Seeking Whistler advice....

I've looked around and I'm probably missing something but I can't find much *specific trail advice* regarding riding in Whistler.

Who has been there and what were some of your favorite trails? Due to our group falling apart thanks to heart attacks and now lyme disease, I'll actually be riding solo 2-3 days as well. Probably looking to stick to XC type stuff closer to the village on those days but may do the park one day to stay with the masses and create better odds to keep from being eaten by a bear or run down by a moose.

Right now we have plans to ride the park 2 days, 2 days in Squamish, Top of the World and Lord of the Squirrels so we have several wide open days that we need to account for and get in some decent rides.

 

When are you going? I'm part of a group going July 25-28. Our plan is 2 days in the park and 2 in Squamish. The only Whistler veteran in our group just got injured. He's still going, but won't ride.

Sorry I don't have any good intel on Whistler other than we want to ride Lord of the Squirrels too. I've been looking on Trailforks and watching lots of videos. But as we know videos and reality can sometimes be quite different.

Here's my personal "want to do" trail list.

Lord of the Squirrels
A Rockwork Orange
A River Runs Through It
Dark Crystal
Comfortably Numb

 

Headed up the 14th and will ride in Ashland and Tiger Mtn (Seattle) on the way, pulling into Whistler on the 16th or 17th. I’ll be there until the 27th. The guy that will be with me the 22-27 has ridden Squamish and done the park....he hasn’t done Top of the World or slots of the Squirrels (we’re doing it on the 26th)

I may ride up Comfortably Numb solo one day until I decide I’ve had enough

 

Those sound like off-mountain trails. I've heard about and seen footage of the surrounding non-bike-park trails and they look phenomenal - and really, really challenging. I am jealous. I have July off, but my wife doesn't want to do a mtb related trip. She's looking at prices to Hawaii. My friend just offered us free lodging in their new custom home in Bend. But I digress...

Best wishes on your trip. Buy Canadian Health insurance before you go.

 

I've never been myself but just came across this on Pinkbike.

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/destination-showcase-whistler-bc-the-perfect-4-day-itinerary.html

 

I saw that and we're looking into that heli-drop trip but I can't get the company to answer their phone or emails to get pricing or find out when they have an opening.

 

Any recommendations on acquiring Canadian health insurance coverage for the trip?

How about coverage for a lost or stolen bike? I just stopped by AAA asking about coverage for the bike. They only cover $1k for luggage. When I told them how much I needed for bike coverage I got the usual "for a bike?" Haha

 

I checked and I'm covered with our current health (Blue Cross PPO) and regular insurance. If you have homeowners insurance with a "major" company, you should be fine for theft. I've had a bike, skis and snowboard stolen on past trips (not in Canada) with Farmers and was covered. I now have Liberty Mutual and I'm totally covered in Canada...minus my standard deductible.

Any chance anybody in your group might be interested in the trip with Blackcomb Helicopters in the link by UPSed up above? My buddy and I are looking to do it but it's $675 to charter the helicopter for the shuttle drop but that's for up to (5) riders so we have (3) spots left. Obviously, that would be $135 pp if we had (5) riders. Not cheap but a once in a lifetime experience for many.

 

mtbking shuttle via helicopter... man that's sounds incredible... I'm all for it.. wish I was there to jump on..
But that's like riding an ebike!! (just kidding... totally wishing I was riding there....

 

Thanks for the info on insurance.

We talked about the helicopter shuttle as an option, but decided we didn't have enough time for it.

 

whistler.... moab... stop calling me!!!!!!
gonna have to floop it post work....

 

I am reasonably certain a Canadian clinic will not take your Blue Cross PPO. I tried. The second time I went up there, I had a Canadian policy I bought for $50. It came in handy. My X-Rays were $80. Problem is, I think there was a $100 deductible. Luckily, I didn't need service beyond the X-Rays.

 

Comfortably Numb is one of my favorite trails anywhere. Never-ending techy twisty rock riding at its best. It's like a more technical version of Gooseberry, in the trees. It rides better north to south, but looks like there is a newer trail now that climbs up from the south that could make the south to north direction more accessible.

The Lost Lake trails are fun for xc, as are some of the trails on the west side of the highway. River Runs Through it used to be really hard, part because the skinnies were legit skinnies and part because half of them were falling apart. I'm sure it's been rebuilt by now if it's only rated blue.

Just remember blue trails up there are probably harder than black trails down here. Expect everything to be harder. You should be able to watch youtube vids of most of the trails. Definitely a good idea for any rides you're considering outside the bike park so you know what you're getting yourself into without burning half a day to find out it wasn't fun. In the park, everything points downhill so if you don't like it, the trail will be over in 2 minutes and you can ride something else next lap.

I'd definitely rent a proper downhill bike for at least one of the bike park days. That doesn't mean you need to hit all the steepest hardest trails. More travel will leave you less beat up at the end of the day, which means you'll have more fun the following days. Your arms and hands will take a beating after a bunch of runs. Start with blues like B-line and Crank it up etc., then move to blacks once you are comfortable. Ride the park on week days if possible, it'll be busy but less busy than weekend days. It will also be less busy certain times of day lunchtime, late afternoon and extended hours so those can be better times to ride trails like A-line so you don't have as many bros trying to run you off the trail.

 

Just did a four day stint there...first ever...it was mind blowing! Gotta second the advice on starting with the blues...Bline is great to get used to the rental DH bike (definitely get for the brake bumps if nothing else), and has lots of little options to get a bit of air. Crank it up next, and/or some blue tech trails. Blue velvet is astoundingly fun. I think probably Freight Train is my favorite overall. Worked up to clearing most of the jumps on A line (as well as the drop) by the third day. Techs like drop in clinic are ridiculous as well. Hit Schleyer and Clown shoes my last run of the last day, and I think those are my faves now. (Ran into Seth from Seth’s Bike Hacks on schleyer).

