Kicking Horse Bike Park - Trail Crew Update #7 - 2010

The straight goods on Kicking Horse Bike Park, straight from the trail crew's fingertips.

As I'm writing this it is pouring rain and I couldn't be happier. Sure, it will make the riding challenging - particularly for the guys trying to pin it at the Western Open this weekend - but from a trail crew perspective it's wonderful stuff. Now that labour-intensive LYM has opened and the dirt is moist, we can begin to patch up the bomb holes peppering the rest of the mountain. What that means is another incredible September at Kicking Horse. More details inside,

LYM:
What? Did I just say LYM is open? Wow, who would have thunk! After a four year journey down that slope (well, three of actual work; one year we were shut down by the management of the day while they tried to figure out what we were doing up there), single-black-diamond LYM is finally open to traffic. I should really qualify that and state that Section 1 of LYM is open. There is a roughed-in spit-out for the time being. Section 2 will be started and completed at some point in the future. Four years from now perhaps?



The purpose of LYM is to provide a training ground for Stickrock. And to have fun of course. The extensive woodwork is a simpler, slower version of Stickrock without the mandatory gaps. The idea is for riders to get comfortable with flowing on endless bridges, then step it up on the Spiral Tap feature on Pioneer to get a sense of committing to gaps, and finally to cleaning Stickrock.

What does LYM stand for anyway? A number of us at Kicking Horse had a great friend succumb to an aggressive form of leukemia last summer. Bruce Lessor's life inspired us to create a memorial to him. As Bruce was a fella who knew the value of a good time on the side of a mountain, it seems fitting to associate him with a bike trail that we hope will be the site of many good times. When Bruce was having a really good time, with a few in him, he'd get a big goofy grin, wrap his arm around his friends' shoulders, and tell them sincerely, "Love Ya, Man". So we are hugging him back.




Pioneer:
The Western Open will have already ran by the time you read this, and I hope it was a tremendous success. We tackled one more berm right before the race to help with the flow.




Gale Force:
Moved the earth around a bit on Gale Force to improve the run into the bridge. No biggie.


New Black Jump Trail:
Work on this trail finished for the season. We got 5 days of mini-excavator in there and got about half the trail scratched in. Next year's budget will determine how much further we get in 2011. So far I think it looks fantastic.


Rock N Roll:
After a ton of work early in the season, Rock N Roll deserves to be this episode's Featured Trail:



Now that the Western Open is over, I'm guessing we'll have to put some time into putting the race course back together. And we'll throw some TLC around the rest of the park. Here comes my favorite biking month. See you up here.

Ride on.

Crowe