Official North Shore thread

PB Forum :: Canada - West
Official North Shore thread
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flag KevinStafford
Posted: Oct 3, 2019 at 13:43 Quote
gbeaks33 wrote:
GreenJelly wrote:
Lots of good info here. Thank you @DMal and @xTwoSnakesx.

I was in Squamish this weekend and rode Tracks from Hell, Leave of Absence and Rollercoaster. All super fun trails and my bike handled the drops without issue. Of course I wasn't flying down the trails at top speed over the drops, but fun all the same.

I have pretty good athletic abilities (or at least I think so!) and am fairly confident on my bike. Based on the comments here, I may give Expresso a try the next time I'm out on Fromme and have done a few warm up laps on Bobsled. But I hear ya on 'depending what day it is' comment. Some days you have it, other days you don't. Funny how that happens.


@xTwoSnakesx that's a good tip about Natural High. I have never heard of that trail before. A quick look on Trailforks doesn't bring up the trail. Any tips on where to find it? Also, that's good advice about the steep switchbacks of CC. No need to rush in to it.

Regarding other people on the trail, that's good to know.

Any suggestions for green / entry level trails on Seymour?

Natural High is literally right at the parking lot on Fromme. Link here. It's harder than Expresso but it's short so you'll be able to see what other black trails have to offer. Can climb back up King of The Shore and be back at the parking lot. 10 min loop max. Expresso is somewhat similar to Leave of Absence in Squamish. The shitty thing about Expresso, in my opinion, is riding Baden Powell back to the parking lot. I think it's the worst trail on the shore and in no way suitable for beginners. It'll be way harder than Expresso. I haven't ridden it in a few years, and I've heard they have done work to it, but it is a hiking trail that can be tolerated via bike. You can avoid it by continue riding down Lower Expresso and ride the city streets back to your car, but you lose a ton of altitude and have to then climb back up Mountain Highway to the parking lot. Leopard to Crinkem to Kirkford is more bang for your buck and you don't have to traverse back on a buzzkill trail when you're done.

And I thought that I was the only one who loathed Baden Powell. Riding the 'steps from hell' takes some skill to be sure, but after you clean the lower section once or twice, you get over it.
I agree that Crinkum to Kirkford is a great way to avoid Baden, though linking Expresso to lower Expresso, then swinging over to Lower Digger, might make the road climb back to the car seem less tedious. Haven't tried that combo yet, though, myself.
flag gramboh
O+
Posted: Oct 4, 2019 at 0:12 Quote
You can make the last climb suck less by parking around Coleman off Mtn Highway... get the road suffering out of the way at the start of your ride since you'll then forget it when you get to the good stuff. Climbing from exit of Lower Digger/Pennzoil back to Coleman isn't that bad compared to the parking lot. It sucks to lose vert on the road but it's an option if you don't want to deal with the BP.
flag xTwoSnakesx
O+
Posted: Oct 4, 2019 at 1:15 Quote
If you can ride LoA without issue, then Expresso is a no brainer.
flag GreenJelly
Posted: Oct 4, 2019 at 12:39 Quote
Thanks for the vote of confident @xTwoSnakesx. Next time I'm out for a ride I'm giving Expresso a go. I was talking with some riders when I was riding Bobsled the other night. I think I have enough recon. Time to ride it!

Good tip @gramboh to park around Coleman. Thanks.
flag gbeaks33
Posted: Oct 4, 2019 at 12:51 Quote
GreenJelly wrote:
Thanks for the vote of confident @xTwoSnakesx. Next time I'm out for a ride I'm giving Expresso a go. I was talking with some riders when I was riding Bobsled the other night. I think I have enough recon. Time to ride it!

Good tip @gramboh to park around Coleman. Thanks.

Another good part about parking on Coleman is if you finish on the other trails near the parking lot, you can extend your downhill a bit by riding either the lower Griffens, Natural High, or Imodator which bring you down to McNair drive, then it's just a short one block pedal back to your car on Coleman.
flag eddyhairshow
Posted: Oct 5, 2019 at 12:42 Quote
JonRides wrote:
1. Fromme is probably easier to navigate for a one day trip. Lots of trails so you won't run out of things to do. You could do Seymour in the afternoon but may find you are sorted.

2. Water fountain but that is it. Bring food. You can ride down Mountain Highway for lunch but it a long climb back up the road.

3. It is never really busy. The parking lot gets crowded on the weekend but you don't really run into too many people riding.

eddyhairshow wrote:
Hi.

I’m visiting my brother in Vancouver next week and have rented a bike to hit the trails for a day. I’m after a bit of advice if anyone can help out?

1. Which mountain is best to spend the day on? I’m thinking of Fromme but is that the best choice? Or are the others better? Or should I ride between two mountains (maybe Fromme in the morning and Seymour in the afternoon)

2. Is there somewhere to get snacks/drinks close to the trails? In the UK I have a hydration bladder but I won’t have that with me, just a rucksack not made for MTB trails so I’ll keep some emergency food and water in there but it would be nice to find somewhere between laps.