I’ve heard really good things about the flow on several of the new Creekside trails, but didn’t get a chance to try them, since it rained two of the days there, and that zone is allegedly not fantastic in the wet.

A cool trick when lift lines are long...take the gondola instead. They load bikes in separate line from pedestrians, and it goes quite fast. You can get out at Fitzsimmons zone or higher up at the top of Una Moss (also at the connector to the peak lift)

Did some trail rides each of the three mornings before lifts. First I did Yummy Numby to Foreplay descent (descent for comfortably numb) and back on the Lost Lake blues. Really fun tech stuff with some mild rock face rolls.

Second morning I rode up to Microclimate and back down. Mistake in the rain, turns out. Sloppy rootfest down fall lines.

Third morning I rode over to the Cut Yer Bars area and messed around there. There are some really good and kinda scary, but doable rolls there (also some unsanctioned freeride stuff).

Planning to go back up in early August for another four day jaunt, and definitely hoping to get in some more valley trails (like Green Monster, Rockwork Orange and Wizard, maybe some Squamish trails as well.)

Whitesnake2 has some great YouTube videos which go over lines to take on some of the Whistler tech trails.

BCPOV on YouTube has most of the valley trails on his channel.

Canada is amazeballs!

 

When are you gonna ride Tiger? That’s my home trail.

 

Sounds like you are a very accomplished rider. Clearing all the jumps and the drop on A-Line, then hitting all of the harder stuff and the off-mountain stuff is no joke (including No Joke). Thanks for posting!

 

Herz.. i always wanted to go whistler but if i cant clear car wreck.. will the bike park even be worth it?

I can clear all but that last drop b4 rt turn..
Everything else ok..mentally sens too

 

Maybe tomorrow? We’re on the Ashland shuttle right now. We also may go to Bellingham instead depending on how tired we feel on the drive north from Ashland.

I had never even heard of Tiger until you posted about it on here. It looks great, just worried about all our stuff at the trailhead while we ride. In Bellingham, we can park right at the Mister Lost shop

 

Maybe @Cisco Roots has a solution for that? I've had my truck ransacked at a trail head and it's not a joke.

 

Unfortunately the Tiger lot has a bad rep for break ins. I usually park as close as possible in the lot where the car can be seen from the main road and I never have issues. I’d be totally down to ride with you guys but I can’t tomorrow unfortunately. Just did two days in Bellingham and had a blast. If you like jumps, head to Galbraith. If you like steep tech w natural features hit Chuckanut. Galbraith is your best bet for most variety though. PM with your info. I’d be happy to help with what or how I can.

 

Thanks man...working on progressing as much as I can. I can’t clear all the jumps on A line...a couple of the lippier ones, the really long one, and the step up at the end are still outside of my comfort zone. The drop was intimidating, so I stayed off to the side and watched a bunch of riders do it. After seeing some 10-12 year olds doing it with little effort, decided to go for it. Feels very smooth and not bad at all when you commit. Working your way up on the drops in the Joyride Skills Park (in the middle of Crank it Up) really sets you up for it.

The weird part is doing the jumping on an undersized rental bike...I’m 7feet and was riding an XXL Santa Cruz V10, looking like a bear on a BMX bike

 

I haven’t done car wreck, by Whistler is phenomenal for how progressive everything is. Most features there can be rolled. I think even the drop on A line can be rolled if you pick the right line (I would verify that before testing!). Whistler moved toward that model a while back, and it is getting great reviews from newer riders up to expert.

The blues are all ridiculously fun, and are great for anyone with low intermediate up to expert skills. Even blacks like Freight Train are almost completely rollable.

Honestly, for me (and jumping on a tiny rental Bike at Whistler is wonky at best vs my XXXL DH Bike at Summit) everything I rode at Whistler felt way safer than Snow Summit jumps and tech, but with the ability to go REALLY big on much of it if you so desire.

I think my skills progressed pretty significantly riding there, even though I was only there four days.

They have tons of phenomenal tech trails as well, if jump lines are not your cup of tea, ranging from green to double black.

 

I just got back on Tuesday from a 7 day trip. For new people, I would definitely suggest starting on greens or blues. Something like Crank it Up or Del Boca Vista are good to get your feet wet. I talked with some friends and I don't think LOTS is open yet due to snow pack.

 

Welcome back, Joe! Was wondering where'd you'd gone off to..

 

Great post. We only did one Park run after coming off Top of the World and I was slightly concerned going in because I expected to overwhelmed. As I mentioned in my other post, Whistler's park is so well designed and maintained that is wasn't an issue. We hit "black" trails all the way down and had a blast. Sure, there were a few....very few....features that I wussed out on but when I don't know what's on the other side of certain objects, I err on the side of caution. Most I went back and rolled them and a couple I walked. 99.5% rideable though and I wasn't on a DH bike. My Tracer did awesome.

Going back out tomorrow and going to ride my Tracer out of the Creekside area. I have a 20128 Santa Cruz V10 reserved for Monday which will be my pst day ever on a DH bike.

 

There's very few 'mandatory' lines that are difficult in the park IMO. Like you said, most everything can be rolled. I think that's one of my favorite parts about it is how well you can grow. You can cruise down a black line and roll or go around pretty much every feature, and for faster people or when you progress, there are harder/bigger lines and ways to double/triple features or go big on the same trails. It's rad.

 

Ah man. Just super busy. Wife and I have been under a major addition/renovation on our house for the last 6 months. Haven't really had my computer or anything set up and busy entertaining two little kids in about 300 sq ft of space. Finally getting around to finishing it and starting to enjoy.