[cmc]

i'm interested in what trips yall have taken and what you think were the best experiences. being in texas i don't get to do lift access mountains. (i'm a former bmx'er and just ride hard tail DJ right now . . . ).

Diablo Freeride Park, New Jersey looks sick....

. . .
http://www.imba.com/resources/freeriding/freeriding_locations.html

 

[skatetokil]

If I were going to go that far and stay east coast I'd probably pick Snowshoe. The setting and quality of the other resort facilities are on another level and the runs are way longer. Both places have sick riding though.

Why not whistler? That's where everybody else goes.

 

[Runner]

Diablo is lots of fun but I don't think it is worth a plane ride to get there unless you are going to be in NY/ New england for something else. If you were going to come up to ride more of the mountains up here, than it would totally be worth it though.
skatetokil is right, Snowshoe is truly great. It has long, well-made runs and a very cool mountain-top village (all the hotels and shops are up on the top, with an awesome view, etc... pretty unique). The only bad thing about Snowshoe is that its in kind of a remote location so it takes some time to get there.

 

[cmc]

i went to winter park, colorado last year for crankworx and hit sol vista as well. it was a blast.

i am definitely looking at whistler. just thought maybe there might be some places with whistler-esque stuff but less hype. i'm a big fan of smooth-ish, BMX-y and flowy, rather than traditional rough DH. so i guess whistler A-line etc. is the place to go....

i thought sol vista's "silky johnson" had winter park beat. to me it was like a downhill pump track which was ssssick. with winter park's jump line tbd etc. i was disappointed with the short-gap table tops that did not get progressively longer as you went down, picking up speed. i literally hit my brakes before every jump so as not to waaaay overclear. still a fun time, though, obviously.

 

[demo 9]

i love diablo, i think its wort a trip, there are ALOT of trails, and unless you find a local (ill do it) you will miss a ton. that being said, id still choose whistler

 

[IH8Rice]

Diablo isnt worth a trip from Texas. its okay for a day of riding, but i dont think youd just be riding one day.

 

[rigidhack]

Whistler gets hyped for sure, but it really does live up to it - which is rare. A-Line is great, but there is so much more going on on that hill. Also, Whistler village is a fun place to hang out, even for any non-rider that may be joining you. The best thing about a Whistler trip is that to get there you have to go right past the Shore and Squamish, not to mention the Valley trails. Multiple world class riding spots in more or less a single location.

Unless you are an XC rider, in which case you should go to Moab.

 

[Sandwich]

Why not try for an east coast road trip? Fly out to whatever airport is cheap, either NYC or Boston or Buffalo or whatever, then pick up a rental car and hit diablo, plattekill, whiteface, bromont, killington, jiminy, highland, and sunday river?

Quite a bit of driving, but the east coast kills it with lift options.

Or see if you can connect with somebody that lives out here.

 

[woodyak]

Diablo is pretty sick but I wouldn't fly out here just for this park. I'd make a trip out of it and at the very least hit Highland. You could fly into Boston and rent a car. Start out at Highland which is 1.5 hours from Boston. Then go to Diablo which is about 4 hours away from Boston. From Diablo go to Whiteface which is about 3 hours away and then back to Boston which is about 4 hours away. Just a thought...

 

[Homeless Junkie]

If you're going to fly go to Whistler!

Diablo is a great park but there's nothing to do at night. Snowshoe? come on!! I've been to all three resorts and Snowshoe is by far the worst. I know everbody's getting mad but Snowshoe has the worst jumps anywhere. Their trails are fun but no where near what Whistler has to offer.

I went to Snowshoe last year in June and they were closed due to poor turn out. I used to go to Snowshoe all the time but after Whistler.. forget about it GO TO WHISTLER.

No where can you go on a jump line that every rider can ride except Whistler. Yeah that's right if you suck or you're stuck with your girlfriend you can lap Crank It Up and be happy.

There are so many places to ride.. try Khyber then to Babylon if the climb up doesn't hurt it might on the way down. Lost lake, river runs throught it, comfortable numb I could go on and on

One more thing the only regret you'll have about Whistler is you should have brought more bikes You could bring your XC, DH, 6 inch, and your DJ and use them all in one day

 

[owentking]

Unless you are an XC rider, in which case you should go to Moab.

Moab isn't just for XC. Theres tons to play on in Moab. Thats my weekend biking vacation spot and its a blast. I've done the DH rigs there and it was fun but an AM setup is best. Fruita is also a great spot. Same bike setup as Moab. Hell, if you want a sampler of moab riding check out the Moab section in The Collective's film ROAM.

 

[downhill mike]

I used to do this trip all the time. Starting in Lake Placid at Whiteface drive all the way to Fruita, then Moab. To Hurricane, Utah to Las Vegas, to Flagstaff, Sedona and Phoenix. It is a 7,000 mile drive but some great trails along the way.

 

[cmc]

Keystone and Winter Park are both kicking serious a$$ this year:

Here are some of my pics from Keystone:

This thing was steeper in real life than it looks here... the sharp right turn was actually kinda gnarly with it having just rained...

This one too:

Great use of big-radius high speed berms:

Wallride:

Skinnies to big drop:

Distant view of same skinnies to drop:

Optional long table, added on to make a service-trail more interesting:

 

[LOOnatic]

As someone who has ridden just about everywhere mentioned in this thread and the fact that you prefer groomed jump trails over gnar Dh i think the colorado big 3 is a good value considering your location.
There are some super sick underground jump spots outside denver but you gotta know the right people. Plus now that the city of Boulder opened up the Valmont public bike park.
You will not like most of the trails at snowshoe besides ninja bob, missing link, powerline and the redbull jump trail.

Whistler is teh shiznit but far away and expensive.

You would love highland considering all the upgrades to hellion and what not.

 

[-BB-]

I've been to Northstar (Tahoe) Mammoth, Whistler and Snowshoe.

For what you describe only Whistler would be a good option of the ones listed above. Those Keystone shots look nice though.