Trails, Beers and Burgers - A Pilgrimage to Holy Sites of British Columbia

Canada is the dream of every mountain biker. Lost in thought, we might catch ourselves indulging in videos and photos from Canada even as we ride our Italian trails. We are familiar with the names of the legendary trails from Whistler, Squamish and the North Shore. In our heads, we speed down A-line countless times. We are aware that on Sundays you may have to queue in order to get on the chair lift to Whistler but we also see from videos and photos that it is worth it. Not only Nelson, Kamloops and the Sunshine Coast are well-known to us, but also famous names like Wade Simmons, Brett Tippie and, of course, Brandon Semenuk.

And if you finally get the chance to experience these legendary places, forests and woods for real, it is as if hell froze over.


Well, that dream came true to us last September. Who are we? I am Michaela (but people call me Michi). With my husband Markus we had gotten to know Sharon Bader and Lee Lau through my day job working with promoting and marketing the BikeHotels Südtirol and South Tyrol as a bike touring destination (Pinkbike stories about South Tyrol here). Markus and I have long wanted to visit British Columbia and ride the trails there. We are just normal riders; not pros or racers, so read along with us if you want to see what the experience is like through the eyes of normal people.

Equipped with our Liteville bikes we take a British Airways flight to Vancouver to visit Sharon and Lee. Sharon and Lee are two bike veterans from North Vancouver, who have been living our dream most of their lives; mountain-biking in heaven on earth.

North Vancouver
For our riding on the North Shore we were shown around by Sharon and Lee and also by Endless Biking. Endless Biking is a business operated by Darren and Kelli providing instruction, skills-clinics and bike rentals. It is also at one and the same time the name of Darren and Kelli's guiding agency in North Vancouver. That is the address for all those who want to experience simply the best of Mt. Fromme, Mt. Seymour, and Cypress. Endless Biking is also deeply rooted in the local community sponsoring events and doing trail work. At our arrival, we are introduced as “riders from Northern Italy” to which we just add “from the Dolomites” and all are on familiar ground. The Shore trails were great. There was a big variety of trails, the coolest trail was Asian Adonis. It was the first time that we got in touch with “skinnies”. We don’t have them in our parts.


Fabulous/dreamlike North Vancouver (trail Asian Adonis worked on by MTB Trails and Obsession Bikes)

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Whistler
After three exciting days exploring the legendary North Shore Trails we are tuned in for Canada and ready for the next highlight of our programme: Whistler. Our next stop is Chromag, ironically referred to as “church” by Lee, who plays on the fact that tourists in Europe are supposed to visit churches, while in Canada bike shops and trails and legendary restaurants are an absolute must.

In Whistler we celebrate our first day in the biggest bike park in the world, and the fact that we survived it unharmed on our Giant rental downhill bikes.

There is not much left to say about Whistler: Without any doubt, it is the “wet dream” of every bike park lover. Our highlights: Top-of-the-World-Trail and the blue fun lines like Crank it up, Ho Chi Min; let alone Ride Don’t Slide (which had recent trail work by Gravity Logic!


The thrill of anticipation is on the rise for the days to come. Two holy sites, unknown to us until then, are waiting for us: West Side valley trails and Pemberton.

According to Sharon “West side is the best side” and she surely is the one to know. Sharon has spent many years as a trail advocate with Wade Simmons co-author of the very popular bike guide Local’s Guides (covering North Shore, Fraser Valley and the Okanagan (coming soon)),. She knows countless trails and has been riding in the region for years. No need to doubt her words that the West -Side is one of the better sides of Whistler. However, in order to earn the better half of Whistler you need to conquer the steep uphill-trails one by one. We start out with “High Society”; our second loop is “Pura Vida”. What are the trails like? Let’s just say: steep is epic and the beer afterwards was well-deserved.

Another adventure not to be missed in Whistler is the Lost Lake Trails area, a masterpiece/marvel of XC-trail network at lower difficulty level. We let steam off there for about half a day before finally saying goodbye to Whistler.

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Pemberton
Pemberton is located a few kilometres north of Whistler. There we meet some friends of Lee and Sharon’s, who fulfilled their dream of their own four walls in this mountain bike mecca. We follow the railway tracks for a few kilometre and then get to the legendary Nimby-Uphill-Trail: 600 metres in altitude and 70 switchbacks. There the access point for “Overnight Sensation” is not long in coming. “Cream Puff” is the next trail to take on. For us personally, it is definitely the best of the trails we rode with stunning views, epic steep singletrack and beautiful unique routing.

