The Canadian Cowboys are saddling up and riding back into town, looking to help out another group of up-and-coming young skiers with four days of racing and fun.

Michael Janyk and Manuel Osborne-Paradis are returning to Whistler from their post-season Hawaiian holidays to run the second annual Mike and Manny Cowboys Camp, a free ski racing camp for deserving B.C. skiers born in 1993 or 1994.

With training action on Blackcomb beginning today (April 30), Janyk and Osborne-Paradis are again joining forces with Robbie Dixon, fellow national team member and Whistler Mountain Ski Club grad, to lead the camp, which offers a boost for young racers who might not be able to afford expensive, elite off-season training.

With the assistance of Dixon and coaches Leslie Clark, Nick Cooper and Greg Frechette, Osborne-Paradis and Janyk hosted a successful first camp last year on Blackcomb, earning rave reviews from the 10 B.C. Alpine skiers and their parents. They always intended to keep the camp going beyond its first year, so there was no question about whether to bring it back.

“That was the goal from the beginning, to continue each year, and it was so fun the first year,” Janyk said.

Osborne-Paradis joked that they’ve bound themselves to continuing the camp by putting the “annual” promise right up there in the name.

“This is our second annual, so we’re going to have to do it next year as well,” he said.

While the organizational side of things should be easier this year, Osborne-Paradis said, it was even harder to pick the five female and five male skiers for the 2009 camp, since the recession means the free assistance from the world-class racers is even more badly needed now.

In the end, the big-hearted racers couldn’t narrow it down to five female skiers from the pile of applications they received, so they’re bringing in six girls and five boys. The participants get to ski with the three national team stars and the elite coaches, while staying with the world-class racers in a White Gold lodging.

The camp offers a powerful opportunity to learn from skiers at the top of their game. Osborne-Paradis won his first World Cup gold medal this season, plus two bronze medals, while Janyk made Canadian history by winning a bronze medal in slalom at the world championships, and Dixon impressed with multiple top-10 World Cup results and some exceptionally strong performances.

Osborne-Paradis said “it would have been a huge thrill for me when I was younger” to ski with national team members, and the young racers inspire him in turn. He said it was a treat to ski with kids who are truly enjoying themselves, breaking away from the serious atmosphere on the World Cup circuit, and it gave him a boost to work hard in the gym over the off season.

“I found it really kind of liberating to ski with kids that weren’t doing it for money,” Osborne-Paradis said.

Taking the grasshoppers through slalom, giant slalom, freeskiing, drills and gate training, the senior skiers also give the up-and-comers racing tips through on-course demonstrations, focusing less on technique and more on elements such as finding that fast line.

“We really taught them how high to get and how to really accelerate through the turn,” Osborne-Paradis said, adding that the difference in the young skiers’ lines was “night and day” from the first day to the last.

Everything went smoothly with the first camp, so they’re hoping for the same success this year, Janyk said. He said the main thing they learned as leaders was how to manage time on the hill, since “we got in the stride on the last day and then it was over.”

Janyk said he and Osborne-Paradis are happy they can give back to the sport that’s given them so much, and it’s particularly special to be able to contribute while they’re still racing themselves.

“For Manny and I, it’s really cool to be able to do this — we have tons of fun doing it, (and) obviously the kids enjoy it,” Janyk said.

The 2009 participants, all B.C. Alpine members, are Dimitri Djuricic of Vancouver, Kali Butler of Rossland, Connar Huddart and Alex Petit of Vernon, Jamie Oleksiew of Langley, Kyle Gardiner of West Vancouver, Hannah Bailey of Kamloops, Stephen Bagan of Ivermere, Rebecca Bermel of Cranbrook, Hilary Drake of Cypress and Jonah Randell of Salmo.

This year's camp is supported by Whistler Blackcomb, Rossignol, Rio Tinto Alcan, Silverfoot Activewear, Haywood Securities, Wayne and Erin Holm and The BrewHouse.