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What is the riding like for people that like their wheels to be in contact with the ground?
Amazing. MTB paradise for allsorts.
There are plenty of trails in the bike park without big jumps, even most of A-line can be rolled.
Una Moss and Blue Velvet from the top of the 2nd lift are excellent!
Loads of stuff. Lost lake trail (equivalent of trail centre stuff here) are a nice warm up, then move onto the valley trails. However, if you’re not into bike park stuff, I’d say the trails down in Squamish are better than Whistler.
Hmm, define 'gnar'...in my books, gnar is not related to "wheels on the ground"...meaning it's possible to ride some very gnarly trails without tyres leaving Terra Firma.
So what, specifically, are you afraid of? 😆
I don't ride the drop in on Barry knows best.
My lad rode there when he was 10 and he was non gnar at the time.... likes to think his now “cos he’s rode Whistler”
Greens and Blues are great you could ride them all day and keep your wheels on the ground
TBH a lot of the park is so wide and smooth it’s easy to pootle down if you want
Out the park there’s a huge range of trails from OMFG that’s unridable to what a lovely day for a bit of sight seeing,
<Cough!>
I believe this may help!
Sanny (not gnarr!)
There is something in the park, and in the valley trails, for everyone. As others have said, even A-line can be rolled without leaving the ground. I'd stay away from the double-blacks, such as Goats Gully and In Deep (favourite trails of mine), but there is plenty else to keep you occupied for a week or two.
It would be fair to say that one of the favourite trails amongst our group is a green trail called Shady Acres/Del Bocca Vista. Most of the day we hit blacks and double blacks, but we always make sure we hit that trail several times a day.
The Valley trails are also amazing and, again, are suitable for all ages.
I prefer Squamish to Whistler for trail riding. It's been 10 years since I rode BKB so things might have changed but it wouldn't register as tech to most BC riders. I'm from Alberta and my riding has come on leaps and bounds since emigrating but locals leave me in awe.
As above flow trails can be done at almost any speed and there is something for everyone.
It's worth going and starting gently...
A Line can all be rolled, bar the squirrel catcher, but it shouldn't be encouraged. The bike parks blue tech trails aren't crazy gnarly and are a lot of fun on a trail/enduro bike as well as on a bike DH bike. Even black tech generally can all be rolled but are often easier if you're comfortable dropping off small rocks etc. The flow trails are all super wide but tend to be high speed and designed to be ridden as jump trails. If you want to keep your wheels on the ground you'll either be braking a lot or getting very good at sucking up the lips... The greens are a mixed bag, some are awful, wide dull affairs where as Del Boca Vista is great fun.
Out side the park the Lost Lake trails are similar to any given UK trail centre red trail. There's lots of other blue and black rated trails around the valley that don't require the wheels to come off the ground and aren't crazy technical.
The new Lord of the Squirrels alpine trail is a big old ride but a fantastic descent which any decent rider should have fun on. It's well worth doing if you're in the area in the mid summer.
Squamish has some great riding which tends to have a bit more flow than the Whistler trails while still being fun and wheels down.
There's a lot of good advice here. I'd add:
- definitely avoid Goat's Gully; and
- I'm sure you [i]can[/i] roll A-Line, but if you do, you'll probably be run down repeatedly by trains of much better people riding it properly and that is a dead waste of a lap. Just go do something else.
- Valley > Park.
- Trailforks App is amazeballs.
🙂
I'm sure you can roll A-Line, but if you do, you'll probably be run down repeatedly by trains of much better people riding it properly and that is a dead waste of a lap. Just go do something else.
I did a "slow" A line run over the summer, knackered but still fun but as said it's very hard not to get off the ground and it will normally be full of the park heros getting it nailed and the speed difference is immense. Even on some of the easier trails I felt like I was up to speed and then rode with a couple of mates who were out there and, well it was nice of them to wait 😉
The out of the park stuff was brilliant though even for the short visit I had, wish I'd have had the legs for lord of the squirrels but I was shot by then.
Double Post (cleared obviously)
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even A-line can be rolled without leaving the ground.
Erm...apart from the big drop off right at the start, which you can't roll. 😆 Besides that, nearly all the trails in the park are doable wheels down, even goats gully's not [i]that[/i] bad. and the Valley trails are nearly all rollable...
edit, this is going to turn into a humblebrag of all the people who've been to Whistler, isn't it..? 😆
Also worth bearing in mind the grading system. Slower riders have priority on blues and reds in the park but on the blacks it's up to you to get out of way of the faster riders.
There is a fairly strong argument to avoiding them if you are a wheels on the ground guy, at least when they are busy. With the park rats busting endless high speed laps in peak times, you are a moving liability & I've seen some nasty crashes as a result.
