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Best "Big Mtn" ride in the US?

DirtEveryDay

Turbo Monkey
Nov 24, 2003
2,692
4
Pacific North Wet
Gonna make this short and sweet. I've had too much to drink, I'm exhausted, and I've been blabbering on some****ing BottleRocket thread again and don't know why...
But loooking for a big descent. I don't know what to expect or ask for, so surpiseme. I'm from the midwest, so EVERYTHING is bigger! I don't mind pushin up, so no need for a shuttle and I'll even camp at the top id I have to. Anyone know of some truely epic DH runs? I'd like to atleast do one this summer.
 

DirtEveryDay

Turbo Monkey
Nov 24, 2003
2,692
4
Pacific North Wet
Hmmm...ok..let's narrow it down..I want all the aspects of a big mtn ride:streams, boulders, rockgardens, shale slides, rain, bears, and ehaustion. But only the descent part of it! Ha! Basically I think I'm after a very rugged, super long Dh run. So I don't know...I don't even know what's really out there. Longest RACE run I've ever been in was Crested butte, CO. My absolute fav thing to do is Crow Peak in Spearfish, SD, that's 15 minutes of pure DH single track with razor rocks, jaggede shale and falling trees(OK, only once).
Hell, I'd be happy to find one hour of fully pinned, rough downhill. Is that feasible?
**** it's hard to type like this...and I gotta work in....4 hours! Gotta go
 

Mulestar

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2007
1,061
0
in the dirt
Brian Head Utah has some pretty long runs that are shuttleable. 8-12 miles of singletrack descending or something like that if I remember correctly.
 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
23,927
14,439
where the trails are
I know a shuttle ride in Colorado Springs that gives you 6k of descending with two easy 1k-ish climbs mixed in.
It has everything you describe except maybe for the bears.


edit:
Cactus to Clouds - Palm Springs... you said you don't mind pushing up
Holy Crap! Now THAT qualifies as an epic ride.
 

Old_Sckool

Monkey
Jun 5, 2007
187
0
The Whole Enchilada in Moab. From up in the La Sals to the bottom of Porcupine Rim.

37 miles. Not all DH, but plenty of it.
 

Tootrikky

Monkey
Jul 31, 2003
772
0
Mount Vernon
Silver Mountain ID Definitely should be on your list. The Silveroxx event (sep 6-7th) that they have thrown the last 2 yrs was very rad. A Short Course DH race on Saturday, and then an Enduro style DH race on Sunday. The Enduro course was (as I remember) 12-13 minutes last yr and 15-16 the yr before. The top section consists of man made jumps and berms , and the bottom is in the woods. Good cash prizes too, over 1k last yr.
http://www.silvermt.com/ActivitiesAndEvents/default.aspx?page=MountainBiking

Then of course you got Mt Pyschosis July 5-6th and the Crankworx Enduro DH Aug 10th up in Canada.
 

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
whiteface. bigmike can give a little more info, but supposedly if you buy him a 6-pack or something they'll give you a shuttle up tot he top of big whiteface (4000' vert). otherwise you'll just have to be happy with "only" 2400' of vert and a fast gondola.

:)
 

DownhillR3

Monkey
May 31, 2007
630
0
whiteface. bigmike can give a little more info, but supposedly if you buy him a 6-pack or something they'll give you a shuttle up tot he top of big whiteface (4000' vert). otherwise you'll just have to be happy with "only" 2400' of vert and a fast gondola.

:)
Another vote for Whiteface, not only was it high looking down from the start line, but looking up to the very tippy-top was just ridicolous. If they started from the very top, easily a 15min. or more DH run with no uphill sections.
 

DirtEveryDay

Turbo Monkey
Nov 24, 2003
2,692
4
Pacific North Wet
Damn...I'm jealous of people in the mtns!
And yeah, I spoke to Kanter once here awhile back. I think he said they had either an 18 mile or an 18 minute DH with a small climb in there...And it DID sound Big Mountain. He's probably my closest bet. Montana is gorgeous, but honestly it kinda freaks me out! Strange going-ons there!
I'll fit right in. :)
 

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
My Alzheimer's is kicking in, but someone here might know the name of the trail. I rode it a few times in 90-91-92. It is above Keyesville ca. and was like an hour if I remember correctly.
ANyone?
 

SilentJ

trail builder
Jun 17, 2002
1,312
0
Calgary AB
Mt Seven Psychosis, Golden BC. Not in the US, but close?
If you want to push a wee bit further from the Psychosis launch (or pay for the chopper) to the upper launch, you add about 1200' vert to the ride. Makes it just over a 5000' decent.

Up there:
http://i2.pinkbike.com/photo/3/pbpic3424.jpg
Wonder why they call it Mt. Seven..

Pushing *all the way* to the top adds another 600' or so, but in the words of the craziest fvcker I've ever met, it's "unsafe".
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3187335.jpg
 

spliffy

Monkey
Dec 10, 2007
174
0
DURANGO Colorado
Durango and Telluride have some good ones. The one in telluride is about a hour and a half hike from the gondola and drops you of the backside of the mountain into town its all dh. Ridin it on my dh bike aswell as trail bike the top is exposed and much better on a dh. The trail drops 3600 feet into town with drops and a cool waterfall crosing by a broken down mine that got taken out by an avalanch back in the day. Epic for sure. In durango we got a bunch of long shuttles up n the high country and around silverton.
 

DirtEveryDay

Turbo Monkey
Nov 24, 2003
2,692
4
Pacific North Wet
This better be your screensaver. Awesome pic,


Bragging: We have hour-long decents which are rough as you please. Knackered at the bottom. No help to you though:busted:


Yeah man, that's my screensaver...it's what gets me through... If I were to ever find a place like that, I'm not sure I'd ever go home. Prob a good thing I don't live near the mtns...
 

stinky6

Monkey
Dec 24, 2004
517
0
Monroe
Leavenworth Washington. If you go to Das Rad Haus (Leavenworth has a Bavarian theme) they will tell you about the trails. This place is in Washington, so I'm not sure if it is illegal to say the name of the town with the trails online, if it is sorry. Pretty epic stuff though; 45min or so descents that you can shuttle with ridge lines, cool views, rock faces, and balls to the wall high speed stuff also. There is also a supper fun skatepark and Bike and Brew event in the spring or fall (XC race or unofficial DH shuttle day with a beer garden). Its so awesome that both me and my brother have managed to break our collar bones there and its still the best place to ride.
 

Adjunkie

Chimp
Dec 19, 2007
8
0
Mt. Elbert is the tallest peak in colorado. It's a 14,433 foot peak and bikes are allowed. Start early so you don't get hit by lightning. Make sure your brakes are badass because the trail goes straight down the side of the mountain for thousands of feet.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,920
borcester rhymes
Hmmm...ok..let's narrow it down..I want all the aspects of a big mtn ride:streams, boulders, rockgardens, shale slides, rain, bears, and ehaustion.
Streams, check
Boulders, check
Rockgardens, check
Shale Slides? some parts
Rain? If you plan poorly
Bears? Probably
Exhaustion? definately.

Whiteface has it all. It'll take a good rider 15 minutes to get down the mountain if they're working hard. The pros did it in around 8, but that includes some high speed open stuff. If you stick in the woods, you'll be lucky to get under 20. There's steep, fast, rocky, smooth, fireroads, switchbacks, berms, jumps, everything.

Plus, if you plan a trip to the east coast, you can spend a couple days at whiteface, then hit bromont, plattekill, diablo, and a few others on your way back.