Head of the IMBA Instructor Certification Program (ICP)

Hi Everyone, Shaums March here, I’m excited to be part of Ryan Leech connection and I’m equally or even more excited to be chosen to help teach the basics of Jumping for you all.

As some of you may know I am lead instructor trainer and curriculum developer for the IMBA Instructor Certification Program (ICP) in addition I am the skills coach for the USAC National team programs.

I coach riders around the globe from Beginner, intermediate to Elite racers.

I have found that jumping is a skill that can bring fear to riders just thinking about it. Getting overwhelmed and not knowing what to do leads most riders to brake and slow down. This is a good self-preservations technique but hinders the Jumping progression.  

My goal here will be to help you all come up with some simple techniques to start the jumping process with how to confidently and purposely get your wheel off the ground, make needed adjustments in the air and finally landing safely and in control riding out to the next feature ahead.

Kat Sweet, from Sweetlines is a Coach, competitor, and team Manager for Sweetlines Jr Racing (all girls dh team). She has been mountain biking for 30 years and is a Level 3 IMBA ICP coach/ previous Instructor Trainer for IMBA.

She is a lifelong learner always looking for better ways to understand and explain skills. She loves jumping because floating feels good, kinda like walking on the moon! She enjoys the mental challenge of learning new jumps, bigger jumps or gaps.

She is a calculated risk taker and takes her time with progressions. That being said, she had a freak accident where she collided mid air with another rider at a bike park and shattered her wrist and dislocated and fractured her elbow. Then nine months later she was trying to come back too quickly and wasn’t listening to her body which lead to another jump gone wrong and ended up snapping her ACL. Lessons learned are that she doesn’t follow too closely behind riders at bike parks and listens to her body even if it means taking her time coming back from injury. She is excited to share some how-to tools to help riders progress their jumping and to reduce the risk of injury by learning how to ride jumps correctly.

Thomas has been a mainstay in the sport of freeride mountain biking since 2002.

Growing up, he forged his fundamental bike skills and love for mountain biking riding the infamous North Shore of Vancouver. At the age of 15, “the kid” was making his first film appearances; the very first of a generation of young freeride stars. Thomas soon developed a following for his unmistakable style on a bike and ground breaking movie segments. A self-proclaimed “big mountain rider” he has excelled at the Red Bull Rampage, finishing in the top ten at every event he competed in and standing on the podium in 2008.

Today Thomas remains prevalent in the industries biggest and best media outlets. Although he attempts to talk mostly through his riding, Thomas is very active in the mountain bike community. He has coached bike camps and clinics all over the world, written columns for mountain bike magazines and remains influential in the direction of freeride mountain biking.  Away from the bike Thomas has enjoyed working closely with a long list of sponsors on RnD and marketing projects. His knowledge in these areas has grown over the years and he now boasts numerous signature products.

Vanderham has come a long way from being “the kid”, but plans on staying true to what has brought him to this point. His goal? “To continue inspiring people to ride their bikes”  

Head Coach and Founder of RL Connection. Through his 20 year-long career as a pro mountain biker, Ryan performed thousands of stunt shows around the world with clients such as Cirque du Soleil, IMBA, and Crankworx. Ryan has been coaching mountain bikers since age sixteen. As an avid explorer of human potential, Ryan earned his certification as an Integral Master Coach™ which has radically influenced his ability to design adult-oriented mountain bike skill curriculums. Ryan created the Trials-of-Life school presentation, sharing his passion for riding at hundreds of schools. As a certified yoga instructor, he designed the Ride & Reach program, blending yoga & mountain biking with a retreat-style learning vibe. Ryan’s dedication and love of mountain biking is stronger than ever, and with his world-renowned and versatile riding abilities and reputation in the industry, it makes him one of the strongest ambassadors for the sport.

Through his pro riding career Jay Hoots was one of the original North Shore riders and was early to the mountain bike dirt jump scene. He raced downhill, competed in slopestyle at Crankworx and has travelled the globe filming for the TV show’s the Ride Guide and Drop In. He is now the owner of Hoots Ltd, the first company in the world to design and build municipal bicycle Skills parks, including 10 years of professional pump tracks and trail building (xc to flow and jump trail).

Over a 10 year period he instructed the trail building courses held at Capilano University for the Mountain Bike Operations Course, spoke at TEDX Sechelt and contributed to two significant IMBA publications (managing mountain biking and Bike Parks).

He has travelled abroad presenting on the legalization of Dirt jumps, development of non traditional sports in recreation, mountain bike tourism, and the increased quality of life that using trails and economic diversification using mountain biking and trails.  

When combining flow, pump, rhythm and airtime the scatter of my mind instantly quiets and my energy focuses into a pure moment of connection with the bike, environment, and the adventure of each run.