There is plenty to ride if you are arnt towards thay end of the scale though, it's a long way to go if you are struggling with features on BKB (don't even know where the drop is?). You won't get the full experience by a long way, and you will probably end up getting stressed about not being able to ride trails/features.
It is, however a great place to go. I'm already looking forward to going back next summer.
This is what I’d like to ride. ..not a rocky drop off or piece of wood work to be seen.
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^^^^^^^^ lots of that, tbh there is a lot of everything.
I don't ride the drop in on Barry knows best.
There's a drop on BNB?
This is what I’d like to ride. ..not a rocky drop off or piece of wood work to be seen.
That's the lower section of A-Line. What that doesn't show you is the 50 jumps before it of varying size, and the ~30ft table after it.
The trails in the park are divided into "flow" which tend to be like that picture, only with jumps. They can be squashed, but TBH they're well built enough that even a numpty like me can look like pretty good. And "tech" which tend to be (but not exclusively) rollable features and drop offs, rock gardens etc.
Its all designed to be ridden by "average" mountain bikers, if they understand anything at Whistler, they understand that the vast vast majority of people that go there are distinctly mediocre 😆
Start on "EZ Does It" and follow the trail progression chart - it really is superb.
Sorry slight hijack.
I am going in the summer for 2 days (part of bigger trip)
Are there any big mountain experience routes that I could take Jnr FD on (8 yrs old) ie a lift up, big views, long decent, but not overly steep or technical?
Also where is the best place to higher bikes, and what kind of cost are we looking at ?
Ta
Timely. Ive been offered a trip to Vancouver in April, within which a day at Whistler is on the cards.
Bookmarked!
Good luck, it will be mostly still be buried under a few meters of snow at that point.
In April take your skis!!
Are there any big mountain experience routes that I could take Jnr FD on (8 yrs old) ie a lift up, big views, long decent, but not overly steep or technical?
What type of riding has Jnr FD ridden at home?
There is a blue, Una Moss/ Blue Velvet from the Whistler Village Gondola that can be linked up with Blues and greens all the way back to the Village
[url= http://bike.whistlerblackcomb.com/~/media/Files-Bike-Park/Trial-Map/2017WMBPTrailMap.ashx ]Whistler Trail Map[/url]
There were plenty of rippers riding out there last summer
Yeah in April you'd be better off riding on the North Shore or heading up to Squamish.
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Haven't been for 7 years Lost Lake is a good intro as has been said , Valley Trails are ace work up to Kill Me Thrill Me , Comfortably Numb and A River Runs Through It . In the park my fave was start with B Line into Ho Chin Min Karate Pizza Cat ( or other way round ? ) into a glorious finish with Heart Of Darkness
I went two years ago for my 60th birthday.....i had 3 days guided from these guys,in and out of the park. I just gave them my brief (similar to yours OP) and they just made it happen, In a rather spectacular way, might I add.
I went two years ago for my 60th birthday.....i had 3 days guided from these guys,in and out of the park. I just gave them my brief (similar to yours OP) and they just made it happen, In a rather spectacular way, might I add.
2 big trail days, ~84km and 2000m vertical according to my strava pipiom.
Plus a day in the park with one of the boys.
I really enjoyed getting back into old school Whistler trail riding with you!
Its interesting recently how Whistler riders preferences have evolved more towards single 'enduro stages' rather than being a trail journey.
Squamish is also superb for being able to put together a multi trail adventure
I’ve got “train wreck” and all of the Frank Zappa stuff permanently embedded on my frontal lobes......how’s it hanging with you guys?
Oh, then there was “the park”
“Hi Chi Minh”was a blast
, Valley Trails are ace work up to Kill Me Thrill Me , Comfortably Numb and A River Runs Through It .
If you like slow tech with no flow. I guess they're marmite trails. I'll ride each once a summer to remind myself that there's much more fun to be on other trails 😛
What type of riding has Jnr FD ridden at home?
The only trail centre type riding is Llandegla red. He’s done a fair bit of riding on open moorland, but not used to big descents so suffered most at Llandegla from dragging the brakes/arm pump. All stuff that can be improved on before we go.
Out of the park
In the park
Lots of riding at all grades but as others have said you might have a tough time if you are nervous about some stuff
You mean the drop at the start of BNB ? the bombhole right at the start just after the road?
Seriously ?
If you dont like riding that, then maybe an early season day with Jedi would be money well spent.
It took me years to get over my horror-show day with him, and get my head around the fact I will not end up on a spinal board everytime my wheels are more than 1ft off the ground.
Double.- nah , nearly but not quite
Tables.- Yep , in daylight , dry ground, nice sight lines no problemo.
Steep and loose.- I do Ok , but put in a high speed drop and I chicken out
If you are looking at dropping £2k for a big holiday and want to get the most out of it thats what I would do.
