Wait what? How is Cypress only kinda part of the North Shore?
General Whistler thread
- Thread starter shelteringsky
- Start date
Because I'm from Australia and have no idea where the North Shore is or what trails the locals were trying to kill me on. I just shut up and get in the truck when the boys are taking the tourist to the riding trails.
Ah rightio. I spent a few days doing solo riding all over the valley two weeks ago and wouldn't have the slightest idea about mountain lions. TBH, I was probably more in danger of dying due to the trails recommended to me by the locals. Note to self - when the group all exchange glances and chuckle when they recommend a trail for a rainy day, they're probably not being helpful.
yeah, I just pretty much assume that I get watched by cougars semi-regularly where I ride and trail build, there's lots of deer and other food, so they're well fed and usually not interested in people...we were scouting a re-route one evening and I slipped on a wet log and put my hand down to stop from falling and am 99% sure it was cougar piss as a few seconds later we heard exactly this...
That's because you pedal through Shades of Gray book club readings, what the fuck do you expect?
These mosquitos.......they have good character.
cougar jokes = Buffalo Bill's night club jokes, come on, you can do better
But the question is: do I want to do better......
...low hanging fruit...
Lord of the Squirrels is now open; https://www.trailforks.com/report/353517/
Delayed Fuse is running hot right now, all the Creekside trails are awesome fun, come on over and visit.
Delayed Fuse is running hot right now, all the Creekside trails are awesome fun, come on over and visit.
If trying to get you killed is wrong I'm not sure I want to be right.
I just watched Delayed fuse on YT. 
bathe in deet
Lost my fucking phone on the lift because I am old, so no new medias, but this week has been the best riding week of my life. Hopefully @SuboptimusPrime will throw up some his pics and vids. But to confirm, Delayed Fuse and the other natural trail after it are absolutely brilliant. 2 days ago we did Top of the World to Ride Don't Slide to Delayed Fuse to Shabob (sp?) to BCs trails to beer at Creekside restaurant. Thankfully no one had a pistol so I could off myself after realizing it will never get better than that.
O-sin and No Joke are still some of my all time faves, and I loved basically all the black Garbo trails - even Goats Gully, although we did punk out on the wonky righthander about halfway down. They've definitely embiggened A-line, so some of the jumps were out of my comfort zone, but I'm not great with high speed, kinda steep booters (much to my chagrin). Crank It Up and C-More are still great IMO, which again speaks to my allergy to the man sized kickers on A-line and Dirt Merch.
Also did Coast Gravity on Thursday and I can report its sublime as well. Obviously not nearly as many trails as Whis, but what they have is grand and can keep you busy at least for a day.
Kudos to the trail crew here too...they frequently close stuff for a few hours, but then when its reopened, shit is magically fixed (especially braking bumps and berm holes), which is amazing.
In short, this place is the epicenter of bike winning and I simply cannot wait to return ASAP.
The only heads up I can add is don't expect soft rubber rear tires to last long up here (or get off the coward prongs a lot more than me). That, and for me anyway, a full on DH bike is the best way to go up here.
O-sin and No Joke are still some of my all time faves, and I loved basically all the black Garbo trails - even Goats Gully, although we did punk out on the wonky righthander about halfway down. They've definitely embiggened A-line, so some of the jumps were out of my comfort zone, but I'm not great with high speed, kinda steep booters (much to my chagrin). Crank It Up and C-More are still great IMO, which again speaks to my allergy to the man sized kickers on A-line and Dirt Merch.
Also did Coast Gravity on Thursday and I can report its sublime as well. Obviously not nearly as many trails as Whis, but what they have is grand and can keep you busy at least for a day.
Kudos to the trail crew here too...they frequently close stuff for a few hours, but then when its reopened, shit is magically fixed (especially braking bumps and berm holes), which is amazing.
In short, this place is the epicenter of bike winning and I simply cannot wait to return ASAP.
The only heads up I can add is don't expect soft rubber rear tires to last long up here (or get off the coward prongs a lot more than me). That, and for me anyway, a full on DH bike is the best way to go up here.
Where did you stay at and how much was it?
It was still really awesome this week, but I can see the loam vanishing in another season. My favorite new trail in the park for sure.
Don't have much to add to what @jackalope had to say. I agree that the trail crew is doing amazing things this year and that things were riding very well given how dry it's been. Highlight was Top of the World to Ride Don't Slide to Creekside loamers to BC's to beer. Some of the action shots are video screen grabs so I'll pull those and post them up later. Here's a preliminary photodump without further delay.
We did out best to check off as many slabs as possible. I love this stuff since there is nothing like it back home.
The ferry ride to Coast Gravity Park was an experience unto itself. Highly recommend a day trip if you're up that way.
Coast gave us lots to think about--was fun to work our way through stuff over the course of the day. Brendan Howey alternately rode with the fast guys and ran the shuttle. He's a stand up guy and you'd never guess that he is 10 log units better than you just talking with him.
Meatboot hitting the last gap on Sliver--fun trail. Don't look too closely as @jackalope was so excited he had a wardrobe malfunction.
