AdventureCORPS Presents
CORPScamp Death Valley, March 27-31, 2012

Slideshows:

	Slideshow 1 by Chris Kostman: March 27 (Tuesday): Ride to Badwater and Back, Yoga, and Dinner at the Furnace Creek Inn
	Slideshow 2 by Chris Kostman: March 28 (Wednesday): Ride to Stovepipe Wells, Wildrose Station on Towne Pass or Emigrant Pass and back, and Yoga.
	Slideshow 3 by Chris Kostman: March 29 (Thursday): Ride Zabriskie Point and Death Valley Junction, Hiking Golden Canyon - Gower Gulch, Yoga, and Dinner at the Furnace Creek Inn
	Slideshow 4 by Chris Kostman: March 30 (Friday): Riding to the Scotty's Castle Road, Mud Canyon to Hell's Gate and back to Furnace Creek, and Yoga
	Slideshow 5 by support team Steve and Karen Gray: March 27-30
	Slideshow 6 by riders Pam and Dave Semanik
	Chris Cameron's blog report about CORPScamp and Hell's Gate Hundred

A wonderful annual AdventureCORPS tradition continued in Mother Nature's Greatest Sports Arena when 47 cyclists and 4 supporters converged for CORPScamp™ Death Valley on March 27-31, 2012. Participants came from CA (12), CO (2), FL (2), IA (1), ID (1), IL (2), MD (2), MN (2), MO (1), NC (1), NV (1), OH (2), OR (3), SC (1), VA (2), W1 (2), WI (1), one from the UK, and eight from Canada ON (1) and QC (7)!

CORPScamp Death Valley is our annual cycling lifestyle camp based in Furnace Creek and featuring up to 300 (or more) miles of epic, one-of-a-kind cycling in and around “Mother Nature’s Greatest Sports Arena,” Death Valley National Park. We've been producing events here since 1990 and never tire of sharing one of the world's most dramatic, inspiring, and unusual landscapes. From the first few desert flowers of spring to snow-capped mountains, we saw it all by bicycle during this camp!

Each day began with Laurie leading the Ron Jones Dynamic Warm Up, then featured a wonderful ride in this beautiful, traffic-free National Park with fueling by Hammer Nutrition, dates from nearby China Ranch Date Farm, and more. Each afternoon included a CORPSyoga class, a perfect way to unwind for each day's ride and prepare tired muscles for another day of cycling and adventure the next day. These Yoga For Cyclists classes were folllowed by "Low Tea": post-yoga social time with herbal tea at 180 feet below sea level. An "Anti-Oxidant Recovery Program" one evening included chocolate served along with the herbal tea. We also enjoyed an incredible hike through Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch one afternoon. Social time also included two dinners together in a special, private room at the Furnace Creek Inn with a spectacular view of the Valley.

A few riders completed their first ever centuries and/or hardest ever rides at the camp. Relaxing in the spring-fed pool was another bonus, as was further unwinding at the Corkscrew Saloon. It was also neat to see everyone get stronger as the week progressed. Day Five of CORPScamp was intended to feature riding Hell's Gate hundred on Saturday, March 31, but the weather - after four perfect, fantastic days - was an epic windstorm, so not too many rode the whole event, if at all. (Results and photos.)

Everyone seemed to really connect with one another, perhaps making life-long friendships, and with the specialness of Death Valley this year. That made it a true pleasure for us to ride, practice yoga, and socialize in Death Valley for five days. Thanks to everyone! We also received some excellent feedback on the camp and we are working on implementing these changes for next year to make it even better We hope to see you back in Death Valley again this year and/or at CORPScamp 2013!

Thanks to the wonderful team who made it all happen!

SAG Support: Steve and Karen Gray; Steve Barnes; Jeff Bell

CORPSyoga Classes: Laurie Streff

Sponsors: Hammer Nutrition

Special thanks are also extended to the wonderful people at the Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort, Cal Trans, and the National Park Service.

Roster

Awesome and Totally Appreciated Feedback!

Thank you very much for a wonderful Camp and HGH in Death Valley. I had a wonderful time and thought everything was organized very well. I appreciated all your friendly support staff and the two yoga sessions I was able to attend were great. The century itself, wind and all (I did complete the entire ride!), was well run and the rest stops were all well stocked with great food. Considering the location and logistics of putting on the century, it was probably one of the best organized rides I have participated in over 20 years of riding/racing and attending events. The pizza and drinks after HGH were great too. - David Kemp - Welcome, MD

Fran and I wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed your cycling camp last week. The routes were excellent and the support was great. We will see you down the road at future Adventurecorpsevents. - Jim and Fran Flesch

Thank you for a terrific week of adventure. I'll be posting an account to my blog in the next day or so, but I wanted to acknowledge an unforgettable learning experience. The windswept Hell's Gate Hundred taught lessons to those of us who thought we knew the place and what it could throw at us. Even as a survivor of the 2011 Spring Century I was overwhlemed by the elements this time around. All praise to those who volunteered to drive out and pick up what was left of us off the course.T hey were true angels. We don't come to Death Valley to show off what we can do, we come to learn what it can teach us, and to leave wiser. Yours truly, Chris Cameron