I know there are miles of tracks that you can ride quickly 'wheels down' , but if you have the confidence / ability to leave the ground should you mess up and find yourself on a lip which pops you up and you panic ....
Jusy dont go expecting an instant gnarr fix, its a progressive teaching technique. Dont go with a hangover , or carry everything you would need for the sdw in your camalbak
As someone who was a very wheels on the ground rider when I went in 2015:
- A line is horrible if you try and squash everything. it just doesn't work as the jumps are just too big.
- Crank it up was Ok squashing/casing things
These are the "harder" bits of blue tech trails that I recall seeing people stopped at last year:
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/12360450/
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/12848801/ (IIRC this is an optional feature - but still marked as blue)
Quite a few of the blue tech trails have features that will get you airborn if you hit them at any speed.
This is a blue flow trail (has berms and jump after jump of things this size):
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/5712069/
If you think you would be reasonable at either the blue flow or the blue tech, then you would be fine as there is loads to ride. If you don't think you would be comfortable on either the blue flow or the blue tech then maybe don't make a holiday just to ride the bike park - all the greens (bar one) are terrible.
OTOH, if there is a way to get faster, it is to ride loops of the same trail in a bike park.
Maybe what I was told was BKB isn't!
bombhole is about 2o seconds in.
Ridden smoothly , but not quickly
Nope that’s not it.
We hooked up with a local and rode a trail a lot shorter than that and he said it was Barry’s.
Obviously not.
Maybe have a look on Youtube for the Lost Lake trails, Danimal, Cut Yer Bars, Highline, Farside/Riverside and some of the other blue trails on Trail Forks. Should give you an idea of what the trails on the easier end of the spectrum outside the park are like. One criticism I have of Whistler is that there's not a lot of interesting 'easy' trails. The Lost Lake blue trails are great, but if you're not confident on wood work (of any width), small rockfaces etc then they can be quite intimidating. The green trails tend to be pretty dull, smooth and wide gravel affairs. Basically not much approaching the UK blue trails that are mostly singletrack but not filled with rocks and potentially intimidating features.
You cannot roll all of A Line, the tail head is a drop off but you can ride about trail and then link into it further down.
Whatnobeer, that was an issue for me when guided there. People would head over there due to hearing that Whistler was a mecca for mtbing but not doing any research. You'd ride around the Lost Lake trails and people would already be taking their bike for a walk. I'd then be thinking "**** they are here for two weeks! Where can I take them?!". People tended to like the Flank heading south and down 27 Switchbacks. Probably not everyone's first choice for a Whistler lap but at least people got 'out there' and got to see some awesome views, good lunch spots etc.
You cannot roll all of A Line, the tail head is a drop off but you can ride about trail and then link into it further down.
If you go - Do not do this! If you're not comfortable with the small drop in you shouldn't be riding the rest of the trail. It's a fast black with some large jumps. That small drop in is a gate keeper and it's there for a reason.
Whatnobeer, that was an issue for me when guided there. People would head over there due to hearing that Whistler was a mecca for mtbing but not doing any research. You'd ride around the Lost Lake trails and people would already be taking their bike for a walk. I'd then be thinking "**** they are here for two weeks! Where can I take them?!". People tended to like the Flank heading south and down 27 Switchbacks. Probably not everyone's first choice for a Whistler lap but at least people got 'out there' and got to see some awesome views, good lunch spots etc.
Yeah, I could imagine that being the case. I know everyone has different tastes and the standard tech that makes up a lot of Whistler isn't it. At least Squamish is reasonably close with a decent selection of trails which won't scare the pants off the less confident rider.
I only really realised the lack of 'friendly but interesting' trails which I started teach my girlfriend to ride. She'll get around most of Lost Lake, which is good, but where else do I take her? She's not quite ready for Danimal so that leaves the Riverside trails in Function and Cut Yer Bars. So not a huge selection. If someone is happy to push through and accept that they might be walking a bit (or a lot) it's fine, but it definitely not for everyone.
Only in Whistler would the Aline squirrel catcher be called a small drop... I've ridden it but I was feeling very confident that day and was still shaking a bit for the next couple of jumps just from adrenaline.
I always forget about the squirrel catcher as it really isn't an issue. There's nothing to it. You could do, as many people do, and ride down Karate Monkey and pick up A-Line where you meet the fire road. Everything beyond that is rollable and the jumps are quite easy to squash.
I always forget about the squirrel catcher as it really isn't an issue. There's nothing to it.
You're right, there isn't really. It's super easy and well built. But if you're not sure you can do it....
You could do, as many people do, and ride down Karate Monkey and pick up A-Line where you meet the fire road. Everything beyond that is rollable and the jumps are quite easy to squash.
You shouldn't do this. It's there for a reason and if the small drop in isn't in your skillset you're likely to have or cause issues later down the trail. Just because it can be rolled doesnt mean it should.