I figured I should post a trip report to follow up my advice thread here. BTW thanks to everyone who contributed in that thread, it helped me out greatly. I brought my Turner Highline and my friend brought his Intense SS which we used for all riding, both running 1x9 drivetrains and Marzocchi 66 forks. I went to Whistler Bike Park last year but rented a bike, while this was my friend's first biking trip outside of the northeast.
Oct 6th - flew in to Seattle. We arrived by noon, so we went over to Colonnade to ride for the afternoon as a warm-up for the week. We built up our bikes on the side of the road and then rode the park for 3 hours or so. I have to say this park is absolutely awesome. The amount of features packed in to such as small area is amazing and a ton of fun, while presenting a good amount of challenge as well. We drove to North Vancouver in the evening.
Oct 7th - Rode Mt. Fromme on the shore. First run went all the way to the top, rode 7th Secret down to the road. Went back to the top, rode Upper Oilcan to the road, checked out Air Supply (I'm not going to hit any of that!) and rode Lower Oilcan to the Baden Powell trail back to the trailhead. That was fast and fun but not too challenging. Rode back up to Espresso and took that down; probably the most fun trail we rode that day. Didn't really have the time or energy for another lap, pedaling/climbing/walking uphill 8 miles in one day on a FR bike was enough for us. Left and drove to Whistler, stopping in Squamish for some food and beverage supplies on the way.
Oct 8th Rode Whistler Bike Park. Only lower mountain (Fitzsimmons lift) was open of course, but there are more than enough trails to ride in one day. No lift lines at all either. The whole mid section of A-line was closed along with a short section of Schleyer and lower Heart of Darkness, but they were all reopened for the weekend. Conditions were awesome! The dirt was not muddy, not dusty, just perfectly tacky, allowing all berms to be taken like the bike was on rails. We pretty much rode the whole day, covered probably 2/3 of the lower mountain trails. Weather so far had been sunny every day, no rain at all, and highs around 60 deg. Absolutely perfect riding weather. I rented a condo in Marketplace lodge for 4 nights for a great price thanks to direct online booking (and thanks to those who mentioned www.alluradirect.com/ in other threads).
Oct 9th Rode the Whistler valley trails. Decided on a route of: Paved path from village to Rainbow park, up Whip Me Snip Me, up the Flank trail heading south, down Cheap Thrills, 99er, lower Danimal, back to Whip Me Snip Me, lower part of Beaver, up the road to River Runs Through It, back to Rainbow park and back to the Village. It was chilly when we started out around 10am, but I warmed up quickly riding/hiking up WMSM and Flank trail. I dont think I could have rode sections of the Flank trail even on my trail bike due to the steep climbs. Cheap Thrills was fun and tricky in spots, Danimal (the part we rode) was fun and flowy, and River was of course a constant challenge to practice skinnies and balance. Overall these trails were a lot of fun, probably better suited to a good All-Mountain bike than a freeride bike, but Im glad we rode them. I went to bed at 9pm after that ride.
Oct 10th Rode Whistler Bike Park. The gondola was now running so we started with one warm-up run on the lower mountain then proceeded to head to the top. It was sunny out but quite cold up top, like probably 40 deg tops, and there was light snow and some mud on the open sections where snow had melted. Started with a run down all of Freight train to Dirt Merchant, damn that was a lot of jumps. Went back to the top and went down Original Sin to In Deep. Well, my friend got in deep on the go around for the Triple Hump and went OTB on that rock face and sprained his wrist. We finished out the run, but he had to walk the harder sections. Decided not to ride anymore that day to give his wrist a rest and went back up to ride the Peak 2 Peak gondola. That was interesting, 1.88 miles of unsupported cable and 1400ft off the ground.
Oct 11th My friends wrist still hurt, but he wanted to try riding again anyway. A run down B-line and he realized that riding was not feasible. He went to get it checked out by bike patrollers then hung out in the village while I rode the rest of the day. It was still very cold up top but also still sunny out. A lot of sections in the woods were basically frozen dry dirt, which meant great traction and no slippery roots/rocks. I think I rode every trail except for some green and blue trails (why bother), Goats Gully (not by myself), and D1. I rode some trails not on the map in the area between lower Freight Train and Dirt Merchant and Duffman, I think they were called Renegade and some other one too, they were fun. We drove back to North Vancouver at night.
Oct 12th My buddy was pissed that his wrist was obviously messed up and he could not ride yet again. We went to the Capilano suspension bridge in the morning just to do a non-biking tourist activity. I then met up with Chris aka rigidhack from ridemonkey at Mt. Seymour. First run we rode CBC to Corkscrew to Pingu to Pangor. Went back up and rode Incline/Corkscrew to Pingu to Boogieman. These trails were all awesome, some of the stunts were a little tricky but I was able to ride almost everything. It is obvious that these trails are maintained better than Fromme, but also get more traffic. Many thanks for Chris for riding with me and showing me the trails. Drove back to Seattle in the evening and flew back to Pittsburgh the next day. Check out the rock armoring, these trails may be DH oriented but they are built to handle it with minimal wear.
Overall this trip was awesome. I cant believe that for the once the weather held out in our favor. It never rained once, which seems like a rarity for October in the Pacific Northwest. All trails we rode were ultra grippy. It was also apparent that at Whistler bike park many trails had been groomed to remove braking bumps, which was much better than last year when I rode there in August. It was a little cold at times, but with sun and no rain it was tolerable. Its amazing what constitutes public land trails out there, given what we saw at Fromme, Seymour, Whistler valley, and even Colonnade. I dont think well be seeing many trails like those in the East any time soon. It sucks for my buddy that he hurt his wrist and missed out on two days for riding, but at least it didnt happen on the first day. We will be back next year for sure.
