SILVER STAR thread

PB Forum :: Canada - West
SILVER STAR thread
Author Message
flag taskmgr
Posted: Aug 25, 2014 at 18:34 Quote
gramboh wrote:
Did two days at Silver Star this past Friday and Sunday and had a blast. I'm an intermediate rider and started with all the blues and eventually worked up to Rock Star (rolled some jumps and skipped the big ramps) and Double Dog (did maybe half the stunts). Wanted to try World Cup on Sunday but ran out of time with the lightning holds on the lift.

Had an absolute blast and will definitely be coming back next summer. Much more mellow and laid back vibe than Whistler while having a great variety of nice long runs with barely any lift lines. Trails were in good shape, but I drank the marketing kool-aid a bit too much and was expecting everything to be super buff and there are definitely brake bumps and some blown out berms but it's not as bad as Whistler by any means. Railing berm after berm was one of the highlights, never ridden trails laid out so well before that even an intermediate can get the feeling of popping from one to the next and keeping the speed up.

The only negative (besides the lightning holds) was that the rental shop gave my wife (never ridden an MTB before, 135lbs) an XC rig with a shit fork that was stiffer than my yellow spring Fox 36 Van. She still had a great time on the XC trails and one of our friends swapped her onto her Giant Reign which made a huge difference.
whis vs ss is night and day this time of year and with how little moisture we're getting. If you ride silverstar and whistler back to back, silverstar will always be in way better shape. Just have to learn to get used to the brake bumps. they are fun and make life more challenging
flag gnarbar
Posted: Aug 26, 2014 at 7:47 Quote
8" suspension
+ brake bumps
= man the F up

FAKT

mountain bikers are slowly becoming soft whiny Endurofied spoiled pussies who will complain about anything and everything

if you get lady hands on the smooth trails, go ride Flow consistently, all day, non stop, no break til the chairlift, until your hands drop off in a bloody pulpy mess. then go back to riding the smooth trails. they'll feel awesome and smooth like a 6 month old Minion 3C
flag vernonjeff
Posted: Aug 26, 2014 at 8:02 Quote
gnarbar wrote:
8" suspension + brake bumps = man the F up

FAKT

mountain bikers are slowly becoming soft whiny Endurofied spoiled pussies who will complain about anything and everything

if you get lady hands on the smooth trails, go ride Flow consistently, all day, non stop, no break, until your hands drop off in a bloody pulpy mess. then go back to riding the smooth trails. they'll feel awesome and smith like a 6 month old Minion 3C

i notice that they hacked away at the drop on downtown again. widened it and made it non existent. it was the one features on that trail that you thought about all the way down. removing that kind of wrecked that trail. I hate to criticise SS but it is getting smaller as sun peaks and whistler are getting bigger. it is getting a rep for being a beginners hill which if that is what we are looking for... well. the blue 'jedi mind trick' is now bigger than 'rock star' what do we really have for solid black runs now? we have a couple of good doubles with pipe dream, gnar, downtown and dawgs but as i watch more people walk around the gate keepers (if they are there) im pretty sure they will start to water these down further. I am making these comments as someone who has had a seasons pass for 5 years straight now and am considering not next year. the vision of SS is starting to confuse me a little. i love SS so i am hoping that it is DH and that thought to the future hasn't gone else where.

As far as brake bumps go 'learn to work your suspension' or switch to the tech stuff like the rest of us at the end of the season. im typing this as my fingers are numb from riding yesterday and getting my 14 runs in.
flag gnarbar
Posted: Aug 26, 2014 at 14:35 Quote
Jeff I totally agree on your comments about the direction it's going. Roots hacked out etc.
flag it-is-what-it-is
Posted: Aug 26, 2014 at 21:44 Quote
by the "drop on downtown" do you mean the left hand switchback corner that was really steep part way down through the trees?

I hadn't ridden downtown for a couple years, and this year I did it and it seemed easier than I remember. I thought I was just a better rider, but some of the steeper bits have been changed?
flag gnarbar
Posted: Aug 27, 2014 at 7:25 Quote
DT, the sketched out haggard root drop onto the road that took out plenty of riders

now a soft challengeless reroute
flag thereisnospoon
Posted: Aug 27, 2014 at 8:23 Quote
I've noticed the same on Rock Star and Double Dog over the last couple of years. stunts taken out and features dumbed down. possibly an effort to make the hill more noob friendly to increase traffic? insurance reasons?
flag vernonjeff
Posted: Aug 27, 2014 at 9:17 Quote
hey guys. i didnt mean to turn this into an anti-silverstar thread. i hope we dont turn it into that. the trail crew does a great job up there. i just wanted to make sure that my concerns where being heard. I am a heavy user of SS and wouldnt know what to do with myself in the summer if it wasnt there. I am just hoping that the hill is not forgetting about the heavy users and are growing with us instead of just moving on.
flag shredb4dead
Posted: Aug 27, 2014 at 11:14 Quote
I have a feeling directive from management is to dumb it down, make it safer and more sustainable.
No one will say that and it will be denied if you ask out right.
But I'm pretty sure that is the end game.
I've been dealing with corporate entities long enough to know exactly how things work.
It's always about the costs vs. profits.
Dumb it down a little= more noobs out. (Aka more money on hill)
Dumb it down a little= less risk on trails (save on insurance costs)
Dumb it down a little=make things more sustainable=less man hours thrown at fixing trail=save on equipment costs.
It's a business, don't kid yourself.

