinics. Not a member? Sign up now for only $39/year or $5/month.

Clinic TypeNumber of ParticipantsPrice for BMA MembersPrice for non-BMA Members
Foundations6$60$100
Cornering and Climb/Descend10$70$110
Hucks & Drops10$80$120
4-Week Series8$240$300

Request a Private Clinic

2 Hours Private Clinic Pricing

1 rider = $150
2 riders = $200
3 riders = $275
4 riders = $350
5 riders = $400
6 riders = $450

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