Christina Chappetta has a lofty goal of successfully riding every double black diamond trail in the Whistler Bike Park in one day. Can she do it? Watch and find out.
North American ratings goes blue, black, double black, red.
Europe blue, red, black, double black.
Maybe you've already ridden a North American double black....
That being said BC has really stout ratings, Whistler inside the park isn't too bad, outside the park can be a different story...
Just to make it even more confusing Trailforks shows the colors as blue, black, red, orange.
My first time at Whistler I rode goats gully in the pouring rain thinking the double blacks I’d ridden in the US weren’t that bad. I learned an important lesson about Canadian trail ratings that day.
@catweasel: In Europe it depends of the country, Green => Blue =>Red => Black => Orange in Switzerland and Austria. Tbh the technical trails in Whistler are chill compared to the Alps. There is no thick mud in Whistrelia, but a wet Tatiana can have slippery consequences. Some blacks are pretty scary in the Alps like The WC in Champery or the Face in Chatel. I have never been scared on technical trails in Whistler as I have been in the Alps. The trails are petty wide and well designed in Whistler too compared to the rest of the world
@catweasel: on the video it looks quite a bit more complicated than black (blue->red->black in Austria) BongoBongo in Leogang bikepark.saalfelden-leogang.com/en/tracks/BongoBongo Are there probably folks who have ridden both in Whistler and Leogang?
@catweasel: UK is blue, red, black, sometimes double black. But then we have pro line after that which is often stripy or orange. And then sanctioned DH runs are 1, 2 and 3 dot.
@Ba1rog: also I'd say the rock in Whistler is way less slippery than in Alps. On Whistler Rock faces it felt like a tarmac, in Alps its more like glass
@catweasel: Except in NA red isn't called red, it's a new rating usually called "Pro". Sometimes you'll see it marked triple black instead.
UK "official" ratings are insanely outdated and are green, blue, red, black. But also 1 dot, 2 dot and 3 dot for DH/FR type stuff - except that's all complete f*cking nonsense because some DH trails are less DH than a normal red. It's also completely inconsistent across the country.
Then you'll get green/blue/red/black and sometimes double blacks on privately owned trail centres, and even triple blacks like the new line at Dyfi.
@rich-2000: Agreed it is completely over complicated, but we don't have pro line in the UK, the orange is for DH/FR trails/features, and is completely outdated now. So much so that trail centres have just started making their own systems.
@redrook: going from the UK to the Alps is ridiculous. Riding into Morgins bike park with an old hire bike (swapped brakes) thinking I'd cruise down a red to start the day was one to remember...
@christinachappetta: Do it, you gonna love it! I would recommend the PDS: Chatel, Morgins, Champery, Avoriaz and Les Gets are amazing. Tons of steep trails and if it is muddy it will be the cherry on top hahaha.
I love Verbier, Crans Montana, Schladming and Livigno but they are pretty far away from each other.
Does everyone remember that episode a year or two ago where @christinachappetta was doing dirt jumps indoors? Remember the size of that jump she was stoked to clear? And now she is styling up Crabapple Hits! Such a pleasure to see! Do the drills, get the skills! Inspiring!
Awesome work.
I would live to get to Whistler at some point before I am too old, not sure how I would do on some of those trails.
Seems like Killington keeps wiping out all the natural tech trails for more flow trails. At least Thunder still has some good ones though.
Whistler is pretty chill. Go for you. Ride around BC if you desire natural. Naturally steep, naturally rough, naturally tight turns, naturally shit your pants when you decide to go full gas on a trail that you haven't ridden
I remember doing a sweeper run for the bike Patrol one evening on Captain Safety in the wet. I hadn't ridden it before and he said, "oh yeah, it's not too bad if you've ridden the other black diamonds".
What a load of bullshit that was! It's wild in the wet. I survived....just. Good times.
@christinachappetta: I've ridden it while dry also and it was still pretty tough. I was pretty new to biking back then but even so it was making fools of lots of good riders. I love trails that scare you every time!
My 2 year old says, "lots bumps," and I echo his sentiment. Impressive! What do the commenters recommend next for a guy just starting to dabble in double black tech? I've survived drop-in clinic, afternoon delight, & BC's trail so far.
good stuff! how was it focusing on line choices by the end? Not a park guy so I'm not sure how much you can recharge before each run on the lifts. I have a tendency to dial it back on the rowdy stuff by the end of an epic session but I guess that would be hard to do when only running double blacks.
haha can confirm! Every single lap had some heinous move in it. Overall though, super happy to take on that day and thankful I had friends join for each lap or I probably would have given up on crash 1
Way to set a goal and charge after it. The last goal charged after was eating 1 of every donut in the case at a fancy donut shop. I accomplished my goal…twice!
Such a fun edit! That Tatiana rock is awful, and your Captain Safety crash was exactly what I did on a similarly wet day...That tree and I are friends now, and I have some great shin scars to show for it. Missing bike park so much right now..
Goat's Gully is a whole other level, one of the trails I go check out every year and can never make my way down despite being able to ride pretty much all the other double blacks fairly cleanly. One day!
@christinachappetta: Between you, me, your riding mate and my buddy we're 3 for 4 on all sliding out in the exact same place. I had no idea there was a big, wet rock there until... woosh!
Go Pro effect in full force making hard trails look easy, the Dirt Merchant drop at 5:00 and the next gap are huge! And the Go Pro makes it looks like a tiny little drop.
Omg, that brought back so many happy memories of when we raced for T2R back in the day.
Awesome riding and really must head back out to whistler again one day before I reach 50!
Getting ready for winter where I am at, but love the biking vids. Can't wait to ride again in the spring. Also I like that you have comment on almost everyone's posts. Your a voice of the people!
@christinachappetta: I figured you were adding those in.. Crabapple and lower DM are Pro lines aswell There are 4 Pro lines.. so you would have to record a slow-mo of each one to get a full size video in haha
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bikepark.saalfelden-leogang.com/en/tracks/BongoBongo
Are there probably folks who have ridden both in Whistler and Leogang?
UK is blue, red, black, sometimes double black. But then we have pro line after that which is often stripy or orange.
And then sanctioned DH runs are 1, 2 and 3 dot.
Its all a bit over complicated!
UK "official" ratings are insanely outdated and are green, blue, red, black. But also 1 dot, 2 dot and 3 dot for DH/FR type stuff - except that's all complete f*cking nonsense because some DH trails are less DH than a normal red. It's also completely inconsistent across the country.
Then you'll get green/blue/red/black and sometimes double blacks on privately owned trail centres, and even triple blacks like the new line at Dyfi.
I love Verbier, Crans Montana, Schladming and Livigno but they are pretty far away from each other.
Does everyone remember that episode a year or two ago where @christinachappetta was doing dirt jumps indoors? Remember the size of that jump she was stoked to clear? And now she is styling up Crabapple Hits! Such a pleasure to see! Do the drills, get the skills! Inspiring!
That video made my morning. Thank you.
What a load of bullshit that was! It's wild in the wet. I survived....just. Good times.
What do the commenters recommend next for a guy just starting to dabble in double black tech? I've survived drop-in clinic, afternoon delight, & BC's trail so far.
how was it focusing on line choices by the end? Not a park guy so I'm not sure how much you can recharge before each run on the lifts. I have a tendency to dial it back on the rowdy stuff by the end of an epic session but I guess that would be hard to do when only running double blacks.
That Tatiana rock is awful, and your Captain Safety crash was exactly what I did on a similarly wet day...That tree and I are friends now, and I have some great shin scars to show for it.
And the Go Pro makes it looks like a tiny little drop.