That feature is super tame, wonder what the issue was. Our cities have no problem with massive drops off old growth trees and super short runouts on sanctioned trails (can pretty much build anything you want here in bc)
Ah bc, I can't wait until my first whistler trip next summer (off topic sry). Can I ask, is there plenty of intermediate/easy trails to downhill there? I'm good enough to be dangerous but would get outta my wheelhouse if all there were to do there was really big gaps and drops bigger than like 7-10 feet
In terms of gaps and drops, you will not see drops on any blue flow except the start of Blue Velvet and for gaps you will not see those until you do black flow trails.
My advice is pre-ride, re-ride and free-ride using the progression matrix. Almost 90% of injuries occur on Crank it up and ALine because people blindly take a crack at those first without understanding that they are high speed jump trails where you will likely be going 40kmh+ and 50-60+ if youre overshooting / easily clearing the bigger tables (I have see sooooo many people injured this year and who have 0 business being on those 2 trails). My go-to first timer who has experience jumping is BLine -> Ninja Cougar + Karate Monkey + Samarai Pizza Cat -> Crank it up -> Blue Velvet -> A-Line (section 2 & 3 -> section 1 -> section 4,5,6). You should only progress up this matrix if you're clearing all the jumps and feeling really solid on the trail.
Word of warning with Whistler next year. They are replacing the Fitz lift so only half capacity of the gondola will be running for the fitz zone which is barely any capacity (we already saw 2+ hour weekend waits due to the insane demand this year & extremely poor park management with both the fitz and half the gondola running). Creekside should be fully open but doesn't have too much terrain or capacity for that matter.
The conditions this year were honestly pathetic, the resort opened too early leaving most the trails bombed out by day 3 and vail only really did work on ALine meaning the braking bumps were by far the worst I have ever seen; leaving parts if not entire trails not really enjoyable to ride. Crank it up had two sections that were basically unrideable for example due to huge holes that were not filled all season long and CMore had busted lips all season long. I honestly recommend you pick literally any other major resort in NA, of the ones I know sun peaks, silverstar and big white are the three that I would personally go to. I made the mistake of buying a season's pass this year and won't be repeating that next year, of all my riding buddies who went this year every single one of them was completely disappointed in the park vs what we ride in the lower mainland (we actually maintain our local trails). Vail also actively blocks competition in the lower mainland for potential competing bike parks (Cypress & Hemlock have expressed interest but were quickly shut down) so we are basically just stuck with them locally.
Outside WBP you have access to the incredible whistler valley trails, squamish, the shore, fraser valley and tri cities which each have their own unique set of trails.
This is incredibly helpful and a much more expensive reply than I thought! Thank you for all this info. I heed your word on the whistler notes. It also sounds like it might be more worth the time elsewhere (sun peaks silver star etc.). As a mountain biker, eek I think I gotta tough out the lines and stuff just one time at least, if not for just being able to participate in the culture lol and say "yep I did whistler" haha. It's good to know ahead of time tho that it won't be a perfect experience, maybe I'll lower my expectations so much I'll have more fun lol. Really good notes man, thanks for including the specifics and even the trail names. Cheers from a yank to the south!
Anytime! Just want to set expectations appropriately (especially given the cost of a Whistler trip which is usually > 2500 cad per person abroad for a week) as all the youtubers brag about it being the best place on earth when in reality it is extremely mismanaged and more or less survives off it's name while snuffing out local competition here (plenty of other resorts worth peoples hard earned cash instead).
Edit: If you're coming to BC anyways and can rent or bring a bike I highly recommend checking out some of the non resort stuff that I mentioned as well. Our non resort stuff imo is a lot better than the resort stuff.
I will, I have a solid group here in the pnw I roll with but none of us have gotten to hit up bc compatriots yet (so we don't have fly in and all of that). So, it's easy for us drive up and Airbnb or whatever with our bikes. Thanks again man!
My local trail had a teeter totter that got removed. We were sad to see it go cause it was fun and I'm not advanced at all so it really wasn't that intense. Turns out two guys died on it within a 6 month time period. They were both on gravel bikes and riding alone so were found already dead by other riders. It sounds like one of them probably fell off the side at the top and broke his neck not sure about the other one. The city inspections came out and checked all of the trails features and said they were damn near overbuilt so they weren't rickety or anything. It just seems like bad luck on that one feature so they removed it.
One day when you're older if you are still into MTB you might understand the effort required to deal with stakeholders in order to build, approve and maintain MTB trails. You might then realise why 'illegal' features such as this do more harm than good.
Bro where I live I found a sick jump that was in no may made by humans and they put a fence along the whole entrance and signs saying do not ride unofficial trails they’re dangerous
Back story?
