Bearback Biking ?

Reading the article accommodation prices seem eye watering now

Whistler's always been expensive though, nothing new there.

I wonder how Bike bums afford Whistler now ?

You go to Squamish and ride there,  or Function or Creekside and ride up.

Nick agreed, developing Creekside will have helped, Squamish and Pemby have just as good riding as well.

Yeah the lift at Creekside (now that it's open again) is pretty nice, and they developing more and more trails over there, you can get all the benefits of Whistler, and at least your first lift of the day is queue free. Plus it's quieter (if you want that) and "a bit" cheaper.

Stayed with both T2R and Bearback and as a single traveller they were great. Good mix of people and rarely rode on my own. Last time I enquired (2016?) Bearback said AirBnB made it impossible to get a season long lease on a big enough property impossible, as the owner could make so much money doing short rentals. That’s when they shifted to just guiding. I suppose return visitors knew the park and didn’t need guiding and with the rise of Trailforks, the valley trails were a lot easier to navigate without a guide.
Vail takeover made the place even more corporate as well but the payoff is pretty huge development happening.

For non lift accessed riding, Squamish is better, cheaper and more of a locals scene.

@bearback should know

I haven't found whistler too expensive - more pricey than it used to be but thats the same across the whole travel industry. I think we did a flat that slept 3 for ~£150 a night the year before last

Johnny is not bearbacked he is bushpilotbiking.com . The man sells dreams

I still exist, although I have not been doing the Bush Pilot program for some time.  I am, however, available for private guiding as the situation presents itself.

Let me know.

Smoke@bushpilotbiking.com

Thanks for the tire pressure, Tony!

Knowing how amateur  some guiding operations are, I'd hire Smoke (again) over many as I know how much work / wilderness first aid etc has put into his guiding over the years.

By comparison I was a qualified guide and I wouldn't hire me in a million years 😀

I don't think there is much of a 'dirtbag' scene any more. MTB is too trendy / cool. Businesses are aimed towards affluent people for good or bad. 'Vanlife' is getting more and more frowned upon due to the mess and conflict it creates (which really sucks for genuine homeless people). Walmart in Squamish has finally closed it's night time parking as it was turning into a bit of a farce. Overnight vehicle camping is banned within Squamish boundaries. Which really just leaves expensive AirBnBs and one or two hotels.

The T2R and Bearback model simply cant work anymore.
Tourism Whistler's success in marketing the resort as a summer destination, Vails buy in etc made it a desirable summer destination, not just a ski town with relatively undiscovered bike trails.
So, investors came in and quite rapidly destroyed the property inventory.

We started in a properly tourist zoned 4 bedroom chalet with an attached staff suite that we paid 1/6th of the equivalent winter season rent. This was essentially the annual property tax lability for these owners.. they just wanted something rather than it sitting empty.

As we grew we ended up in the Altavista, an 11 bed chalet with attached staff accom. The owners of almost 20 years were presented with an offer that let them get their money out, they took it then the Altavista chalet was renovated.
Commercial mortgages also were a challenge so it needed to be venture capital money.
The same new owners as those who also bought T2R's property. They also bought 2 other tourist zoned B&B pensions.
Of the 4 remaining, 2 were turned into private homes and the other 2 managed by their owners as airbnb.
Unfortunately, the specific zoning needed to operate a property in the way BBB and T2R did, was circumvented by Airbnb/nightly direct rentals that did not meet the zoning requirements but the municipality wasn't enforcing, so the owners were able to turn over similar revenue with significantly reduced occupancy.. less occupancy, less wear and tear, better for owners.
This issue still exists. The catered concept is dead.

Guiding wise, corrections in the insurance risk assessment from the underwriters doubled premiums overnight.
Now you need to do much bigger volume to cover those overheads. This typically now sees guiding outfits moving into the kids camp and rider development program space rather than daily guiding. Day guides still exist but I don't know any that don't have a primary job that pays the bills.

I wouldn't change my experience with BBB from 2005 till we sold in 2020..well, in hindsight we should've charged more from the start and perhaps we'd have been positioned to buy the Altavista and be cashing the $4000/night airbnb cheques by now 😉

I'd love another trip to Whistler before I'm too old and knackered to really enjoy it. Nothing in Europe compares to Dirt Merchant and A-Line.

Every time I price it up it makes no sense whatsoever.

Nothing in Europe compares to Dirt Merchant and A-Line.

Eh? Flowy jump trails seem 10-a-penny at most Euro ski resorts based on the crap Google dumps into my YouTube feed...

<p style="text-align: left;">Thanks for that explanation Bearback ( Johnny ? ) Confirms what I thought and joined the dots . With hindsight I was so lucky getting a season there with Peter at T2R never going to happen again by the sounds of it . So I guess people coming out for the whole season and getting jobs to supplement that is long gone ?</p>

Sounds like an interesting article. Where is it?

Eh? Flowy jump trails seem 10-a-penny at most Euro ski resorts based on the crap Google dumps into my YouTube feed…

There's a huge difference between the euro, trail centre style lumps and bumps littered all over the Alps and the scooped out super booters that they build in Whistler. It's like riding dirt jumps at full speed on a big bike and it's amazing.

The jump trails are coming on a bit now but it's bloody slow going considering I first went to Whistler in 2005 and experienced riding what is basically a mountain bike supercross track.

Plus you've got the steepest, jankiest, gnarly DH trails all on the same mountain.

Yes I'd love another trip but it's hard to put together an affordable package when all your mates are locked down with marriage and kids.

I stayed with Bearback with my lad in 2016, had a fantastic week and always planned to go back before I’m too old and useless (54 now). Such a shame it’s gone.

@sharkattack

I know what you mean about A-line and Dirt Merchant, so well built. Hot Shots in Leogang is along the same lines, I think the jumps are a bit bigger though than A-Line.

Went with T2R in 2006 for a couple of weeks and had a great time.  Went back in 2018 and stayed for 3 weeks at the Aava Whistler Hotel with room only. Sometimes grabbed breakfast in Whistler or waited for lunch then plenty of places to eat in Whistler at night. Must admit if something like T2R was available I would have gone to them.

I Rode in Whistler bike park and around the area using Trailforks which is brilliant and most trails are on YouTube that you can see what they are like before riding them.