Like kids in a candy store, hundreds of enthusiastic downhillers waited patiently in line as the Fitzsimmons Express chairlift spun up to get the 2016 bike park season underway at Whistler Blackcomb.
Everyone from weekend warriors to big name pros made the trek to Whistler this weekend, some even coming from as far away as Asia and Europe. They were definitely not disappointed. With almost the entire Fitzsimmons zone open for riding, and brief rain showers the night before, the trails were in as good a shape as they will be all season. Perfect berms, sticky dirt, and not a braking bump in sight. Well, for a few hours anyways.
Whistler Bike Park Manager Brian Finestone had a smile on his face all day while everyone enjoyed the trails that his crew groomed in an incredibly productive pre-season build-a-thon. And all that was happening while they also geared up to get the heavy dirt movers down the Sea to Sky highway to
Creekside in order to create even more options for riders. "I can tell you we set [rider] records for opening days, and conditions were as good as it gets,'' Finestone said of the weekend. ''I am stoked to be up and running with a long list of build projects for the summer. We are revamping our skills parks and planning to put in some final upgrades to the front side before we get approval and move into a development period over in at Creekside."
While Brett Tippie got everyone in the lift line fired up, we put tires to fresh dirt and shot some photos of local EWS pro and Rocky Mountain/Urge team rider Jesse Melamed and everyone's favorite grom, Jackson Goldstone, as they enjoyed the conditions.
Whistler Mountain Bike Park mountain biking trails
MENTIONS:
@WhistlerMountainBikePark /
@fraserbritton
Lets just say that by the time you got to the front of the line, it was no longer opening day
How the hell did he get up there?
You just need enough speed and less brain to get this idea.
Also saw some locals doing this a few years ago
Also, anyone care to speed up my working holiday visa so I can get over there
yep... two years ago I did the scariest endo of my life there... you describe it perfectly sir!!
So @bretttippie , your interview must start with "I moustache you a question."
pic #5