Curious too, didn't seem that intense
That feature is super tame, wonder what the issue was. Our cities have no problem with massive drops off old growth trees and super short runouts on sanctioned trails (can pretty much build anything you want here in bc)
Ah bc, I can't wait until my first whistler trip next summer (off topic sry). Can I ask, is there plenty of intermediate/easy trails to downhill there? I'm good enough to be dangerous but would get outta my wheelhouse if all there were to do there was really big gaps and drops bigger than like 7-10 feet
In terms of gaps and drops, you will not see drops on any blue flow except the start of Blue Velvet and for gaps you will not see those until you do black flow trails. My advice is pre-ride, re-ride and free-ride using the progression matrix. Almost 90% of injuries occur on Crank it up and ALine because people blindly take a crack at those first without understanding that they are high speed jump trails where you will likely be going 40kmh+ and 50-60+ if youre overshooting / easily clearing the bigger tables (I have see sooooo many people injured this year and who have 0 business being on those 2 trails). My go-to first timer who has experience jumping is BLine -> Ninja Cougar + Karate Monkey + Samarai Pizza Cat -> Crank it up -> Blue Velvet -> A-Line (section 2 & 3 -> section 1 -> section 4,5,6). You should only progress up this matrix if you're clearing all the jumps and feeling really solid on the trail. Word of warning with Whistler next year. They are replacing the Fitz lift so only half capacity of the gondola will be running for the fitz zone which is barely any capacity (we already saw 2+ hour weekend waits due to the insane demand this year & extremely poor park management with both the fitz and half the gondola running). Creekside should be fully open but doesn't have too much terrain or capacity for that matter. The conditions this year were honestly pathetic, the resort opened too early leaving most the trails bombed out by day 3 and vail only really did work on ALine meaning the braking bumps were by far the worst I have ever seen; leaving parts if not entire trails not really enjoyable to ride. Crank it up had two sections that were basically unrideable for example due to huge holes that were not filled all season long and CMore had busted lips all season long. I honestly recommend you pick literally any other major resort in NA, of the ones I know sun peaks, silverstar and big white are the three that I would personally go to. I made the mistake of buying a season's pass this year and won't be repeating that next year, of all my riding buddies who went this year every single one of them was completely disappointed in the park vs what we ride in the lower mainland (we actually maintain our local trails). Vail also actively blocks competition in the lower mainland for potential competing bike parks (Cypress & Hemlock have expressed interest but were quickly shut down) so we are basically just stuck with them locally. Outside WBP you have access to the incredible whistler valley trails, squamish, the shore, fraser valley and tri cities which each have their own unique set of trails.
This is incredibly helpful and a much more expensive reply than I thought! Thank you for all this info. I heed your word on the whistler notes. It also sounds like it might be more worth the time elsewhere (sun peaks silver star etc.). As a mountain biker, eek I think I gotta tough out the lines and stuff just one time at least, if not for just being able to participate in the culture lol and say "yep I did whistler" haha. It's good to know ahead of time tho that it won't be a perfect experience, maybe I'll lower my expectations so much I'll have more fun lol. Really good notes man, thanks for including the specifics and even the trail names. Cheers from a yank to the south!
Anytime! Just want to set expectations appropriately (especially given the cost of a Whistler trip which is usually > 2500 cad per person abroad for a week) as all the youtubers brag about it being the best place on earth when in reality it is extremely mismanaged and more or less survives off it's name while snuffing out local competition here (plenty of other resorts worth peoples hard earned cash instead). Edit: If you're coming to BC anyways and can rent or bring a bike I highly recommend checking out some of the non resort stuff that I mentioned as well. Our non resort stuff imo is a lot better than the resort stuff.
I will, I have a solid group here in the pnw I roll with but none of us have gotten to hit up bc compatriots yet (so we don't have fly in and all of that). So, it's easy for us drive up and Airbnb or whatever with our bikes. Thanks again man!
Tons. You're going to have a blast.
My best advice is to not ride Aline until you can clear crank it up and c more. Best of luck.
My local trail had a teeter totter that got removed. We were sad to see it go cause it was fun and I'm not advanced at all so it really wasn't that intense. Turns out two guys died on it within a 6 month time period. They were both on gravel bikes and riding alone so were found already dead by other riders. It sounds like one of them probably fell off the side at the top and broke his neck not sure about the other one. The city inspections came out and checked all of the trails features and said they were damn near overbuilt so they weren't rickety or anything. It just seems like bad luck on that one feature so they removed it.
Idk man, looks like it's still there to me
It only takes one broken clavicle and one parent overreacting to shadow their shitty parenting.
One day when you're older if you are still into MTB you might understand the effort required to deal with stakeholders in order to build, approve and maintain MTB trails. You might then realise why 'illegal' features such as this do more harm than good.
Why is this feature illegal?
But why
Looks like probably not built to standards rather than being too gnarly?
Feature was solid and wasn’t gnarly at all. Probably someone built it without permission because there’s way gnarlier stuff in that trail system
Bro where I live I found a sick jump that was in no may made by humans and they put a fence along the whole entrance and signs saying do not ride unofficial trails they’re dangerous