Oct 6th - flew in to Seattle. We arrived by noon, so we went over to Colonnade to ride for the afternoon as a warm-up for the week. We built up our bikes on the side of the road and then rode the park for 3 hours or so. I have to say this park is absolutely awesome. The amount of features packed in to such as small area is amazing and a ton of fun, while presenting a good amount of challenge as well. We drove to North Vancouver in the evening.
Oct 7th - Rode Mt. Fromme on the shore. First run went all the way to the top, rode 7th Secret down to the road. Went back to the top, rode Upper Oilcan to the road, checked out Air Supply (I'm not going to hit any of that!) and rode Lower Oilcan to the Baden Powell trail back to the trailhead. That was fast and fun but not too challenging. Rode back up to Espresso and took that down; probably the most fun trail we rode that day. Didn't really have the time or energy for another lap, pedaling/climbing/walking uphill 8 miles in one day on a FR bike was enough for us. Left and drove to Whistler, stopping in Squamish for some food and beverage supplies on the way.
Oct 8th Rode Whistler Bike Park. Only lower mountain (Fitzsimmons lift) was open of course, but there are more than enough trails to ride in one day. No lift lines at all either. The whole mid section of A-line was closed along with a short section of Schleyer and lower Heart of Darkness, but they were all reopened for the weekend. Conditions were awesome! The dirt was not muddy, not dusty, just perfectly tacky, allowing all berms to be taken like the bike was on rails. We pretty much rode the whole day, covered probably 2/3 of the lower mountain trails. Weather so far had been sunny every day, no rain at all, and highs around 60 deg. Absolutely perfect riding weather. I rented a condo in Marketplace lodge for 4 nights for a great price thanks to direct online booking (and thanks to those who mentioned www.alluradirect.com/ in other threads).
Oct 9th Rode the Whistler valley trails. Decided on a route of: Paved path from village to Rainbow park, up Whip Me Snip Me, up the Flank trail heading south, down Cheap Thrills, 99er, lower Danimal, back to Whip Me Snip Me, lower part of Beaver, up the road to River Runs Through It, back to Rainbow park and back to the Village. It was chilly when we started out around 10am, but I warmed up quickly riding/hiking up WMSM and Flank trail. I dont think I could have rode sections of the Flank trail even on my trail bike due to the steep climbs. Cheap Thrills was fun and tricky in spots, Danimal (the part we rode) was fun and flowy, and River was of course a constant challenge to practice skinnies and balance. Overall these trails were a lot of fun, probably better suited to a good All-Mountain bike than a freeride bike, but Im glad we rode them. I went to bed at 9pm after that ride.
Oct 10th Rode Whistler Bike Park. The gondola was now running so we started with one warm-up run on the lower mountain then proceeded to head to the top. It was sunny out but quite cold up top, like probably 40 deg tops, and there was light snow and some mud on the open sections where snow had melted. Started with a run down all of Freight train to Dirt Merchant, damn that was a lot of jumps. Went back to the top and went down Original Sin to In Deep. Well, my friend got in deep on the go around for the Triple Hump and went OTB on that rock face and sprained his wrist. We finished out the run, but he had to walk the harder sections. Decided not to ride anymore that day to give his wrist a rest and went back up to ride the Peak 2 Peak gondola. That was interesting, 1.88 miles of unsupported cable and 1400ft off the ground.
Oct 11th My friends wrist still hurt, but he wanted to try riding again anyway. A run down B-line and he realized that riding was not feasible. He went to get it checked out by bike patrollers then hung out in the village while I rode the rest of the day. It was still very cold up top but also still sunny out. A lot of sections in the woods were basically frozen dry dirt, which meant great traction and no slippery roots/rocks. I think I rode every trail except for some green and blue trails (why bother), Goats Gully (not by myself), and D1. I rode some trails not on the map in the area between lower Freight Train and Dirt Merchant and Duffman, I think they were called Renegade and some other one too, they were fun. We drove back to North Vancouver at night.
Oct 12th My buddy was pissed that his wrist was obviously messed up and he could not ride yet again. We went to the Capilano suspension bridge in the morning just to do a non-biking tourist activity. I then met up with Chris aka rigidhack from ridemonkey at Mt. Seymour. First run we rode CBC to Corkscrew to Pingu to Pangor. Went back up and rode Incline/Corkscrew to Pingu to Boogieman. These trails were all awesome, some of the stunts were a little tricky but I was able to ride almost everything. It is obvious that these trails are maintained better than Fromme, but also get more traffic. Many thanks for Chris for riding with me and showing me the trails. Drove back to Seattle in the evening and flew back to Pittsburgh the next day. Check out the rock armoring, these trails may be DH oriented but they are built to handle it with minimal wear.
Overall this trip was awesome. I cant believe that for the once the weather held out in our favor. It never rained once, which seems like a rarity for October in the Pacific Northwest. All trails we rode were ultra grippy. It was also apparent that at Whistler bike park many trails had been groomed to remove braking bumps, which was much better than last year when I rode there in August. It was a little cold at times, but with sun and no rain it was tolerable. Its amazing what constitutes public land trails out there, given what we saw at Fromme, Seymour, Whistler valley, and even Colonnade. I dont think well be seeing many trails like those in the East any time soon. It sucks for my buddy that he hurt his wrist and missed out on two days for riding, but at least it didnt happen on the first day. We will be back next year for sure.