3. How busy will the trails be on a Wednesday in October?

Thanks guys.


Cheers man.

Bike is booked and I'm counting down the days.
flag GreenJelly
Posted: Oct 6, 2019 at 21:26 Quote
@gbeaks33 yeah, the wife and I found that out the hard way. We finished riding Lower Griffin and were spit out down on Mountain Highway. We had a trek/ride back up to the parking lot to get to our car.
flag GreenJelly
Posted: Oct 9, 2019 at 20:43 Quote
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for providing me with the background/information about Expresso. I rode the trail for the first time tonight and had a blast! The background you provided me helped me with the courage to ride the trail. I ended up biting it once though, but that's because I took a poor line. But learning better lines will come with experience.

Also, I certainly didn't fly down the trial. I was on the brakes for pretty much the whole thing. I have to start learning to lay off the front and rear brakes.

I rode Lower Expresso and Lower Digger to exit. Good tip to park down near Dempsy too.
flag gramboh
O+
Posted: Oct 10, 2019 at 15:26 Quote
It comes with time (staying off the brakes, or rather learning where and how much to brake...) dragging brakes when you are starting is totally normal, just try not to brake on wood especially front brake when it's wet.
flag GreenJelly
Posted: Oct 10, 2019 at 20:02 Quote
Yeah, I made that mistake re: braking on the wood. Lucky for me the wood was dry, but the issue I had is I lost my courage when I was coming up one of the wood ramps. I decided to slow/stop which was definitely not a good idea. I walked my bike back and took the line again, this time without issue. I need to learn to trust myself and the bike more.

But yeah, I am definitely dragging the rear brakes a lot. If the weather holds/stays dry I'd like to get out and give the trail a go again.
flag gbeaks33
Posted: Oct 11, 2019 at 7:33 Quote
GreenJelly wrote:
Yeah, I made that mistake re: braking on the wood. Lucky for me the wood was dry, but the issue I had is I lost my courage when I was coming up one of the wood ramps. I decided to slow/stop which was definitely not a good idea. I walked my bike back and took the line again, this time without issue. I need to learn to trust myself and the bike more.

But yeah, I am definitely dragging the rear brakes a lot. If the weather holds/stays dry I'd like to get out and give the trail a go again.

Happens to everyone first time on the shore, man. I had a few seasons of riding experience and thought I was halfway decent before I moved to Vancouver. Had so many sketchy falls on my first bunch of shore rides and I was questioning if I really enjoyed being terrified eveytime I rode downhill. My first ladies only experience should have been filmed and turned into a YouTube series. It was embarrassing and took like an hour haha. What changed my riding the most was swapping to grippy aggressive tires and not riding the hard features until I rode a trail 4-5 times to scope everything out. The shore is unique, there's no where like it.

Speaking of which, I'm visiting van this weekend and going for a Seymour rip tomorrow. Are any of those trails still closed due to that bear incident?
flag GreenJelly
Posted: Oct 11, 2019 at 11:44 Quote
gbeaks33 wrote:
Had so many sketchy falls on my first bunch of shore rides and I was questioning if I really enjoyed being terrified eveytime I rode downhill.

Speaking of which, I'm visiting van this weekend and going for a Seymour rip tomorrow. Are any of those trails still closed due to that bear incident?

The above quote sums me up pretty good. While I am not having any sketchy falls (yet!) and not quite terrified going downhill, I am definitely on the edge of scared. But I suppose a healthy dose of fear does keep us all alive.

I don't know about Seymour. My guess is check on Trailforks and see what they have to say.

Cheers.
flag Andrewfdennis
Posted: Nov 12, 2019 at 18:11 Quote
Question from new rider (age 27, M, riding Al. Kona Process 153)
New to North Shore this yr, new to mtb this yr
On Fromme I noticed a lot of the black diamonds like 7th secret etc. seem pretty janky and kinda crashy for novice

Can you guys give me a progression of some more intermediate or 'easy black' north shore trails where I can work on basics?
flag scotteh
O+
Posted: Nov 12, 2019 at 19:09 Quote
That is because black diamond denotes an expert level trail and is not where a novice should be working on the basics.

Try some blues. Don’t have a trail map in front of me, but bobsled, dreamweaver, pennzoil, griffin?? I think are all blue on fromme.
flag awhite76
O+
Posted: Nov 12, 2019 at 21:20 Quote
Andrewfdennis wrote:
Question from new rider (age 27, M, riding Al. Kona Process 153)
New to North Shore this yr, new to mtb this yr
On Fromme I noticed a lot of the black diamonds like 7th secret etc. seem pretty janky and kinda crashy for novice

Can you guys give me a progression of some more intermediate or 'easy black' north shore trails where I can work on basics?

If you are new to riding I suggest starting with the following on Fromme:
Bobsled
Upper and Lower Griffen
Floppy Bunny
Leppard
Kirkford
Crinkum Crankum
Expresso

 


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