New Fort William Red Route Opens for Public
by Tyler Maine
Jul 3, 2009
Source: Stu Thomson
Over the past decade Fort William has established itself as one of the premiere locations for the avid mountain bike enthusiast. The small venue at Nevis Range in the highlands of Scotland offers the only gondola access in the UK for gravity racers and with the annual gathering of the World's best for the UCI mountain bike World Cup, the facility has become internationally renowned for both its World Cup cross country and downhill trails.
Video inside!
Over the past decade Fort William has established itself as one of the premiere locations for the avid mountain bike enthusiast. The small venue at Nevis Range in the highlands of Scotland offers the only gondola access in the UK for gravity racers and with the annual gathering of the World's best for the UCI mountain bike World Cup, the facility has become internationally renowned for both its World Cup cross country and downhill trails.
Video inside!
Yet when it comes to a location for the average rider to sample the trails, the options have so far been very limited. Yes there are endless cross country trails to enjoy a spin out with your buddies, yet for those who find themselves in the gravity lovers bracket, or even your regular weekend warrior who would like to dip the proverbial toe into the world of downhill, then the only option for a downhill trail is a relentless 5-7 minute beating you get down one of the roughest and most physically demanding tracks in the world. Not the steady introduction to our sport that the majority out there are looking for.
Step forward the new Red Route which opened on the lower slopes of Ben Nevis last week. This is a trail designed for all, offering a far longer more relaxing blast down the hill that can be enjoyed by a wider ability level.
The Red Route:
On the opening of the trail last week Fort William local, Scottish champ and MTBcut/Cyclejersey rider Joe Barnes gives me the call to suggest a session on the trail of the Friday before the upcoming UK NPS event that was to take place on the main trail on Sunday. After a flurry of calls and a morning drive up to Nevis Range we gathered Barnes, UK NPS champ Ben Cathro and team mate Chris Hutchens for an afternoon of chaos trying out the new trail.
Being up for the race Chris and Ben only had their full downhill rig’s, with Ben on the brand new prototype Orange 225. Local rider Joe on the other hand, rocked up with his openface helmet and short travel Orange 5. It provided great contrast but really showed the contrast that the new trail shows as an option to the World Cup track.
It became a fun afternoon, sessioning down the trail, filming the boys drifting around and having a bit of fun. I’m sure it comes across in our little video that we just had a laugh. There was nothing on the trail to make these World Cup downhill boys get out of their comfort zone, but that’s the idea, anyone can do it. The trail has a combination of wide board walk that berms and undulates in almost a bobsleigh run kind of way, natural rock slab that is the general make up of the landscape and almost trail center style gravel and sandy turns that were definitely the choice of the day for Cathro who can drift a bike like few others I have seen.
So watch the video and then go check it out, the new trail is now open and really is a great contrast to the World Cup track. It's fun for both a World Cup rider or a weekend warrior, heck, I might even take my non mountain biking girlfriend there.…
-Stu
*photo by Ian MacLennan
Step forward the new Red Route which opened on the lower slopes of Ben Nevis last week. This is a trail designed for all, offering a far longer more relaxing blast down the hill that can be enjoyed by a wider ability level.
On the opening of the trail last week Fort William local, Scottish champ and MTBcut/Cyclejersey rider Joe Barnes gives me the call to suggest a session on the trail of the Friday before the upcoming UK NPS event that was to take place on the main trail on Sunday. After a flurry of calls and a morning drive up to Nevis Range we gathered Barnes, UK NPS champ Ben Cathro and team mate Chris Hutchens for an afternoon of chaos trying out the new trail.
Being up for the race Chris and Ben only had their full downhill rig’s, with Ben on the brand new prototype Orange 225. Local rider Joe on the other hand, rocked up with his openface helmet and short travel Orange 5. It provided great contrast but really showed the contrast that the new trail shows as an option to the World Cup track.
It became a fun afternoon, sessioning down the trail, filming the boys drifting around and having a bit of fun. I’m sure it comes across in our little video that we just had a laugh. There was nothing on the trail to make these World Cup downhill boys get out of their comfort zone, but that’s the idea, anyone can do it. The trail has a combination of wide board walk that berms and undulates in almost a bobsleigh run kind of way, natural rock slab that is the general make up of the landscape and almost trail center style gravel and sandy turns that were definitely the choice of the day for Cathro who can drift a bike like few others I have seen.
So watch the video and then go check it out, the new trail is now open and really is a great contrast to the World Cup track. It's fun for both a World Cup rider or a weekend warrior, heck, I might even take my non mountain biking girlfriend there.…
-Stu
*photo by Ian MacLennan
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74 Comments
- + 4
tomb-2
(Jul 3, 2009 at 0:13)
Nice looking route, must of taken a lot of time with all that Northshore lol. It won't be able to stand up to the main attraction of going to Fort Bill but will be a good rest when ure hands hurt to much from that gnarly DH course lol
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In the UK they are graded like this:
Green (easiest), Blue (Easy), Red (Abit technical) and Black (Very technical). There is also Orange which is Freeride, Jumps or DH.