Obligatory Top of the World photo. Looking waaayyyy down to Whistler Village below and knowing you're going all that way is pretty awesome.
The number of dickwads wearing Hawaiian shirts was out of hand. @jackalope went business casual in protest.
Moar slabs and steep things.
Bikes = Flawless Victory
Moar... Think others may chime in with theirs--we did an OK job of using photo stops as an excuse to rest our hands.
Big slab on Upper Whis DH. @jackalope had an audience for this. It had been dry so shit was dusty and slick and at the bottom of this is a big stump calling your name.
Farris on the last big move of Goat's Gully.
@jackalope on the Fade to Black road gap
@Dogboy gave us a speed check on Fade since he was the only one that had hit it before. Super fun trail.
Weird how a week in the park changes your vision. We looked at this on our first day and chickened out (awkward rock roll option on No Duff with a big slot that grabs you). Came back a 2 days later and laughed at ourselves for wussing out.
Big slab on Upper Whis DH. @jackalope had an audience for this. It had been dry so shit was dusty and slick and at the bottom of this is a big stump calling your name.
Farris on the last big move of Goat's Gully.
@jackalope on the Fade to Black road gap
@Dogboy gave us a speed check on Fade since he was the only one that had hit it before. Super fun trail.
Weird how a week in the park changes your vision. We looked at this on our first day and chickened out (awkward rock roll option on No Duff with a big slot that grabs you). Came back a 2 days later and laughed at ourselves for wussing out.
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OK one moar... So Farris was definitely leading the charge on A-line. I stopped to film in a convenient spot and thankfully caught him as he overcooked the shit out of one of the bigger tables. @mtg would be proud of how the Smash stood up to this and many other poor choices this week.
Looks promising...
OK, perhaps it's time to think about that lander down there...
Landers? Fyck off, I've got work to do!!
I'm told the landing was spectacular but it was out of the frame of the shot...It sounded manly from where I was. (Dude's still in the air there)
Looks promising...
OK, perhaps it's time to think about that lander down there...
Landers? Fyck off, I've got work to do!!
I'm told the landing was spectacular but it was out of the frame of the shot...It sounded manly from where I was. (Dude's still in the air there)
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Ultra
Ultra
Ultra
Ultra
fail...
Just got home last night at 3am... Philippine Air was smelly
I saw that GG and I pointed it out to my friend ( cool company, handmade in CO etc )
Was with a group w Silver Commy V4.2/ '13 Carbon Operator/ '15 Greenish Glory / Canfield one
Ultra
Ultra
Ultra
fail...
Just got home last night at 3am... Philippine Air was smelly
I saw that GG and I pointed it out to my friend ( cool company, handmade in CO etc )
Was with a group w Silver Commy V4.2/ '13 Carbon Operator/ '15 Greenish Glory / Canfield one
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I like the homie casually watching Farris sail far past the landing. "hmmm, yep, that's too far". Is that @jackalope?
I'm guessing I saw whoever was on the Smash, because I'm pretty sure it was the only one there haha. Pretty big dude? I'm 6'1" and I think he had a few inches on me. The Smash looked like a big ass frame size. I was on my black Banshee Legend.
That would be the gentleman in the pictures who was trying to usurp the title of ovalizer from its current holder jackalope
There was actually one other nice raw Smash there. It had orange accents and dude riding it was smaller. Farris (our crews smasher) is about 6’1. Def a big rig.
Also saw another black GG/DH (in addition to my raw) and a nice megatrail there. GG was well represented for being so small and relatively new.
When was the last time you visited Whistler? I was there in 2014, wondering if they've changed since then.
Like 9 or 10 years ago (i.e. pre-kiddo). My uncle lives up there, and he indicated that ever since they made sections of Crank It Up and C-More bigger, they made various parts of A-Line and DM a fair bit bigger - which means I think this a fairly recent change. I think with enough time and PCP, I could get my head around most of the jumps on A-Line, but for someone who is actually an accomplished jumper, its probably not that big of a deal. I'd also say that an endureau bike may be a better option on the big jump lines than a full-on DH bike, especially if you set your DH bike relatively soft for rock & brake bump crushing. If I was mainly focusing on the jump lines and shitty/random air wiggles, I'd probably be running stiffer springs front and bike on my DH bike, as me and @SuboptimusPrime were g-ing out on the lips of some of the more vert ramps.
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What model of bike were you on, @jackalope?
I absolutely loved smashing that little DH section on Aline before the last couple tables, then that beauty huge step up at the end < 3 fuck connecticut < 3
A line isn't much different from the last few years, a few minor changes is all. They have taken the freight out of Freight Train though, hauled off some of the containers yesterday.
W
What? Are they rebuilding that step-up/drop?
Yeah those containers were closed off all week when we were there
A-line and new Dirt Merchant have been quite a bit bigger for 3 years or so. It's a night and day difference to those trails a decade ago, imo.
