So how does the downhill course at showshoe compare to the others across the nation? out of a 10 point scale, with the beeing the hardest, what would you rate it?
preciate it...
preciate it...
snowshoe....
- Thread starter motomike
- Start date
Last year's course was a honest 5 IMO compared to say.... the pro/expert course at Mammoth. I'd rank the trails at Bootleg, the good trails near Sandia in Alb., and Trail 1 at Windrock up at the top as well.
last year? With the mud it was darned near impossible. Not hard, just frustrating.
Without the mud, i would give it a 2, at best. The older course however, would easily be a 6.
Mount snow would get a 5. Crystal mountain would get a 6.
This would be based on a 1-10 scale, with Ste Anne's old WC course being a 10
Without the mud, i would give it a 2, at best. The older course however, would easily be a 6.
Mount snow would get a 5. Crystal mountain would get a 6.
This would be based on a 1-10 scale, with Ste Anne's old WC course being a 10
I had a terrible time at Snowshoe last summer. I flatted in qualifying and I double flatted in finals. With the mud it was, like Transcend said, very frustrating. It would be a great course if it dried out a little. I'd give it a 5. All the mud and roots dosen't really compare to rocks and dust.
Snowshoe sucks in the mud. The course last year was in horrible shape because it had just been cut prior to the Norba race. After a bit of work...namely to the steep off-camber drop-in on the bottom half...and a bit of drying out, the course is much better. When dry, it's pretty fast. The August date is wonderful this year, because it's normally dry(er) in late summer.
It is a lame flat course, nothing will solve that. Mud or not.
Fraser, I hear ya on this one, but hear me out for a sec........Transcend said:
That course was laid out, cut, and taped off without any input from the racers among us that live up here. It was cut only weeks prior to the national against several peoples advice and didn't have a chance to get "ridden" in. The riders weren't asked for input and suggestions weren't taken prior to the national. Your right though, it was flat and just lame! It really set back the image of where we are trying to go with our mtb program. This course was cut without the input of the real riders/racers, but it won't happen again....trust me here.
For our September race, we totally re-routed a large portion of the course. We, meaning myself and a semi-pro (now pro), racer laid this course out and added in several drops from the old course. We also put in a high speed wooded section and re-routed the entire finish just after the long off-camber section so that it now finished in the same bit of trail as the years previous courses. We added a huge hip jump on that flat section of ski slope between the top and bottom section. With just a little bit of time and effort, the entire course changed it's feel and fun factor..........just ask the folks on here that were at the September race.
For the nationals, we will likely use the course described above, with even more improvements........jumps, rock gardens, typical West Virginia gnar you guys were hoping for last year. I apologize for that mess of a course last year, it won't happen again because the right people are now in place to make a difference. With the national being moved to August and a lot of attention being paid to building the highest caliber pro/expert course, good things can only come of it.
Last years course was just a step in the wrong direction, but changes have been made in all facets since. Hang tight with us, don't lose faith in Snowshoe, and hope to see you all back for this years national.
Ya, I know the story about snowshoe last year. It is a shame, as the year before that course scared most riders ****less (including me)....EXACTLY what a national should do.
To be quite honest, if the race was at the same time, i would definetly not attend. With the new dates I may attend, but to be honest, the idea of racing on that course, even with additions, is just not sitting well.
I mean, what 300+ yards of it was a flat jaunt through the woods and the "rock gardens" were almost as bad as that sea otter thing before the tree jump.
To be quite honest, if the race was at the same time, i would definetly not attend. With the new dates I may attend, but to be honest, the idea of racing on that course, even with additions, is just not sitting well.
I mean, what 300+ yards of it was a flat jaunt through the woods and the "rock gardens" were almost as bad as that sea otter thing before the tree jump.
Oh, forgot to mention this in the last message...
We will be building a lot more dh race style trails in that area for this summer. From the countless hours I have spent in the woods in that area scouting, visualizing, marking and mentally laying out trials you all won't be dissappointed in what we have up our sleeves. I have personally walked potential trials that rival any of the mythical east coast dh race courses in terms of technicality, steepness, and sheer rockiness. It's all stuff I want to incorporate into a truly epic dh trial for the summer and you may see it end up in future race courses! Like I said above, don't give up hope and come back this summer to check out what we are doing and where we are going.
Oh, don't forget, we are always looking for rider input.........both critical and praise, but nobody here is looking to be slammed or flamed for mistakes.
We will be building a lot more dh race style trails in that area for this summer. From the countless hours I have spent in the woods in that area scouting, visualizing, marking and mentally laying out trials you all won't be dissappointed in what we have up our sleeves. I have personally walked potential trials that rival any of the mythical east coast dh race courses in terms of technicality, steepness, and sheer rockiness. It's all stuff I want to incorporate into a truly epic dh trial for the summer and you may see it end up in future race courses! Like I said above, don't give up hope and come back this summer to check out what we are doing and where we are going.
Oh, don't forget, we are always looking for rider input.........both critical and praise, but nobody here is looking to be slammed or flamed for mistakes.
