[Cazzamazza]

Hi all,

Going over to the awesomeness that is Diablo at the weekend and we are taking a friend with us who has ridden some xc and did a bit of DH at MT snow years ago. Now we want to take him out on some good trails that will give him a good working over, but stay away from any that have the big juicy ladder drops and the big stuff on so that he doesnt get the hell scared out of him! Can you give us any pointers apart from the usual trails i.e OTB and the likes.

Thanks,

Callum

 

[spylab]

I would say that the whole mountain is open except for a few spots. Obviously, the drops such as Dom's Denial, Phantom Drop, Flume Drop, Road to Nowhere and Anthem Drop are well marked and all have go-arounds.

I would say BMW is off limits, since the trail is pretty gnarly for a beginner, and you have no option but to end up at Stigmata, a huge steep rock face into a runway of a ladder bridge. Utah, Deliverance and Ripper might be too rocky for beginners (walking down these trails run after run can put new riders in a sour mood).

The backside of the mountain has a world of fun. Careless Whisper, Retreat, Monarch, Tempest, Waterboy, Victory, Stalker are all really fun trails and totally do-able. I would say to start your pal with a run through OTB, Lower Dominion, Upper and Lower Breakouts, Domboo (or Alpine) and to the bottom, and gauge how he handled some of that stuff. If he sucked it all up and wants more, then take him on some of the trickier trails. It's all about the individual rider, and you want to make sure everyone is having fun, and you're not just flaunting your machismo by riding trails he isn't ready for...

 

[Cazzamazza]

Yeah I was thinking of doing the warm up run of OTB-Lower D-Upper and lower Breakout and then alpine. See how he handles all that and then move on, I dont want to take the guy way out of his depth so he never picks a DH bike up again! But give him enough to get his engine going! Cheers for the help!

 

[captainspauldin]

Took my little bro out to Diablo a couple weekends back, I took him on the upper/lower dominion/breakout, alpine loop and he was hooked on that we ended up hitting that most of the day. I took him over to tempest also and he liked that as well, but he was struggling on the rock gardens at the bottom of Tempest(waterboy maybe, not sure honestly)..

 

[jcook90]

I took my dad, who at that point had been riding mtb's for maybe 3 weeks (he started riding XC with me just to be able to DH), to diablo during the domination #2 race. He rode OTB, skipped lower dominion sometimes, upper breakout, lower breakout was kinda hard for him but he made it through w/out dabbing, then down alpine. Took him over to tempest, he was fine going down the left side of exodus (i think) and on most parts of tempest, except for the drops. The RG's after it were kinda difficult but w/e. Assuming that your friend is slightly better than my dad was, he should have no problem there.

Upper dominion's fun too if you get bored of OTB

 

[Rob Munro]

definitely get him over to the left side of the mountain a few times. stay hard left on Exodus after the lift. just to see Road to Nowhere, Anthem Drop, Careless Whisper, Tempest, even if it is way beyond his comfort level. It may get him pumped up to keep coming back. half the fun of riding a new place is the "holy s---" factor. unfortunately the biggest "holy s---" factor in the park, stigmata, is one he really won't be able to get to.

 

[bobushka king]

definitely get him over to the left side of the mountain a few times. stay hard left on Exodus after the lift. just to see Road to Nowhere, Anthem Drop, Careless Whisper, Tempest, even if it is way beyond his comfort level. It may get him pumped up to keep coming back. half the fun of riding a new place is the "holy s---" factor. unfortunately the biggest "holy s---" factor in the park, stigmata, is one he really won't be able to get to.

Take Stalker, that runs right next to Stigmata and if your lucky you might catch someone barreling down it. Seeing someone fly down Stigmata right onto that bridge and hop into the rock garden is quite the sight.

As far as trails go, as long as you stay off of double black diamond trails (besides the dominions) they should be fine. Deliverence, Morning Wood, Evil Bob, and The Jack can get a little frustrating for a first time rider so I would stay off them.... well unless they like the rocks.

 

[Cazzamazza]

Cheers guys!

 

[mtb1989]

the scariest trail by far is stigmata on a rainy day. the rock face is not so bad but the ladderbridge at the bottom is a powerslide heaven and there is absolutely no use in using your brakes because they wont do anything!

 

[Timekiller]

the scariest trail by far is stigmata on a rainy day. the rock face is not so bad but the ladderbridge at the bottom is a powerslide heaven and there is absolutely no use in using your brakes because they wont do anything!

F that!

 

[mtb1989]

F that!

you gotta try it at least once... it makes you feel godly when your done...

 

[jrbbikerx]

alpine alpine alpine - and the majority of the left side of the mountain

 

[DownhillR3]

you gotta try it at least once... it makes you feel godly when your done...

Unforunately, I had found Stigmata last year for my first time on a rainy day. Sketchier then anything but I knew then in the dry it had to be sick.

 

[PCinSC]

Beginner here, spent a weekend at Diablo earlier this summer. I second the trails everyone else said. My buddies and I spent most of our time on Upper/Lower Dominion, Upper/Lower Breakout and Alpine. OTB is alright, but might as well get used to riding the jumps on Dominion. I tried Domboo once, Alpine is way better and not any more difficult.

Tempest was fun, getting to and from it there are more difficult trails though. I walked through a short rocky section (no, I'm not ashamed to say it) on one of the trails (Legion, maybe?) after Tempest.

My skill level increased dramatically over the course of the weekend, even from one run to the next. I'm sure anyone who's a decent rider and is willing try new things will progress similarly and have a great time in the process.

 

[mtb1989]

tempest to waterboy to victory... now that they took that pain in the ass section out of waterboy after the bridge it runs incredibly smooth and fast. the beggining of waterboy might be a little challenging but you can always wank that... its only like 25 feet of rocks that can be annoying if you dont have a downhill bike.

 

[mtb1989]

but you can always wank that

lmao... i meant walk that

 

[Cazzamazza]

We are going to take it easy and show him about the single diamond trails after a few runs on the warm up stuff. See how it goes from there for him, We will all be on DH bikes so its all good. Keep an eye out for me the angry Scotsman in a camo raceface jersey and spiked full facer and give me a shout if any of you guys are around on Saturday!