Skate Camp is the brainchild of Zephyr Inline Skate Tours' owner and founder Allan Wright.  The company is now in its fifth year of operation and is the premier inline touring company in the world.  While on a tour Allan noticed a need for skate instruction among participants.  He developed two levels of camps in 2000.  Skate Camp I for Women Only was for the beginner skater.  Skate Camp II was co-ed and for intermediate skaters who want to improve their skating skills.  Both camps are five days and all participants stay in a beautiful bed and breakfast in the heart of town.

Besides myself at Skate Camp I there were two other IISA (International Inline Skating Association) instructors: Liz Miller, author of Get Rolling and Mike Merriman, a three-year guide for Zephyr and the only male on the trip. I'm still not sure how much his girlfriend like that but, hey ... somebody had to carry all that luggage!

On day one we met most of the women at the airport with two Zephyr vans.  Surprisingly, most of the women were in their 40s, 50s, and 60s.  There was even a grandmother with her 14-year old granddaughter, Allison. Mind you most of these women had never been on skates before, so a big part of the first lesson was spent buckling, unbuckling and turning gear right side up.  After getting all our skates, pads and helmets in place, it was finally time to stand up! After walking around in the grass for awhile, we finally graduated to the pavement.  Mike had arranged to section off part of a huge parking lot with a lakeview so the setting was perfect.  By the time the first session was through, most had learned to stride, glide and stop.  By 5:00 it was time for dinner and free time.

After breakfast on day two everyone headed to the parking lot ... walking.  Seems there was a slight hill leading to the lot and no one felt brave enough to tackle it. ... yet!  We conducted our daily warmup and stretch session and reviewed the previous day's lesson.  Today's skills were turning grass stops (a very necessary skill when skating trails) and swizzle.  By the end of the morning session we were playing crazy games like stop, drop, and wiggle relays and seeing who could glide the longest in the grass. These gals were getting good and it was only our second day!

Liz, Mike and I had another skills session planned for the afternoon but, from the looks of things, our students were ready for some trail skating. Another reason Zephyr had picked Lanesboro was the 50-mile Root River Trail that runs right through the center of town.  The nearest town of Whalen was six miles away.  Could then new skaters do a 10K on their second day of skating?  Well, once they found out about the famous Pie and Ice Cream Shop in Whalen there was no stopping them.  The new motto: Will Skate for Pie.

Most of the skaters hit the trail.  The few who didn't feel comfortable took the van with Liz and found a place in town for more instruction.  It took 40-45 minutes  for the whole group to hit town.  That is except for 14-year old Allison who was ahead of everyone.  Allison, it seemed, had completely missed the town and kept going.  After finding her a mile or so down the road and getting her back safely, it was time to reap our rewards: pie at last!

On day three we saw the need to break the skaters into two groups according to ability levels.  Group I, the larger and more advanced group, named themselves the Roller Diva Babes.  The smaller group was the Go Girls.

The morning started with review and then progressed to parallel turns (a more advanced turn) and spin stops.  During the session everyone really started to "get it".  This was scary.  They were exceeding our expectations.  We had to give them a bigger challenge.

Most of the students had come to skate camp because they wanted to learn to stop and to feel in control on hills.  Liz, Mike and I decided that today was the day to tackle "the big hill".  After lunch we took the Roller Diva Babes one mile down the trail in the opposite direction from the day before.  There was a long downhill on which they could practice their newfound braking abilities.  Could they make it down alone ... in control?

As we got tot he top we took them down one by one, not letting them get too far away.  All but two braved the hill.  They all made it with the others cheering as each reached the bottom.  What a breakthrough day.  It took the rest of the night to get the proud smiles off our faces.  Their reward for the day?  A wonderful country barbeque dinner.

The next day it was time for "stride two" and crossovers.  We couldn't believe how fast they were catching on now.  We set up cones and did a slalom course.  This was incredible.  Even the Go Girls were making lots of progress. Liz had been working intensely with them.  Every day I watched them overcoming fears and trying new things.  At lunch I asked everyone if there was anything that they had not accomplished. The two skaters who had not yet gone down the hill said they wanted to try.  "Okay" I said.  "Today's the day!"

After lunch we returned to the hill.  I could see fear in their eyes as we started to skate up so I took them only halfway up the first time.  I held onto the back of their fanny packs as they engaged their brake and started down the hill.  "That was easy", they exclaimed.  Then it was off to the top.  As they came down the hill, heel brake on, in control, I felt like a proud parent whose child had just learned to ride a bike.  I'll never forget the thumbs up as they passed us on their way down.

At dinner that night we had an award ceremony.  It's a tradition at Zephyr that adds a little fun and a sense of accomplishment to the tour or clinic.  It was our last night together and everyone was getting so close that we didn't want it to end.  We gave each participant an award and then it was time for the instructor roast. Mike, who had been so patient putting up with 20 women all week, was made an honorary female and official member of the estrogen club.  What a trooper he was throughout the whole camp.

The last day was a morning session, so we gave them all a treat.  Mike rented a session at a local skating rink and we had it all to ourselves.  They were all showing off their skills, playing limbo and having train races.  Even the one person who had not thoroughly mastered the heel stop left a brake mark on the rink floor.  Applause broke out as she showed off her black skid mark.  She had finally done it!

This last day "rolled" around too soon.  We had all become such good friends.  We laughed at one another and with one another and went through a great learning experience together.  Liz, Mike and I will never forget the women of Skate Camp I as long as we live.

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