Tales from the Trails: 10 days of Whistler - Part I

Last month I was lucky enough to be able to take some time off with my girl Tobi and spend 10 days in beautiful British Columbia. The trip was one of the best I’ve had to date. We traveled 12 hours in a ridiculously cramped Mazda 626 that just got out of the shop the same week. We needed room for three of us as our good friend Peter decided he’d poach a ride out. With the bikes neatly stacked and strapped to the trunk of the car we headed west. We weren’t quite sure if we’d make it but what’s life without a little adventure right?We were heading out to accomplish a couple things, first to hook up with the Pinkbike crew, secondly I was there to take part in the IMBA World Mountain Bike Conference and thirdly to hook up with some of the old Pinkbike B-team to do some shredding later on in the week.


Tyler over at the PB HQ had been working with the great folks up at Whistler Blackcomb to put together a weekend of fun. Some of us here at Pinkbike who have been helping out over the years were fortunate enough to be treated like royalty. We shacked up at the Coast Hotel in Whistler Village. Great place to stay, nice and close to the lifts, free bike storage and good sized rooms at a reasonable rate. And when we weren't sleeping, we were riding those killer trails.


Not having met many of the people who help keep the forums going I didn’t really know what kind of crowd to expect. But as any trip I’ve ever been a part of the flow found us and good times ensued. We had a good mix of old school shredders and new school punks. One of the punks, 17yr old Kyle otherwise known as “Bladestar”, came out from Ontario and thought it would be a great idea to come out to the mountains the for the first time and ride Whistler with a street bike with no front brake……he found out that even a fully decked out Stab Garbanzo would still work him when it comes to big mountain riding. “Bladestar” said he’d never seen a hill that casts its own shadow. Being an eastern refugee myself I can fully appreciate the awesomeness of seeing the coastal mountains for the first time. I remember being glued to the window of the truck repeating myself like a concussed fool “woh….woh……oh woh”.


Along with the new schoolers the old schoolers were out in full force to represent. Radek, Tyler, Nick, Steph, Myself, Russ Day, D-Rock were all out to get in as much shredding as possible on the Fitzsimmons quad. The weekend consisted of riding our faces off all day, having beers, sleeping and doing it all over again the next day. It was a shame that not everyone got to rip together but I’m sure everyone had as great a time on the trails as we did.


The trails were in great shape, a week of rain prior to our trip meant the trails were tacky and buff. The best part of Whistler this season is the fact that you can ride until 8pm everyday of the week. It made laps on A-Line, Dirt Merchant, Crabapple Hits, and Clown Shoes too many to count. Lift lines were long during the middle of the day so you could take a siesta, have some beers, hang out and still get out for as much riding as you can handle. If you haven’t been to Whistler you simply have to go. It’s the best lift accessed biking on the planet, plain and simple. Its one of those places that makes you feel like a king even if you’re an old-school hack riding a 4 year old bike with a 5 year old fork. Passes are only $45 and last all day and include extended play this year and with Garbanzo open now its well worth the D/VM (dollars per vertical meters) you can achieve in a day. With great places in the village that are now accommodating us with things like free bike storage, Whistler Village is beginning to look a lot like it does in the winter during the summer seasons.


As the weekend wound down Tobs and I had to return to our vagrant status. We decided to look for a spot to call home for the next few nights…..we found it by the river as always.


Stay tuned for Part II, a look at the IMBA World Trail Conference and where our sport is heading…..