A look at what's new and exciting in Whistler's kick-ass bike park leading up to next month's Crankworx.
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Words & photos by Dan Carr
Every summer tens of thousands of bikers descend on the Whistler Blackomb bike park to sample what is widely acknowledged as the best riding in the world. With over 50 different trails covering over 250 miles of trails and descending up to 4800 feet of vertical you might wonder how it could be any better? The 12-strong bike park trail crew never rests though and this summer has seen a number of new additions to the trail map with more things in store for the future.
Long time visitors to the park will notice the welcome re-inclusion of an old trail this year, No Joke. Temporarily closed for the last few years to facilitate construction of the 2010 Olympic downhill course, it has been re-opened this summer in the form of New Joke. Beginning off Freight Train in the Garbanzo zone, the trail twists its way through to the lower mountain trails via intermittent link-ups with Freight Train providing a great and varied ride containing both technical and fast jump sections.
The big change at the top of the park is inclusion of Garbanzos first proper intermediate trail, Blue Velvet, continuing the parks initiative to build trails suitable for shorter travel bikes.
Blue Velvet is our best effort to bring smooth intermediate riding to the Garbanzo Zone. We have built the trail to ride similar to Crank It Up and eventually it will link right into that trail for a full top-to-bottom flow ride experience, says Brian Finestone, bike park manager. The current sections have berms, rollers and small jumps with great riding through first and second growth forest. One day Blue Velvet/Crank it Up could rival A-Line as the most popular trail in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. The final short section of Blue Velvet will be finished in just a couple of weeks before master trail builder Jay Robinson begins work on a new section destined to link Blue Velvet with Crank It Up in the future.
Blue Velvet, Garbanzo Zone
Moving down into the lower mountain with the Fitzsimmons accessed trails, riders will be pleased to see the final section of Crank It Up has been completed and now leads you directly into Heart of Darkness. Crank It Up has proved to be one of the most popular trails during its three-year development and the introduction of the final section ads six new jumps and a wall ride to the section leading into Heart of Darkness. As Rob McSkimming, VP of Business Development said to me, If you arent having fun on your bike on that trail then you arent going to have fun anywhere, and I would have to agree. This is definitely one of my favorite trail combos and perfect for riders looking to expand their jumping skills.
Mason Mashon on Dirt Merchant. Both A-Line and Dirt Merchant have seen temporary closures in the early season for some re-sculptting of berms and shaping of jumps.
If you rode the park last year you will probably be familiar with the intermediate single track of Karate Monkey and Ninja Cougar but you might have missed the late season inclusion of part three of the martial arts mammals. The new section, Samurai Pizza Cat, now completes the trilogy of smooth of flowy, machine-sculpted trails that are great for riders on shorter travel bikes or expert riders wanting some seriously fast single track. Angry Pirate has also seen some new work done to both the upper and lower sections.
Mason Mashon on the sculpted berms of Ninja Cougar.
At the base of the mountain, work is nearly completed on the Boneyard slopestyle course, designed again this year by John Cowan. Whilst for safety reasons some features remain closed until Cranworx, riders can already enjoy the giant slalom course that now twists through the slopestyle features.
The 2009 Boneyard & Giant Slalom course.