Went Sunday. What a great place. Thanks to suspect device for helping me with my brake. That place has some good dirt
Thunder mountain
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I was up there too. Great day. That place keeps getting better.
the DH trails are getting bedded in, and it's nice because most people steer clear of those, leaving them wide open. they just opened another blue square flow trail too
Creek is 2 hours and this place was 2:15 so I thought I would give it a try. Was well worth the extra 15 mins
How busy was it on Sunday? I want to go this weekend.
May (will) check this out soon, have not hit up Southern NE all year.
Was up Sunday.
Back of shack->Blue Pulaski (or crossing over via Thunder Cliffs)->Billy Badger and Schist runs were making me very happy!
Back of shack->Blue Pulaski (or crossing over via Thunder Cliffs)->Billy Badger and Schist runs were making me very happy!
Yes we did. I had the camo 29er
this is the way to go, IMO. Back of the shack starts slow but it's nice and technical, then you can link it with thunder cliffs or pulaski without much effort and stick to mostly black singletrack. "too easy" is still pretty tough, but it's better the more you ride it. I'm still fat and slow though.
I liked Too Easy, but not as much as the Schist. Schist = longer trail, more techy play bits, but still plenty steep and ugly vs. Too Easy just damn steep and loose. Granted, I'm also on an enderpo bike, not a full on DH rig.
Both ought to get even better though, with some more traffic.
Both ought to get even better though, with some more traffic.
Course walk preview for this weekends ESC race. Such a fun trail.
I now like the new Harold' Blend blue/black trail. They opened a new section at the top that is fast and bermy, and you can bomb the rest over roots, rocks & holes with 3rd cosmic speed. Great stuff!
looks fun as f*ck
Thats a fun trail.
What's the name of the trail to the left of Schist (looking up from Mtn base) that ends by crossing under the lift at the bottom? Is that Too Easy? good stuff and nobody riding it.
E: just remembered, winetree.
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I think you're talking about Wine Tree. Too Easy is just to the right of Schist looking up up the mountain.
I like wine tree but it's a little too enduro for my tastes. I like a little bit more %grade.
You're not wrong. I'm hoping they continue to expand their DH trails since gronk is so well sorted and the green one is so beginner friendly. I'm guessing we'll see a black diamond jump run (maybe hawleywood?), but I'd love to see one or two actual DH runs that split the difference between schist and billy badger. I really like back of the shed, but that's a little flat.
Alex from Gravity Logic was whacking away at the beginning of Hawleywood all week(Just keep going straight at the top of Badger!).
ESC prep halted work on it for a few days, but there will be a couple new hits opening up on Hawleywood every week for the rest of the season, always sending ya back to Billy Badger until Hawleywood is finished to the bottom.
Schist is fully taped up, bermed up and ready to get shredded for this weekend.
I'm still looking for some course marshall volunteers for the weekend- I'll need you for a minimum of 3 hours Saturday or Sunday.
I'll have free lunch and some complimentary ski or bike tickets for people who want to help us keep the riders safe and the track dialed!
Hey, also- if you want to volunteer or register for the race, would ya do me a favor and register online?
The schedule has been updated !
Saturday, 26th September
9:00 - 4:00: Registration on the 2nd floor of New Lodge.
9:00-10:00: Lift Open for Walking Inspection ONLY
*Must load lift by 9:20am
10:00 - 5:00: Open Practice - All racers.
Please note that the bike park will be open to the public. Course practice will be open to registered racers only.
Sunday, 27th September
8:00 - 10:00: Registration/ Packet Pick-Up
9:00: Lift Opens
*Riding restricted to the Schist only until park opens at 10am
9:00-11:45: Open Practice
11:00: Start List Posted outside timing shack
12:00: Race begins. Start Order:
ESC prep halted work on it for a few days, but there will be a couple new hits opening up on Hawleywood every week for the rest of the season, always sending ya back to Billy Badger until Hawleywood is finished to the bottom.
Schist is fully taped up, bermed up and ready to get shredded for this weekend.
I'm still looking for some course marshall volunteers for the weekend- I'll need you for a minimum of 3 hours Saturday or Sunday.
I'll have free lunch and some complimentary ski or bike tickets for people who want to help us keep the riders safe and the track dialed!
Hey, also- if you want to volunteer or register for the race, would ya do me a favor and register online?
The schedule has been updated !
Saturday, 26th September
9:00 - 4:00: Registration on the 2nd floor of New Lodge.
9:00-10:00: Lift Open for Walking Inspection ONLY
*Must load lift by 9:20am
10:00 - 5:00: Open Practice - All racers.
Please note that the bike park will be open to the public. Course practice will be open to registered racers only.
Sunday, 27th September
8:00 - 10:00: Registration/ Packet Pick-Up
9:00: Lift Opens
*Riding restricted to the Schist only until park opens at 10am
9:00-11:45: Open Practice
11:00: Start List Posted outside timing shack
12:00: Race begins. Start Order:
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can you tell us a little about what hawleywood is going to be? a big hit jump trail? more natural DH stuff?
The black jumps to make the people happy.
Next year will be chock full of new natural DH stuff, no worries!
I wish I could help but I am doing that XC nonsense in VT this weekend. 
Mickey, is there a season pass deal that's good for the end of this year and all of next year? One of the trail crew I rode up with Sunday mentioned it, but he thought the deal may have already expired?
$400 will get ya the rest of this season and all of next season.
Pre-season pass sales for next year only are currently slated to be $350.
Finally made it to Thunder yesterday, great day. Lift line was nuts early on with the ESC but once race started no lines at all so ended up a great day to be there. My son got hooked on Gronk so we didn't ride much else but did get one run down Billy Badger and that was a blast too. So much fun riding Gronk, it's like a much bigger and faster Cat's Paw at Highland while not intimidating like Hellion. Lift is slow but without timing it couldn't tell the difference between that and Highland other than it being in much better shape and the cushions are actually comfortable. Looking forward to more trails as this place grows. We will be back
HUGE thanks to UMass Bike Racing, Umass Ski Racing and Drummer Racing for turning out the course marshal volunteers this weekend.
If you still haven't had you fill of Schist, the Collegiate circus comes to Charlemont this weekend, and Sunday afternoon presents anyone with $25(and a valid lift ticket) the chance for another wack on heck of a swell track!
If you still haven't had you fill of Schist, the Collegiate circus comes to Charlemont this weekend, and Sunday afternoon presents anyone with $25(and a valid lift ticket) the chance for another wack on heck of a swell track!
eastern states chup:
FRONJ sightings!!
Anybody headed up this weekend for closing day? Looks like I'll be up with STIhacka and possibly woody.
Possibly Saturday here.
Is this closing weekend? I know the website says it is, but the trail crew was saying they were shooting for next weekend. Mickey?? They were shooting to have parts of the new bigger jump line open for closing weekend, which look...fucking awesome.
Weather looks decent.
No idea, the website says nov 8, but that's never set in stone. Are you SURE you can't do sunday?
I heard the trail crew say "we could stay open beyond 11/8, but we don't want to". Originally, they were supposed to close before the previous weekend so they already extended a bit.
Sunday's out for sure. I'm not even 100% on Saturday.