Things don't get much more wild than this section of Gouranga in our hometown of Squamish... ok maybe that one section in the last French EWS. But for some reason they put this in an enduro race! EWS pro Jesse Melamed walks us down the section and take us through some of the local riders here tackling it in the Gryphon presented by OneUp Components.
Did you spot Adam the Privateer? He’s the only rider successfully tapping into the final rock roll.
You have no idea Bro!!! That was just one section of a 5 stage race. Every stage had sections strung together just like that. Awesome event Thanks to everyone at SORCA, Executive suites for the pig roast and all the volunteers and people who made it to the end. Cheers
Harder than it looks in the video... Would be amazing to get all the.. "that's not that hard" peeps together for a test on that thar gnar. That would be a video!
It's actually spicier in the dust. Rain cleans the rocks and keeps them decently grippy but once there's a layer of dust on them they're practically ice.
It is more technical for sure but the speed is so much lower that the overall gnarlyness is lower in my opinion. There is no chance of blowing over the bars and falling 20 feet onto a rock slab.
Different adjectives I think. One techincal and one gnarly. The one in France was tech and very difficult but it was short and you could just kind of throw yourself into it and hope to get out ok, which most did.
This one is a lot more than that. It can go really, really wrong. So trying to race it is super hard because you want to go fast. And it was very easy to go fast and then you had to manage your speed. Some didn't and they had way worse crashes than those in France. So I think it's much "gnarlier"
The worst bit though... the climb leading into it is a 20 second technical sprint. So you're coming into this gnarly ass slab absolutely gassed and all cross-eyed!
@JesseMelamed: Not sure what race categories there were at this race but is this open to say, sport categories or was this a expert or pro stage only? Looks frickin hecka gnarly- to race anyway.
@Rockydildoa: This was open to everyone, but they called it the proline and warned people not preriding it about it.. You can ride it way slower, mostly rolling through everything. A lot of people (including myself) got carried away though and hit it way faster than usual.. The alternative line was basically going around just that bit, in steep, rooted, tight switchbacks that were every bit as technical but without exposure. One could argue that the slab line is actually the only one that can be ridden smoothly..
The slab isn't too hard to ride in good conditions at a slow pace. It's when you try to race it that it gets gnarly. The worst part is the consequences of getting it wrong. You don't really appreciate it from the video, but a fall there could be as high as a four story building. That one guy was so lucky to come out of that without a big injury. From where he went down was probably a 20+ foot drop onto nastiness.
Really enjoyed Jesse's line and set up advice. Be great to get him to do some of these during EWS practice days.....although he's probably busy practicing.
it does look hard -but for sure not the gnarliest section. There are ews sections were even pros struggle to get through, this looks like riding it fast is the main problem in this section. Don t get me wrong i am not sure if i would ride that.
Looks easy to ride hard to ride fast where you have to start gaping sections and what I’ve gathered from the video is that this is the last part of the last stage so riders will be absolutely hanging on at this point. So yeah if you just rocked up to this section fresh then it seems pretty easy from the videos but after a day of racing will be a different prospect all together.
Could we not have something like this in the dh world cup? Seems like enduro gets all the toughest sections, Where as downhill gets a few roots, a hop over a stump and the traverse at leogang !
It's a genuinely scary looking rock feature from the top. I rode it for the first time the other day and I was pretty sure i would die due to lack of speed control after that second scoopy looking rock. Turns out that you have tons of grip on the rock and even more on the dirt afterwards. Just gotta be careful. Racing it definitely seems brave, though.
nice vid. reminds me of the ledged section last month in Nelson where i went otb and ragdolled on the kokanee free ride.
wouldn't have finished the ride if i wasnt dressed for battle.
Trust me, it was a non-issue having Jesse standing there.
I was there, and set up the crash pad on the tree.
I also think it was awesome having this video.
I understand the tape is there for a reason and I respect it. I made sure I was not in the way of the line, being inside of the tape was only a risk to me. If someone were to crash into me I would actually break their fall!