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Squamish
Our next stop on our trip is Squamish; another strong biking community between Whistler and Vancouver. After about an hour’s journey on a Greyhound Coach, we and our Litevilles arrive at Squamish where we find lodging in the Executive Inn. Our room is top notch luxury; spacious and equipped with a kitchen.

Jaclyn Delacroix picks us up the next morning and gives us a lift to one of the trailheads. Jaclyn is a biking skills instructor/coach and one of the principal active members of Muddbunnies, a bike club with about 300 female members in Canada and the USA. She is an excellent biker and the first choice to introduce us to the special features of the Squamish trails. These trails are a mixture of flowing segments, rocky boulders (that can/must be rolled and dropped) and often technically demanding uphill parts. We are really relieved that Jaclyn always takes the lead as sometimes a fall can only be avoided by a hair's breadth. In the morning we rode "Rupert" and the afternoon we cruise through the woods all on our own and come across “Credit Line”, a real jewel.


Sharon and Lee don’t want to miss the chance to show us their favourite spots in Squamish. Together, with their bike buddy Phil, we start out for the University campus and then still another trailhead. The trails on today’s schedule are not technically demanding but proven recipes for fun. Phil loves jumps and leaps. He is even un-catchable for kamikaze Lee as we ride up the Legacy Climb then down "Angry Midget" - "Fred" - "Tinder" - "Your Mom". These trails are more of a cool-down for us as were not able to keep the fast pace. Our office legs have now been subjected to 11 straight days of riding without rest.

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Fraser Valley
Unfortunately, our two-weeks trip to Canada is slowly but surely coming to an end. However, there is still something left on our to-do list. We leave for Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley, the last stop Sharon and Lee suggested to us. On our own we decide to explore a few trails on
Sumas Mountain: “Knob Gobbler”, a first class old-school-trail and “Squid Line”, constructed by Ewan Fafard. The latter is a never-ending marvel of curves in mostly flat and moderately steep terrain, almost entirely cruised with pumping.


On our penultimate day, we enjoy Super Flow on Bear Mountain as Sharon and Lee show us around. Sharon's Locals Guide to the Fraser Valley is super useful for navigation but when you are riding with the author we didn't need it. We rode “Wasp”, “Smoking Bobo”, and “Lorax”. Insanely fun trails for our grand finale. We find out that the Fraser Valley has an amazing number of trails with incredible variety. It is an underrated and relatively unknown trail system. If this were in Europe the amount of singletrack in the Valley would make it a destination for visitors. Here in BC, it's just more excellent trail after excellent trail.

A more than fitting end for our now destroyed legs - tired after 14 days of amazing riding!


For mountain bikers Canada is not, just a country for their dreams. Going there is an absolute must. The warmth of the Canadians, the kindness of the people and their welcoming culture with regard to mountain bikers have left a lasting impression in our minds.

For those who are planning a trip to Canada, here are our tips:

Flight:
Try to book well in advance. The closer the time of departure gets, the more expensive the flights will get. Generally taking along your bike is no problem. However, you need to take into account 200 € per bike in fees. If you take your bike along, we recommend that you book your trip via a travel agency.

Car:
Renting a car surely is a good option if you plan to move independently. However, there is a good network of long distance coaches so that the various destinations can be reached easily. We used Avis on the spot.

Accommodations:
In North Vancouver: Holiday Inn
In Whistler: B&B Bear Tracks
In Squamish: Executive Suites
In Abbotsford (Fraser Valley): Clayburn Village Bed and Breakfast

Guiding Suggestions:
North Vancouver:
Endless Biking. They also offer Rocky Mountain Bike Rentals. If you use their service, you do not need a car.

Whistler & Squamish:
Jaclyn Delacroix - Ozmosis Training

Orientation:
trailforks - Trail App from Pinkbike
Locals’ Guides by Sharon Bader and Wade Simmons - www.mtbtrails.ca

Eating & Drinking Suggestions:
● North Vancouver: Indian Fusion, Waraku Sushi, The Beach House Restaurant (Brunch)
● Whistler: Sachi Sushi, Splitz Grill; Dusty's Bar & BBQ (in Creekside), Avalanche Pizza
● Squamish: Shady Tree (Pub), Bean Brackendale Cafe (Café)
● Pemberton: Mile One
● Fraser Valley: Mission Springs Brewing Company

Trail construction and trail maintanace:
NSMBA, SORCA, WORCA, FVMBA

Information about British Columbia:
www.hellobc.com
mountainbikingbc.ca

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The Secret behind the Canadian Dream Trails

Nothing comes from nothing! Well, that’s true for mountain bike singletrack as well. In our neck of the woods, (that is to say in Northern Italy, to be more precise in South Tyrol) singletrack aka single trails usually refer to hiking trails/paths, constructed for hikers in the course of the last decades or perhaps even centuries. Nowadays also mountain bikers take their chances on these trails. Yet single trails solely constructed for mountain bikers are still very rare.