Again, I totally agree with you. It's a shame at what happened, but it won't happen again because that mistake by a certain individual proved to be the final straw.Transcend said:
That flat section is now completely gone. The new section is located to the riders right of the previous years national course. In fact, the relocated part uses a few sections of the old course. It spits out to cross the slope just below where the old one did and leaves you an open slope high speed section which we are hoping to build some nice tables and doubles on leading into the hip jump we have now.
Trust me, the new course was designed and laid out by two riders/racers that have been around for a long time (myself and my roomate), seen a lot of both excellent and pitiful courses, and vow to make up for the poor excuse of a dh race course that last year was.
you guys are awesome. That sounds like a lot of hard work. hopefully it will all be paid back to you when you see/hear good feedback this summer. Hey, BTW, when does Snowshoe open to MTB riding?
Dude, you have no idea how many hours we (meaning the three or four of us that started this) have put into the mtb program. It's all been volunteer work to boot, we all work here for a real job albeit in a vastly different position, but have taken it upon ourselves to make the bike program into what it is today on our own personal time. The benefit is not only gaining a awesome network of trails, but the bigger part is getting to expose newbies to the dh scene and watching people enjoy the fruits of your labor.motomike said:
Oh, for what its worth, opening weekend is Memorial Day W/E......last bit of May. See you this summer!
amen brotha
I think Fraser was one of those 'lost souls" standing at the gates of hell I saw at the start of my race. I got to the start and thought I was waaaay down on my self. I took one look at alll the gloom...and instantly knew my chances had gotten a lot better. i actually got excited knowing so many people were way worse than me that day....HAHAHAHH. Now...if only I hadn't quit again about halfway through that flat section.
Fraser, I talked to a lot of guys around here who went to the September race. They said it was nothing like the one from the National. Birng your "tang" and get muddy.
Fraser, I talked to a lot of guys around here who went to the September race. They said it was nothing like the one from the National. Birng your "tang" and get muddy.
Hulkamaniac said:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :nuts:
The US Open or Opening weekend at Snowshoe???????
Yep, I struggled with this last year as well. Given my position with the program, it's obvious where I was and will most likely be again this year. We're trying our best to persuade an earlier opening date into the powers that be, but until we can show a spike in business they won't budge.profro said:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :nuts:
The US Open or Opening weekend at Snowshoe???????
If they are worried about business then push it back 1 week. More people will show up and that is 1 less week of operating cost.Hulkamaniac said:
Thanks for all of your hard work for Snowshoe, Hulkamaniac. It's a really important place for those of us who live in or near D.C. as we don't have many DH options. I look forward to Nationals in August, and hope to see you on Memorial Day Weekend (although the U.S. Open is tempting me, as well.)
Oh, don't forget, we are always looking for rider input.........
If you build it, I will come..........
If you build it, I will come..........
I have not been there yet, but I am going to make it this year!
im definitly looking foward to going there agian for what should be a much better race this time. Last year was my first time there and you could totally tell the place has some awesome terrain, just the course barley showed it. There were some really good sections but only for a couple hundred feet. That first rock drop into the offcamber choppy stuff was super fun, and that section after the TOTALLY flat straight fire road that you take a right off of was a blast, really fast and you went uphill a bit but with tons of speed which was cool. The very end was a nice section but not for the end of a course, would have been great if it was in the middle somewhere.
Im trying not to get my hopes up for this year considering how bad it was last, but from seeing the possibilities with that terrain i am quite excited!
Im trying not to get my hopes up for this year considering how bad it was last, but from seeing the possibilities with that terrain i am quite excited!
hrm...new trails eh?
Hopefully I won't get another speeding ticket like I did coming there last year.
Hopefully I won't get another speeding ticket like I did coming there last year.
I'll second Hulka's comments...
If you remember me Profro, you stayed above us at Mountain Crest, I was just as frustrated with the Norba course as you guys. The freshly laid out course for the September race totally erased that bad experience. It was the first race I've ever done where I didn't care how I finished I just had so much damned fun riding it!!! While it was not overly technical it was maxed out on the fun meter. It's my hope that Trevyn and Jeremy continue to lay out the course. Trevyn has a wonderful sense of flow and is an expert trail designer and I've made that very clear to Bob Coontz who is in charge of events. I hope to see you guys back up there in August (sooner if possible) to check out what's new.
Mike Dart
If you remember me Profro, you stayed above us at Mountain Crest, I was just as frustrated with the Norba course as you guys. The freshly laid out course for the September race totally erased that bad experience. It was the first race I've ever done where I didn't care how I finished I just had so much damned fun riding it!!! While it was not overly technical it was maxed out on the fun meter. It's my hope that Trevyn and Jeremy continue to lay out the course. Trevyn has a wonderful sense of flow and is an expert trail designer and I've made that very clear to Bob Coontz who is in charge of events. I hope to see you guys back up there in August (sooner if possible) to check out what's new.
Mike Dart