best heli-biking in Whistler?
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That's done on Rainbow Mountain I'm pretty sure. I heard it was about $100 US, but that was before the Canadian $ was worth more.
It's actually $270 per person based on 8 riders; more for less guys (the choppers hold 6 each, and there's a guide and pilot in there as well). Prices have gone up quite a bit due to fuel costs. I've got some good connections up there, so drop me a line if you're interested, and I could book it at no charge to you (the guides would float me a small commission).
Anyway, I took about ~15 customers up on it a few years back and it was AMAZING. Yes, it's an expensive day trip, but everyone who went would agree that it was worth it for the experience. Here are some pics I shot:
At the pickup point:
Liftoff with the first crew:
One of my customers riding shotgun:
Coming in for a landing on a small snowfield on top of Rainbow Mtn:
Our guide, Michael, helping everyone out of the chopper:
Here come the bikes:
Bikes:
We were trying to figure out what would be more expensive to replace if there was a crash, the chopper or the payload??
:
Our other guide, Brian, gives us the lowdown on where we'll be riding:
Looking back across the valley towards Whistler Blackcomb:
The group gets suited up:
Dropping in:
--John P.
Guy-Trips.com
207-221-2945
Anyway, I took about ~15 customers up on it a few years back and it was AMAZING. Yes, it's an expensive day trip, but everyone who went would agree that it was worth it for the experience. Here are some pics I shot:
At the pickup point:
Liftoff with the first crew:
One of my customers riding shotgun:
Coming in for a landing on a small snowfield on top of Rainbow Mtn:
Our guide, Michael, helping everyone out of the chopper:
Here come the bikes:
Bikes:
We were trying to figure out what would be more expensive to replace if there was a crash, the chopper or the payload??
:
Our other guide, Brian, gives us the lowdown on where we'll be riding:
Looking back across the valley towards Whistler Blackcomb:
The group gets suited up:
Dropping in:
--John P.
Guy-Trips.com
207-221-2945
Could we get some details about your trip?What bike setup would you recomend?Full on DH or the 6"lightfreeride/heavy trailbike.How much climbing,hiking,steep chutes,drops,jumps,how technical,pace etc.I know this varies by group and skill but just a overall description would be great.
Most of my customers and I were on Full DH rigs, but the guides were both on freeride bikes. Looking back on it, I'd probably ride a freeride bike if given the chance.
As you can see from the last pic, you start way the hell up above treeline where there's still snow on the ground, and it's pretty much singletrack the whole way down. There are a couple of flat-ish spots, but if memory serves, it's 90% DH. There were a few small 3-5' drops that could also be rolled or walked if you were nervous, a couple sweet optional rock roll-ins that were very steep, and just tons of good trail all the way around. Near the bottom, you get into some wider sweeping turns that are bermed up and tons of fun.
It's about a 2/3 - 3/4 day trip, and it includes pickup/dropoff at your condo and lunch. Brian and Michael (the guides) are two of the coolest dudes you'll ever meet and excellent riders to boot.
Like I said above, it's a lot of coin, but no one in my group had the slightest regret about any of it. So much fun!
--JP
As you can see from the last pic, you start way the hell up above treeline where there's still snow on the ground, and it's pretty much singletrack the whole way down. There are a couple of flat-ish spots, but if memory serves, it's 90% DH. There were a few small 3-5' drops that could also be rolled or walked if you were nervous, a couple sweet optional rock roll-ins that were very steep, and just tons of good trail all the way around. Near the bottom, you get into some wider sweeping turns that are bermed up and tons of fun.
It's about a 2/3 - 3/4 day trip, and it includes pickup/dropoff at your condo and lunch. Brian and Michael (the guides) are two of the coolest dudes you'll ever meet and excellent riders to boot.
Like I said above, it's a lot of coin, but no one in my group had the slightest regret about any of it. So much fun!
--JP
ive done this ride, very steep, once u get to the main section, it was much cheaper for me because it was part of sgc but yeah good stuff. check your break pads before you start
we're on full-on DH bikes, so the less pedaling the better really. We are into step tech, and flowy trails, love Garbo- original sin/goats gully/safety etc, and trails like ride dont slide. Are there different mountain options? And how long is the ride time?
cheers
cheers
The Rainbow Mountain stuff is very similar to the singletrack off Garbo, with the main difference being that it's not ridden in and beat to hell so much. It will be plenty steep for you, but just remember it's not a bike park trail, so it's not going to have the perfect flow of something like Karate Monkey. It has a bit of everything thrown in.
I'm guessing you could light it up and do that trail top to botton in an hour or less if you were racing, but more than likely you should expect to spend a 2-3 hours on the bike as you make stops to take in the surroundings and/or deal with crashes (we had one guy cut his leg open pretty bad on a really steep section, but Brian whipped out the first aid kit and bandaged him up). When you include the time in the chopper and dealing with all the rest of the logistics, you get your 2/3 - 3/4 day trip.
As far as I know, the lift to Rainbow Mountain is the only one available in the area anymore. There used to be another way the hell out by Lillooet, but that was a long haul in the van and not quite as much riding as Rainbow. There's also a float-plane trip available out there that's a much longer ride, but it's more of a ride for an AM bike as opposed to a DH - sort of the nature of the beast . . . the steeper the line you take, the quicker you're going to get to the bottom.
I'm guessing you could light it up and do that trail top to botton in an hour or less if you were racing, but more than likely you should expect to spend a 2-3 hours on the bike as you make stops to take in the surroundings and/or deal with crashes (we had one guy cut his leg open pretty bad on a really steep section, but Brian whipped out the first aid kit and bandaged him up). When you include the time in the chopper and dealing with all the rest of the logistics, you get your 2/3 - 3/4 day trip.