Silver Star doesn't make make a lot of money on us season pass tailgate people.
We go up ride for free after 10-11 days in.
We also do 7-14 laps a day.
That means more wear and tear on the trails.
Which means more man hours and equipment costs fixing.
They know this.
That's why when things get haggard at any bike park towards the end of the season they tend to stay that way.
Trail crews care and want to make things as great as possible but they have budgets they have to work within.
They can only do so much.
It's defiantly not the trail crews fault.

We pass holders cost Silver Star more money to operate.
And the only way to offset that cost is to raise season pass prices which I see happening within the next two years.
It's a fine line though.
Raise the season pass price too high and we turn our backs on the activity.
Like I have with Skiing and Golf.
However, does the business care?
Sort of, but not really.
If the business does just enough to attract a new person plus one or two more who cares about me?
Not many.
Never over estimate your own importance being a seasons pass holder.
I don't.
I will be replaced by the next guy paying full pop and the people in charge know this.

Anyway, this probably is nothing new to anyone who gets it.
Bottom line is this.
Catering to the newer rider who is going up, buying his/her day pass, using the trails as little as possible and spending his/her money in the two restaurants open is where profits are maximized.
That will always be the most important person on the hill.
Trails will be built and reworked for them.
Not us high usage pass holders complaining about changes.
Just enough will be done for us.

I'm not hating on Silver Star at all.
I'm glad to have it.
It's just business kids.

Please commence your regularly scheduled program.
flag nato
Posted: Aug 27, 2014 at 17:51 Quote
thereisnospoon wrote:
I've noticed the same on Rock Star and Double Dog over the last couple of years. stunts taken out and features dumbed down. possibly an effort to make the hill more noob friendly to increase traffic? insurance reasons?
Just cause a line is dumbed down doesn't mean you have the to take the easiest route.
You can add fun to any trail by looking for more challenging lines, angles, transitions, etc.
The ride is what you make of it.
flag taskmgr
Posted: Aug 27, 2014 at 19:01 Quote
nato wrote:
thereisnospoon wrote:
I've noticed the same on Rock Star and Double Dog over the last couple of years. stunts taken out and features dumbed down. possibly an effort to make the hill more noob friendly to increase traffic? insurance reasons?
Just cause a line is dumbed down doesn't mean you have the to take the easiest route.
You can add fun to any trail by looking for more challenging lines, angles, transitions, etc.
The ride is what you make of it.
its still a really awesome hill and there are still enough challenges for everyone on all the trails.
flag thereisnospoon
Posted: Aug 27, 2014 at 19:13 Quote
nato wrote:
thereisnospoon wrote:
I've noticed the same on Rock Star and Double Dog over the last couple of years. stunts taken out and features dumbed down. possibly an effort to make the hill more noob friendly to increase traffic? insurance reasons?
Just cause a line is dumbed down doesn't mean you have the to take the easiest route.
You can add fun to any trail by looking for more challenging lines, angles, transitions, etc.
The ride is what you make of it.

not sure why this was directed at me.
I don't really care what they do either way, or why, but I have noticed the changes over time. I still love the hill and will continue to ride it.

the only concern I might have from making some trails a bit easier is when it comes to trail ratings. ratings need to be comparable from hill to hill so that riders have an idea of what their riding ability can safely get them through.

if they're going to make some of the trails easier, for whatever reason, re-rating should be considered. Sun Peaks, I'm looking at you too with your ridiculous "single black" DH course. LOL.

regardless, I was pretty darn happy with Silverstar last week.
flag vernonjeff
Posted: Aug 27, 2014 at 19:20 Quote
thereisnospoon wrote:
nato wrote:
thereisnospoon wrote:
I've noticed the same on Rock Star and Double Dog over the last couple of years. stunts taken out and features dumbed down. possibly an effort to make the hill more noob friendly to increase traffic? insurance reasons?
Just cause a line is dumbed down doesn't mean you have the to take the easiest route.
You can add fun to any trail by looking for more challenging lines, angles, transitions, etc.
The ride is what you make of it.

not sure why this was directed at me.
I don't really care what they do either way, or why, but I have noticed the changes over time. I still love the hill and will continue to ride it.

the only concern I might have from making some trails a bit easier is when it comes to trail ratings. ratings need to be comparable from hill to hill so that riders have an idea of what their riding ability can safely get them through.

if they're going to make some of the trails easier, for whatever reason, re-rating should be considered. Sun Peaks, I'm looking at you too with your ridiculous "single black" DH course. LOL.

regardless, I was pretty darn happy with Silverstar last week.

i was kind of wondering why that was directed at you also. lol.
flag taskmgr
Posted: Aug 27, 2014 at 19:58 Quote
vernonjeff wrote:
thereisnospoon wrote:
nato wrote:

Just cause a line is dumbed down doesn't mean you have the to take the easiest route.
You can add fun to any trail by looking for more challenging lines, angles, transitions, etc.
The ride is what you make of it.

not sure why this was directed at me.
I don't really care what they do either way, or why, but I have noticed the changes over time. I still love the hill and will continue to ride it.

the only concern I might have from making some trails a bit easier is when it comes to trail ratings. ratings need to be comparable from hill to hill so that riders have an idea of what their riding ability can safely get them through.

if they're going to make some of the trails easier, for whatever reason, re-rating should be considered. Sun Peaks, I'm looking at you too with your ridiculous "single black" DH course. LOL.

regardless, I was pretty darn happy with Silverstar last week.

i was kind of wondering why that was directed at you also. lol.
the ratings are a tough one for sure. say for example at whistler, a line is a single black, but tonnes of noobs roll down it. To hit it right, you are going fast and as big as you would on dirt merchant which is a double black because of the optional gaps... i would hate to be the ratings guy hahhaha

 


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