First Devo Team hike of the year last Thursday! If you haven't signed up for Devo but would like to email morgan.smyth@soldierhollow.com

Have a scheduling conflict with the summer session? You can still sign up for the Devo Camp July 15 to 18. See the All Summer Programs page for details. 

This week the camps continued with the first annual Utah Junior Camp. The goal of this camp was to get all the kids ages 12 and over from all the Utah xc ski programs together for an awesome week of hard training and fun. 

The camp kicked off on Monday with a distance classic rollerski on the Jordan River Parkway (great flat bike path in SLC) followed by strength and disc golf at the University of Utah. It was the longest rollerski most of the kids had ever completed. 

Tuesday, we jumped in the van for another karaoke session on our way to Sugarhouse Park (as a team we may not have much of a future in singing but it was REAL fun!). There we put on our skate rollerskis for a technique, agility and speed session. The kids did great on the timed agility course that mimicked the REG camp course. We then cooled off at the Steiner Aquatic Center with swim relays and diving board competitions. 

Wednesday, we moved a bit closer to home with a distance run starting at Park City Mountain Resort. The Park City Nordic Ski Club then invited us to their home base for ropes course, zip line, and drop tower fun! See the great photos below. 

Thursday, the weather heated up and so did the competition. We met at the bike path in a Midway housing development for a classic (mostly double pole) sprint relay. The older kids did a semi and a final round (each person did 3 laps alternating with their partner then got a 15 minute break and did it again). Luckily, we had planned paddle boarding and kayaking THANK YOU ADVENTURE HAUS for that afternoon! I think everyone was excited when the water war broke out mid paddleboard session leaving not a single dry skier on the lake!

Thursday night the adventures continued for the SoHo and TUNA programs. We wanted to get an early start on Friday's Timp hike so we camped at Timpanogos campground right at the base of the mountain. We kept it simple with grilled brats, corn, and watermelon followed by a campfire with smores and, of course, a chubby bunny contest. Did you know Matt Johnson can put 12 marshmallows in his mouth? Xander gets runner up with 11. 

Friday, the crew got up early for the epic hike up Mount Timpanogos! It was a real hot but fun filled and successful day! Despite an extremely hot day all of the Team SoHo skiers made it to the summit!!! 

Overall, the camp was a huge success! All the kids got to know one another, there was great training and lots of laughs. I know I am excited already for the next Utah Junior Camp! A huge thanks to Jen Jackson for all the hike photos. 

The first Devo Camp of the year has wrapped up and we are already excited for the next one!!! The week's activities started with an extremely challenging orienteering/scavenger hunt. It may have been a little too challenging as the devo and comp teams both have failed to complete it in one attempt this week.  Next up was The Fit Stop for some climbing on the awesome rock wall! The first day concluded with an intro to rollerskiing. 

Day two kicked off with a climb up the infamous Agony Hill! Everyone did great and even set some pretty fast times! We then had lunch and pool time including a demonstration of our groups many diving board tricks and talents (some great photos below). The day wrapped up with a trip to Tramponline Wairhouse - it is truly a wairhouse full of trampolines! You could bounce into foam pits, bounce while dunking a basketball, bounce dodgeball and bounce off the walls! Needless to say there were some sleepy campers on the van ride home. 

Thursday included a little strength, the camp talent show, paddleboarding and kayaking on Deer Creek, rollerskiing and biathlon. Including the biathlon relay with the extra challenges of putting on your rollerskis and a slalom course during the race! Everyone did great and the blood podium (recognizes the bloodiest rollerski crashes of the day) wasn't anything too spectacular (which is good!). 

Friday the camp concluded with a hike up Stewart Falls, floating the Midway canal and ice cream! It was a great end to an absolutely fabulous week!!! There are lots and lots of pictures below. Click to enlarge. 

Monday marked the start of Comp Team Summer Session. We had a great turnout from both the Comp Team and the new Devo Plus program. It's been a while since we rollerskied so we spent the afternoon working on our agility and learning or remembering how to slow down/stop. It was a very successful workout by all!