Creative route design in trail construction. Squamish

The situation is completely different in British Columbia. As soon as the first MTBs appeared on the market, venturesome biking enthusiasts joined together, went biking and started building trails and stunts at their own effort and discretion. They constructed the trails mainly for themselves and not for tourists. They didn’t bother asking about questions such as liability or permission. Only later did they start forming cooperative organizations to put their actions and trails on a solid legal basis by engaging stakeholders and landowners in discussion concerning trails. It seems now that many BC trail organizations have become more professional and engaged enough to hire full time employees and to even get public funding. How did this come to be? How are the Canadians so far ahead?


Community rules
In contrast to South Tyrol with well 20 different landowners per 5 km of trail, there is not as much private land ownership in British Columbia. This fact makes the whole mess much easier to understand as you generally have to deal with fewer people to get permission and usually, there is some kind of process to follow.

However, the greatest difference between what we have in Europe and what happens in Canada is that the various mountain bike associations are firmly grounded within the local community. By contrast to South Tyrol many mountain bikers seem to be member of an association and thus feels responsible for keeping the trails in good shape. In many BC towns there is a strong culture of trail work and self-help; the mountain-biker does not wait for others to do the trail work but are encouraged ie "no dig, no ride". Because of this strong trail work culture many biking associations get some funding from memberships fees, donations and sponsorship by different companies.


Professionalization
We also noticed that the Canadians are the best when it comes to trail construction. The trail builders/constructors are mountain bikers themselves. They love experimenting with different lines and stunts and can rely on honest and professional feedback from one another. Additionally, they don’t hesitate to use excavators or machines for much used trails. There is enough paid work to support some professional trail builders but there are also many mountain bikers ready to take a shovel and a pickaxe and do the job themselves as volunteers.

In the course of the year there are so-called trail days. The biking associations and many organizations organize the local communities to take action in order to repair trails together, renew skinnies, fill holes and clean the drainage. These trail days are really well-attended and well-supported by the community.



Trail Centres
By no means is British Columbia just a perfect place for mountain biking trails; it is also good for all trails. The fact that British Columbia trails presents a real feast for every mountain biker does not mean that they have carte blanche to use every trail at their own discretion.

Unlike in the European Alps, BC has many single trails constructed explicitly for mountain bikers. The trails are also comparatively speaking, well signed. In many of the places that we bike to help people to find their way round at trailhead parking there normally is an orientation map with detailed area description. Often these descriptions encourage people to treat other user groups with politeness. These trailheads are the entry points for bikers for biking trails and that is where the bikers go. This means that many of the biking networks become trail centres where other users expect to see lots of bikers.


Here in the Alps we need to take into account that the so-called “nature paths”, which we like to use for mountain biking too, have not been constructed for us but for people who needed or wanted to go from A to B, such as for instance from the valley bottom to a mountain refuge. Such nature path trails are well frequented since they are not just liked by bikers but also by many hikers, runners and walkers. Because there are so many more hikers./runners/walkers than bikers oftentimes bikers are resented. Conflicts are bound to arise.

However, that does not means that they automatically need to happen. We can learn some lessons from the Canadians in promoting good biker/hiker relations, good trail etiquette and possibly routing, signposting and constructing trails so they can be enjoyed by everyone.


It is my belief that, in the long run we need to follow the Canadian example in the Alps by constructing trails with clear signage made by mountain bikers for mountain bikers. And these trails/tracks need to be so ingenious that mountain bikers don’t even want to go on other trails not intended for them.

To summarize, in BC trail centres single trails are explicitly meant for mountain bikers. There are also regulated multi-use trails where joggers, walkers/hikers and bikers meet. Also those are clearly labelled so that everyone is well aware of what is expected of them.

What are the secrets behind such trails? Great commitment and dedication, great enthusiasm for mountain biking and a bunch of like-minded people!


Sure, we have some awesome trails in the Alps, in South Tyrol and in the Dolomites. Trails we never want to change. But we want to share them!