So smooth... That actually could be ride on a road bike... Frenchies must be laughting...
Now, serious tricky DH stuff if you want to go fast.
So yes this is the anti european kind of tricky stuff... But I would compare more the difference between DH and enduro. Big compressions and linking gaps is more common on DH but really nice to see some in enduro too into the midle of the wild.
Quite a few women were racing this, Squamish is packed with women who ride this sort of terrain on a daily or weekly basis. On any given day at the trailhead for this zone you're likely to see as many, if not more, women than men.
So what's the point with these sections? Are North American enduros trying to gain something against the european slow/tech/akward with DH and freeride tracks?
This trail looks like a cakewalk compared to the “do I really want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life for cat 5 glory” crap shoot of stage 5
@Jokesterwild: I'd love to and i don't doubt the steepness. The Mtn creek trail is just a series of holes filled with gremlins waiting to grab your wheel while quietly whispering "I'mma kill youuuuu". Check out the album of the Triple Crown and find a row or column that is free of someone eating shit in that section. Goes for pages.
@raditude: Hate to say it so bluntly, but that trail is way more tame than the riding in BC. It looks fun and chundery, but it's the same level as the connectors between the actual features on a lot of our trails here.
You'll have to come up and sample for yourself to fully understand, though.
@maxwellington: Yea i didn't look at the video. it has a bunch of other trails on it. check out the pics from the roots and rain. I am sure there are more challenging trains, but that one in the wet made me throw my bike in pure frustration.
@MX298: BCBR and BC Enduro series are very different races... BCBR is a multi day, multi-area agressive XC race.
BC Enduro series races can be very challenging. They have various categories but at the same time time, I believe one of the races expert level is qualification for the EWS.
@Drewnose: @ianwish, that was a response to “everything in bc is gnarly” everyone has some gnarly stuff . . . . . . . . and typical Canadian response @drewnose!
Now could someone send me there ?
Please
1 lyke = 1 fun token
The section in the end at 4:12 is the gnarliest enduro race section.
The one in France was tech and very difficult but it was short and you could just kind of throw yourself into it and hope to get out ok, which most did.
This one is a lot more than that. It can go really, really wrong. So trying to race it is super hard because you want to go fast. And it was very easy to go fast and then you had to manage your speed. Some didn't and they had way worse crashes than those in France. So I think it's much "gnarlier"
You can ride it way slower, mostly rolling through everything. A lot of people (including myself) got carried away though and hit it way faster than usual..
The alternative line was basically going around just that bit, in steep, rooted, tight switchbacks that were every bit as technical but without exposure.
One could argue that the slab line is actually the only one that can be ridden smoothly..
There was a section in the last EWS (Montagnes du Caroux) that was more gnarly than this. THere's a video of it with lots of pros crashing.
Canadian XC is like European Enduro
Canadian Enduro is like European DH
Canadian DH = ???
\m/
I understand the tape is there for a reason and I respect it. I made sure I was not in the way of the line, being inside of the tape was only a risk to me. If someone were to crash into me I would actually break their fall!
Are North American enduros trying to gain something against the european slow/tech/akward with DH and freeride tracks?
m.pinkbike.com/news/enduro-triple-crown-king-of-the-mountain-at-mountain-creek-2015.html
This trail looks like a cakewalk compared to the “do I really want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life for cat 5 glory” crap shoot of stage 5
www.rootsandrain.com/race3625/2015-oct-4-triple-crown-eastern-enduro-2-king-of-the-mountain-enduro-mountain-creek-nj/photos/filters/page2
You'll have to come up and sample for yourself to fully understand, though.
@theedon
BC Enduro series races can be very challenging. They have various categories but at the same time time, I believe one of the races expert level is qualification for the EWS.
@ianwish, that was a response to “everything in bc is gnarly” everyone has some gnarly stuff . . . . . . . . and typical Canadian response @drewnose!