Video: Riding Off Into the Gnar with Yoann Barelli at Moose Mountain

It's no surprise that everyone at the shop loves our local riding trails over at Moose Mountain, so when Yoann Barelli, the Devinci-sponsored shredder and all-around rad human, reached out about wanting to host one of his Into the Gnar camps with Nate Spitz out here in Alberta - we jumped at the chance to make it happen there! If you don’t already know the name, Yoann got his start as a professional enduro and downhill racer. The former French national DH champion and enduro World Series racer now calls the Sea-to-Sky region his home and spends his time freeriding and coaching.

The first thing that came to mind after Yoann reached out was introducing Alberta 66 MTB into the mix. They are a superb resource around Moose Mountain as they provide coaching, but the cherry on top is their bike shuttle service. They have a few vans with shuttle trailers and provide organized shuttle days or private bookings for groups.

With a location decided and some shuttle services confirmed, Into the Gnar Alberta Edition was born. The reception was great, selling out the 2-day camp rather quickly, so the decision was made to add a second camp. Now all we had to do was wait! But time flew by, because working at a bike shop between the spring thaw and mid-summer sun is also a bit like working at a fish market in Tokyo, it’s non-stop. Before we knew it Yoann was on his way to Calgary, with his co-coach Flavio Kodato.

Usually, Nate Spitz is Yoann’s right-hand man for Into the Gnar camps, but unfortunately, Nate had some visa issues and couldn't join. Thus paving the way for Flavio, an elite-level coach with the Blueprint Athlete Development team, to step in. The stoke was high and we were ready to welcome them to Alberta.

After a long day of travel, starting at the obscenely early hour of 3:30 am, Yoann and Flavio landed in YYC with a quick stop at the shop to build up their bikes. Everyone was buzzing. Once their bikes were built up they were back out the door and on the road to Moose for a reconnaissance mission to scope trails with Cam, Pierre and Jeff from Alberta 66. Only to turn right back around to head back for the evening's festivities. Talk about hustle.

Later that evening, we hosted participants for an after-hours BBQ, which ended up being the first of four out of the week ahead. As you looked around the room, it was a great mix of young and older, including many familiar faces and some new friends to be made. Yoann was a great host, even on zero sleep, and Pierre settled into his role as the barbecue pit master. We also had some swag bags and raffle prizes, with gear from Abus, Coast Optics, Devinci, SDG and more to raffle off! It was the perfect way to start things off, with everyone feeling amped to ride.

Early mornings can be tough, but they somehow seem a lot easier when you’re on your way to the mountains to ride. Our local ABUS rep, Nakoda, drove out from Fernie, BC to support, and brought everyone coffee and doughnuts to kickstart the morning. He also brought some rad helmets from ABUS for giveaways. After fueling up on Tim's and getting organized, everyone loaded up the Alberta 66 shuttle and headed off for the day.

The camps were similar in format. Spending the first day breaking things down to the fundamentals, and then building everything back up. To start things off, Flavio ran the groups through drills that worked on body positioning and controlling speed. Flat cornering on gravel is a good test of patience.

This proved to be a bit of a struggle for the teens who just wanted to send some gnarly hits, but it was a great reminder for everyone that you don’t start riding big lines without a conscious effort to make sure your body and bike are working together first. It’s easy to lose your body position on trail, especially when you’re tired, but repeating these seemingly basic drills makes a huge difference when it comes to staying in form over time.

After Flav's instruction, it was time to hit the trails. Sights were set on one that provided some smooth corners to put body position from the drills into focus. Then the groups progressed to some steeper tech trails to continue ramping things up. For most of the riders, the trails being ridden were very familiar. "T-Dub" for instance is a legendary trail in Alberta, known for its big wooden features seemingly around every turn. It’s a highlight of Moose to hit sections like the step-up and whale tail. There were also some sessions on "Jean Guy on the Rocks", which has an infamous boulder entrance and rock garden.

Having the opportunity to break these trails down and work on line choice with Yoann and Flavio was invaluable. The way they were able to pick creative, smooth and ultimately fast lines was impressive to all. Equally impressive was how they both took the time to film every rider as they tried the new lines and then sent the videos, along with a recap of the day's session to the group each night. It was great as it allowed everyone to see how they rode these new lines, and then check in after for some tips from the coaches. Yoann also included suggestions for things to work on in the following rides to lock everything in, which was the best homework I think anyone has ever been asked to do.

While the first camp was underway, the shop also sponsored a trail day that ended up working on a new section of T-Dub that was being built - the same trail that the camp was riding that day. It was a great way for a few staff and even some of our sponsored athletes to support the trails. We also sponsored a downhill race and hosted a bike demo day at Moose Mountain, all in the same week.

It was a busy week, to say the least. To wrap up both camps, we hosted a BBQ in the Ing’s Mine parking lot. Everyone had the opportunity to chat about what they’d learned over both days, decompress and scarf down some burgers. The raffle prizes were also a nice cherry on top. For folks in the know around the mountain, it was also an opportunity to pop in and say "hi" to the group and Yoann. He may be a world-class rider, but he also made time for everyone, which was super rad and kind of him.

A big thanks goes out to Yoann, Flavio, Alberta 66, the brands who chipped in, and all the folks who attended the camp. We are already looking forward to the next one!

Now that you have a better idea of the Into the Gnar camps, check out the recap video made by our talented filmer, Pierre. We may be a little biased, but he really outdid himself with capturing the essence of those few days out at our favourite mountain.