What's nice is that the blue jump trails (crank it, blue velvet) don't attempt to murder you for the crime of going too fast, so much as they used to. You can't flow em no brakes, but it's much better than when Crank It Up was new. Speaking of no brakes, good riddance to the freight train shipping container. Would rather a couple long and lows or something else you can hit at 25mph+
Also, some of the green trails on riders left are really fun now, albeit less steep. As in, those green trails are on par with "epic" flow trails many of us ride weekly at home.
The whole bar at Whistler has been raised, and it's nice the greens aren't simple fireroad descents anymore (which fireroads can actually be dangerous as fuck for newbies due to the speeds available at Whistler). I think this friendliness to newbs and kids is one of the things that sets Whistler (and little baby Highland as well) apart from the more basic ski resorts who run lifts in the summer.
The place is still epic, and safer, to boot. I still haven't been there early enough to ride Top Of THe World.
What's nice is that the blue jump trails (crank it, blue velvet) don't attempt to murder you for the crime of going too fast, so much as they used to. You can't flow em no brakes, but it's much better than when Crank It Up was new. Speaking of no brakes, good riddance to the freight train shipping container. Would rather a couple long and lows or something else you can hit at 25mph+
Also, some of the green trails on riders left are really fun now, albeit less steep. As in, those green trails are on par with "epic" flow trails many of us ride weekly at home.
The whole bar at Whistler has been raised, and it's nice the greens aren't simple fireroad descents anymore (which fireroads can actually be dangerous as fuck for newbies due to the speeds available at Whistler). I think this friendliness to newbs and kids is one of the things that sets Whistler (and little baby Highland as well) apart from the more basic ski resorts who run lifts in the summer.
The place is still epic, and safer, to boot. I still haven't been there early enough to ride Top Of THe World.
A-line and new Dirt Merchant have been quite a bit bigger for 3 years or so. It's a night and day difference to those trails a decade ago, imo.
What's nice is that the blue jump trails (crank it, blue velvet) don't attempt to murder you for the crime of going too fast, so much as they used to. You can't flow em no brakes, but it's much better than when Crank It Up was new. Speaking of no brakes, good riddance to the freight train shipping container. Would rather a couple long and lows or something else you can hit at 25mph+
Also, some of the green trails on riders left are really fun now, albeit less steep. As in, those green trails are on par with "epic" flow trails many of us ride weekly at home.
The whole bar at Whistler has been raised, and it's nice the greens aren't simple fireroad descents anymore (which fireroads can actually be dangerous as fuck for newbies due to the speeds available at Whistler). I think this friendliness to newbs and kids is one of the things that sets Whistler (and little baby Highland as well) apart from the more basic ski resorts who run lifts in the summer.
The place is still epic, and safer, to boot. I still haven't been there early enough to ride Top Of THe World.
Totally agree ^
First 2 days my arms were shot due to brake bumps... the Black trails were smoother than brake bumps at 25MPH lol. Thankfully the pain disappeared after that. Crank it up to ?Monkey hands? was my perfect warm up
Heres footage of Top of the World.. Thankfully one of us had a Gimble. Im wearing the orange camelback
I totally saw you lmao.. when i saw your bike it reminded me of the thread i made years ago TR450 VS DHRA fabulous red war donkey
100% this. Now get your ass up to Top of the World and hit Ride Don't Slide/Die to spice things up.A-line and new Dirt Merchant have been quite a bit bigger for 3 years or so. It's a night and day difference to those trails a decade ago, imo.
What's nice is that the blue jump trails (crank it, blue velvet) don't attempt to murder you for the crime of going too fast, so much as they used to. You can't flow em no brakes, but it's much better than when Crank It Up was new. Speaking of no brakes, good riddance to the freight train shipping container. Would rather a couple long and lows or something else you can hit at 25mph+
Also, some of the green trails on riders left are really fun now, albeit less steep. As in, those green trails are on par with "epic" flow trails many of us ride weekly at home.
The whole bar at Whistler has been raised, and it's nice the greens aren't simple fireroad descents anymore (which fireroads can actually be dangerous as fuck for newbies due to the speeds available at Whistler). I think this friendliness to newbs and kids is one of the things that sets Whistler (and little baby Highland as well) apart from the more basic ski resorts who run lifts in the summer.
The place is still epic, and safer, to boot. I still haven't been there early enough to ride Top Of THe World.
Well shit...plz don't tell everyone on RM how terrible I am at bikes...I'm kind of a big deal around here
I may have seen you as well...what color is your DHR? Black or raw?
Raw with black bits everywhere
please dont tell anyone I was casing the shit out of dirt merchant : p
not Whistler nor A-line related, but our CO version of a DH jump trail is dialed in so that if you make the first few hits on each segment, and have trail speed & don't brake, you're money the whole way down.
My buddy and I managed to jump in on an A-Line run behind R-Dog (I think he was teaching a class or something) and it's insane how much pop he gets. We both felt like we were going 70% of 'fast' trail speed and he was still just casually boosting the hell out of everything. I feel like I'm just ok at jumping and it's a reminder like most other stuff how much technique can help.