As far as I know, the lift to Rainbow Mountain is the only one available in the area anymore. There used to be another way the hell out by Lillooet, but that was a long haul in the van and not quite as much riding as Rainbow. There's also a float-plane trip available out there that's a much longer ride, but it's more of a ride for an AM bike as opposed to a DH - sort of the nature of the beast . . . the steeper the line you take, the quicker you're going to get to the bottom.
I was on the trip JohnP is taliking about. I can see my V10 in the picture. I had a great time, and it was a great overall experience. I agree with John that a dh bike is a little excessive, however, there really were no climbs to deal with. We did hit some steep off camber stuff at the top, so it was pretty similar to Garbanzo in the higher terrain. As you get to the bottom of the mountain your speeds pick up, and you can slide into the turns nice, and the tour guides had lunch for us at the bottom. Definately have John P set it up, as he knows those guys real well. Good luck and post your pics after the trip.
Me and some buddies did the Rainbow Mt. trip last year and although it was a lot of fun there were definitely some draw backs. First off we went way too early in the season (actually it was almost a year to today). Hence the first half of the ripping, alpine singletrack was more of a gong show with guys and bikes sliding down the snow fields. It got pretty hairy at one point when one of the guys (of course he was the biggest guy) lost control and slid/summersaulted into some guys at the bottom. After that the riding was really good; steep, rocky, rooty, everything you would expect from a trail like this. However it was short lived and once we hit the section where you have to choose between Jaws and 30 Switchbacks, things got pretty tame. We were convinced by the guides to ride 30 Switchbacks, and although fun, it was pretty tame and really fast and the ride was over before we knew it. I would definitely do Jaws if given the opportunity again. Overall the length of the trip was something to be desired. We left the Whistler day lots at 8:00 am and were dropped off back at the village by 1-1:30. If given the chance to do it again I would pass unless someone was paying my way for me.
I did however see another heli drop in the Whistler/Squamish area that I think was called Goat Mt. There was a nice photo write up on it in MTBR by Noel the guy behind Knolly bikes. That ride looked like it had much more in the way of stuff to session and mess around on and could be stretched to make it worth while to lay down the coin for a heli drop.
I did however see another heli drop in the Whistler/Squamish area that I think was called Goat Mt. There was a nice photo write up on it in MTBR by Noel the guy behind Knolly bikes. That ride looked like it had much more in the way of stuff to session and mess around on and could be stretched to make it worth while to lay down the coin for a heli drop.
goat ridge, aka disneyland, aka brittania (just south of squamish), is good, but it sure isn't a straight heli drop bomb down style, it has lots of hike a bike and the terrain isn't super gnar, 6" travel bike is more than sufficient.... http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=113049
riding up in the southern chilcotin, about 2.5 hours north of whiz, is rad, but it's pretty full on xc, even with a floatplane drop. rocky and tech in places, but the vast majority being alpine meadow ribbons of buff singletrack.....we were up there 2 weekends ago for my buddies stag and did a floatplane drop on warner lake, for a 45km ride back to the chalet, took a leisurely 7 hours.....dale at tyax air is an awesome guy and a great pilot, we paid $120/rider, 5/plane for 2 loads. http://www.dropmachine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30856
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riding up in the southern chilcotin, about 2.5 hours north of whiz, is rad, but it's pretty full on xc, even with a floatplane drop. rocky and tech in places, but the vast majority being alpine meadow ribbons of buff singletrack.....we were up there 2 weekends ago for my buddies stag and did a floatplane drop on warner lake, for a 45km ride back to the chalet, took a leisurely 7 hours.....dale at tyax air is an awesome guy and a great pilot, we paid $120/rider, 5/plane for 2 loads. http://www.dropmachine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30856
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I did this last summer too. Awesome riding, great singletrack and stunning scenery. It is 7 hours of riding though with some decent climbing thrown in. It's good on a 6" bike and well worth the effort. The flight up to the lake is stunning in itself! They can drive you from Whistler to the Tyax lodge where the flight leaves from or do the drive yourself (on a forest service road).goat ridge, aka disneyland, aka brittania (just south of squamish), is good, but it sure isn't a straight heli drop bomb down style, it has lots of hike a bike and the terrain isn't super gnar, 6" travel bike is more than sufficient.... http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=113049
riding up in the southern chilcotin, about 2.5 hours north of whiz, is rad, but it's pretty full on xc, even with a floatplane drop. rocky and tech in places, but the vast majority being alpine meadow ribbons of buff singletrack.....we were up there 2 weekends ago for my buddies stag and did a floatplane drop on warner lake, for a 45km ride back to the chalet, took a leisurely 7 hours.....dale at tyax air is an awesome guy and a great pilot, we paid $120/rider, 5/plane for 2 loads. http://www.dropmachine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30856
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I think you would need to be pretty jaded or maybe just hard up for cash to not think Rainbow is an awesome thing to do, especially if you've never done a heli trip. I mean, the helicopter ride alone is super fun. It's not a really long ride but after a few days in the park I'm fine with having a day of a little less riding and something different. I've also done a heli ride up in Pemberton that had us bombing down wide open shale/scree slopes for a while until we picked up a super sweet singletrack at at alpine lake. Can't remember the names of those trails but it was a killer day, so you might ask around.
i liked the rainbow run i did. it cost me $100, but that is because i was part of the shandro gravity camp.
on the ride back to town, if you have the juice, be sure to pedal through a stunt-laden bit of trail called "smoke and mirrors" (i think that is the name). it is a fun ride, but if you are spent and hauling a big bike, it can be a tough pull.
on the ride back to town, if you have the juice, be sure to pedal through a stunt-laden bit of trail called "smoke and mirrors" (i think that is the name). it is a fun ride, but if you are spent and hauling a big bike, it can be a tough pull.