Green (easiest), Blue (Easy), Red (Abit technical) and Black (Very technical). There is also Orange which is Freeride, Jumps or DH.
Don't we have different grades of red and black too? Ive definately seen double red and double black over here...I think.
Yeah, Ive seen Double Blacks, I dunno about Double Reds, normaly hard sections on Red trails are marked as Black.
thing is, this is not supposed to a be the usual red graded trail you are used to as it is not an xc trail. It is a dh track, but it is not as fast and rough as the world cup track. Personally having ridden it myself i think that this track is more technical than the world cup dh.
amazing vid , lookslikea giggle . knowin fort bill i am sure this trail will be top notch . good job stu
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just back from fort william, went for the downhill track, ended up hitting the red route much more!
very fun track on a dh bike and on a hardtail!
very fun track on a dh bike and on a hardtail!
nice vid! serves the tool right for trying to show off (refering to the guy who slammed his hip into a rock). also not keen on oranges, nice n light but the back end seemed to flex alot (note i only rode a patriot so comment may not apply to 223 or what ever they are on now)
ur a twat u just called ben cathro a tool do u have any f*ckin idea who he is and this whole i dont like oranges thing perhaps haps u should take a look at nps and sda results from this and last year
oh and stop self propping
oh and stop self propping
no i dont have a clue who he is n i really couldnt care.
no i didnt self prop i actually prop'd someone else further up.
n yes i didnt rate the orange i tried ( i said A patriot (singular) therefore it may have been something wrong with the bike but even still i prefer linkage bikes since i dont like my rear wheel flexin!)
ur also a bit of a tool if my oppinion matters so much to you. why the hell should u care if i dont rate oranges.
no i didnt self prop i actually prop'd someone else further up.
n yes i didnt rate the orange i tried ( i said A patriot (singular) therefore it may have been something wrong with the bike but even still i prefer linkage bikes since i dont like my rear wheel flexin!)
ur also a bit of a tool if my oppinion matters so much to you. why the hell should u care if i dont rate oranges.
No they're not you twat. Do you know who Steve Peat is? Do you know how he got where he is now? I, personally, have never riden an Orange but, I see no problem in them and have only heard positives about them untill now. Scolty, you shouldn't not rate Oranges just from a ride of one AM bike, broaden your horizons and give 'em another go, you might turn out to love em.
Exactly how can you not know who he is!!Ive got a pretty niice stinky and i LOVE it but,that dosent mean i wouldnt swap i for an orange 224 
There beautiful,and Cathro is not a tool he is a LEGEND 
There beautiful,and Cathro is not a tool he is a LEGEND
Oh yea and dont think im self proping its because everytime i leave a comment it automatically goes to +1 props and im like
But yea ehhm...Scolty shutit
But yea ehhm...Scolty shutit
Okay, let me clear this up. It auto props yourself +1, if you try prop yourself, you'll get a message saying 'Props already given', or something.
Andy kona... "Oh yea and dont think im self proping its because everytime i leave a comment it automatically goes to +1 props and im like
But yea ehhm...Scolty shutit" i dont have a clue what ur trying to say there!
andyDH... i dont race hence why i dont know who he is.
Macks... yeah i know who Steve Peat is. i think u could give the guy a costco bike n he'd still be able to kick most ppls asses! You have a fair point about the one ride not being sufficient but im still a four bar kinda guy.
But yea ehhm...Scolty shutit" i dont have a clue what ur trying to say there!
andyDH... i dont race hence why i dont know who he is.
Macks... yeah i know who Steve Peat is. i think u could give the guy a costco bike n he'd still be able to kick most ppls asses! You have a fair point about the one ride not being sufficient but im still a four bar kinda guy.
I was reffering to the ignorant yank with the 'Steve Peat' comment... Tbh, I didn't know who Ben Cathro is, but he seems pretty good and if he can get a nice drift over that, good on him but, he shouldn't push it.
You call me a "twat" and " ignorant yank" because I happen to think orange bikes suck? Wow your a winner kid, your late for the short bus. And to be honest steve peat is a badass, but I still don't think bikes make the rider, but if you do keep forking over that cash, sucker.
And by the way, being as though I have ridden an orange and you havn't, I think my opinion might hold a little more weight.
Rofl, whatever you say fatty, I don't have the time for this shite. So I think I'll start off the stereotypical argument this time.
to try and clear a few things up here. Oranges are world cup proven bikes, they are definitly a bike a which is down to personal prefence, but this whole flexy thing, oranges have that massive swingarm which makes them completly unflexy. Ben Cathro is one of Scotlands top riders, last year he won the overall nps series and the overall scottish series, and is definitly a fast rider on the world cup circuit.
