NICA Adventure Camps

entering grades 8 – 12

You bring the bike – we’ll bring the adventure.

Open to National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) student-athletes from any state, these mountain bike-fueled adventure camps will combine bike skills and wilderness exploration.

In partnership with the WV Interscholastic Cycling League, these camps are for those who are interested in learning about exploring the world around them by mountain bike. Daily ride groups will vary in terrain, difficulty, and length, and will follow NICA guidelines with certified coach to rider ratios.

The NICA Adventure program focuses on developing skills and pursuing challenges in a non-competitive setting that prepares youth for their own lifelong adventures. Our NICA Adventure Camps will include spectacular mountain biking in iconic areas of our mountain state and other backcountry skills such as map-reading, fire building, and cooking. Each group will also participate in a half-day stewardship project on a local trail system receiving Teen Trail Corps hours for their participation.

You do not need to have prior camping experience or be an expert in the outdoors to participate in this camp – we will teach you all the camping skills needed to have success on this adventure!  Experience Learning will provide all necessary camping gear, onsite transportation, use permits, and program food.

You must be registered through the NICA League to participate in our NICA camps. More information on NICA and the WV Interscholastic Cycling League can be found here. This is a specialty camp with a limited number of spaces. We encourage you to reserve your spot as soon as you are able to commit.

Meet our NICA Camp Director & Coaches

Guiding the way through some of West Virginia’s most scenic bike trails will be Hardy County Cryptids Team Director and NICA Level 3 coach, Vicki Sliwa. Joining her in the Advanced NICA Adventure Camp will be Jason Sliwa and David Olsen, both NICA Level 2 coaches.

Vicki has been riding bikes since owning her first bike at five years old, and she has never looked back. She enjoys all types of bike riding, with mountain biking being her favorite. She shares in the NICA and WVICL vision to get more kids on bikes and loves being the Team Director for the newly formed Hardy County Cryptids. When she is not riding bikes she enjoys practicing and teaching yoga, cooking and baking, and hiking with friends. She recently retired from federal government service after careers with the U.S. Department of State and with the United States Coast Guard.

Jason is an accomplished bike rider and mountain bike racer. Over the past 30 years he has ridden road, gravel, and mountain bikes in the Rockies, the western desert, the northeast, the mid Atlantic, and in Europe, gaining experience in varied terrain. He is a Level 2 NICA coach in the WVICL, a NICA Teen Trail Corps lead, and trail maintenance volunteer for Lost River Tails Coalition (LRTC). He loves technical obstacles as well as flowy and swoopy trails. He is a returning coach for the Adventure Camp.

David fell in love with cycling at the age of 19 when he crossed the United States by bike with his best friend. This life changing event led to seven years of amateur road racing throughout the western United States including three years of racing in Belgium. Exploring on-road and off-road triathlons, he discovered a deep passion for mountain bike racing, particularly long-distance events. Traveling and racing with teammates throughout the mid-Atlantic and western states, he finds enjoyment in varying trail characteristics from flowy single track to challenging technical terrain. David is a Level 2 NICA coach in the WVICL and enjoys supporting his son Ryan (age 12) in his NICA racing pursuits. An avid outdoor enthusiast, his greatest passion is just getting out of the house to ride, hike, ski and paddle with his family.