"oranges have that massive swingarm which makes them completly unflexy."
lmao u been listening to too many girls ("size matters") :p
its only fixed to the frame in two points, one being the main bearings and the other is for the shock( which is most likely designed to only take load along the length of the shock). im pretty damn sure that a typical four bar linkage will be more stiff (esp laterally) than the linkage on the 224. i no longer has access to ansys or any other FEA package so i cant send you a pretty pic of a couple beams. I will however assume that im still correct untill u either show me some calcs to prove me otherwise :p
lmao u been listening to too many girls ("size matters") :p
its only fixed to the frame in two points, one being the main bearings and the other is for the shock( which is most likely designed to only take load along the length of the shock). im pretty damn sure that a typical four bar linkage will be more stiff (esp laterally) than the linkage on the 224. i no longer has access to ansys or any other FEA package so i cant send you a pretty pic of a couple beams. I will however assume that im still correct untill u either show me some calcs to prove me otherwise :p
Nice looking trail, but when i heard they were building this my first concern was having less experienced riders on a hill where some may be tempted to give the world cup track a blast not knowing fully what it's like.
Yeah, good point but the staff on the gondolas will let anybody on sometimes.. I know of a few incidents when people have really hurt themselves after having to avoid people who I can only describe as mobile roadblocks on the WC downhill track. During the recent NPS, I pushed my hardtail up the hill (1hr 45 mins!) and had a shot at the red run. Four all mountain warriors got off the gondola as I got to the top and set off in front of me. After holding me up for a while, three of them took excursions off the boardwalk at the top and went arse over tit over the bars! And that's the easy bit! So if they can't ride this they will fall at the first rocky corner on the World cup track. My only concern about that is that they may have to stop the lifts to ferry they're broken bodies out of there. But the new track is immense fun!
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nice and easy trail, no wonder one of the riders could wear a XC helmet. The music really goes with this kind of course. Nice pick!
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trail looks awsome, i want to go up to fort william during summer this year for the tracks.
dont worry he can get a new hip on the NHS ha.
dont worry he can get a new hip on the NHS ha.
[Reply]
That trail looked great. Ton's of smooth fun and really solid built LONG boardwalks. Ski hill like. By BC standards it looks like an easier blue at most but those are often the most fun to roll down. I have never ridden Fort W but I have seen ton's of videos of the world cup course and it just doesn't look that steep or difficult at all compared to anything free ride-ish. What do the rest of you guys think? Why does everyone make it out to be such a monster course? Saying their worried about average riders even trying it out..... Whats it really like?
Cameras always flatten things out. The World cup course is brutal! I've rode in BC and it's amazing, I've also done quite a bit of riding in the Alps but nothing compares to the feeling that you get after a run of Fort Bill, you don't feel like you've just rode your bike, you feel like you've just had a fight!!. You're right that it's not really steep and not crazily technical but it relentlessly punishes your whole body all the way down. It's not hard to ride but it's hard to ride fast because it's so damn physical. The top half is rough, just one big rock garden. The braking bumps are savage and hitting all of those rocks at speed gives you a whole body work-out. It gets smoother towards the bottom, but the damage is already done by then, and you need to be on the pedals like a machine.
They held an Endurance DH race last year, where you had 6hrs to see how many runs you could get. After 2hrs some riders hands were bleeding and there were a few snapped DH forks!!! Like I said at the start, it's brutal! If you ever get the chance to ride it, grab it with both hands and you'll now why it's no place for a beginner..
They held an Endurance DH race last year, where you had 6hrs to see how many runs you could get. After 2hrs some riders hands were bleeding and there were a few snapped DH forks!!! Like I said at the start, it's brutal! If you ever get the chance to ride it, grab it with both hands and you'll now why it's no place for a beginner..
Thanks for the input. That actually makes a lot of sense.... There is a massive difference between making it down something rocky and tough and racing down it physically.
to add to gadmacks comment, it is definitly not techinically demanding except in the wood section. Anyone with a little skill can ride this track, it is very easy to ride it slowly, but to ride even 1 minute off world cup pace you definitly need to have a lot of skill and confidence to lay off the brakes. And also trying to compare trails from bc to those in the UK is impossible because a lot of riders here are completly against north shore features/skinnies etc
looks like lots of fun. Love the Orange 225 performance I see. For my trails, the 5 is more applicable and if somebody wants to give me one,I'll show my freinds how a mediocre rider like me can enjoy himself.
Must. . . resist. . . .painting. . . . bike PINK!!! ARRRRGH!!!
I feel trip to the powder coaters on the cards.
How would an '04 M1 look in retina scarring pink?
I feel trip to the powder coaters on the cards.
How would an '04 M1 look in retina scarring pink?
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reply to winters: it is a monster course. Video doesnt do justice for it. There are braking bumps everywhere and it is soo rocky. Love it though.
There were a few of us up at the weeknd on the dh bikes we did a few runs on the WC track and one on the red then a few more on the WC. Surprisingly we all found the red route to give us arm pump to our surprise! its just so long and tight in bits. so fun tho!!
No one has mentioned the small climb. It's only mostly downhill! Did it at the NPS expecting an DH red, it's more like an all-mountain black, as someone mentioned. Not my favourite I'm afraid.
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