Full Nelson - Opening day in Squamish BC

May 7, 2012 at 14:08
by Margus Riga  
Before there was only Half Nelson, now we have Full Nelson. With an added kilometer of twisty, twirly, whirly trail - meticulously buffed and hand-crafted by the one and only "Big Red Ted" Tempany, and his motley Dream Wizards clan. The Full Nelson is now on the map as one of the most fun and flowey trails anywhere.

"I wasn't expecting this!", gasped Ted as he takes in the overwhelming support from the sponsors, and the massive amount of riders that showed up for the Full Nelson ride day. Red Bull was in charge of blasting the tunes and the hype. Anthill was on hand stoking the fire for their video (Strength in Numbers) premiere that evening. Rocky Mountain, Devinci and Giant were there with demo bikes, and Tuf Rack was there to help get everyone to the top. Spring is here. Get on your bike. Hang out with your friends.


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  The Shuttle can only take you so far...the rest is up to you.

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  Nothing's holding back this dude from opening day on his favorite trail.

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  Rocky Pipeline. This was the original slay-it-all bike back in Freeride's infancy. Wade used to drop this rig to flat from ten feet up.

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  Simmons and Smith...about to experience what all the hype's about

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  A Strength In Numbers big move, Semenuk gaps this bridge across the creek.

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  Darcy Wittenburg and Wade Simmons...spreading the good times.

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  Bjorn Enga, mad scientist film-maker from the original Kranked series was hanging out with his new Kranked bike. The thing's got a motor and can ride DH trails. Welcome to the machine.

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  Tuf Racks tagged by the likes of Semenuk, Stevie Smith and Simmons.

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  Wade Simmons and Steve Mitchell share a Surly moment.

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  Without these three dudes, you wouldn't be riding your bike the way you ride it today...Paddy Kaye, Big Red Ted, and Jean Jacques Desormeaux.

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  Miranda Miller and Gabe Fox.

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  Squamish locals rule...Cory Leclerc.

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Views: 12,918    Faves: 52    Comments: 12


Author Info:
Margus avatar

Member since Aug 4, 2009
103 articles

57 Comments
  • 37 8
 Personal preference, but Black and white doesn't cut it for me. Leave it to the depressing articles, like North Fork...
  • 8 5
 Black and white is so over rated
  • 18 3
 Pedal like a mofo, case half the jumps and overshoot the rest, if there's a landing at all. Yup, it's definitely part of half nelson.
  • 1 1
 Havn't ridden it, but I agree with Kramster, after lookin at the footage..
  • 2 0
 It's spaced out much better then half nelson if you're a fast rider, it's still pretty soft and he rode it in the afternoon after about 3000+ laps were probably put on it.
  • 1 1
 I havnt riden the trail but, that video footage isn't doing it any justice compaired to what I have heard. Is that just part of the trail?
  • 2 1
 cmac's right, if you aren't fast as all hell and know it like the back of your hand, it comes across as choppy and awkwardly constructed. still blows what most people have access to out of the water though...
  • 1 0
 Let me know when you're up there feds, coz it would be sweet to see someone who is fast as hell. I'll bring a pen and paper so I can get your autograph after you nail that sucker to the wall. Bring cmack and we can have a full on bro fest of super rad fast dudes.
  • 2 1
 Considering you're spending your spare time making fun of people for no apparent reason on pinkbike, maybe you should try and do a better job? Half Nelson was built as a trail that everybody could ride and is by ministry of trails standards supposed to be "rollers down the hill". They're not tehcnically allowed to build a jump trail on crown land so any "rollers" that have what appears to be a lip shaped frontside should be appeciated, not trashed by trolls who haven't even ridden the trail for themselves yet.
  • 1 0
 Looks to me like you and feds are saying my evaluation is incorrect and if I was fast as hell like you guys I'd realize it. I've ridden the trail in the wet and the dry, and I have ridden its predecessor on 4 different bikes from a hardtail to a DH, and in a variety of conditions. I have no problem with the lips at all, and my feelings about what's on the other side of them is not unique. Criticism directed at the volunteer builders in town seems to flow freely. Just providing a little balance.
  • 10 0
 The classic, "GoPro Chesty mount turned down a bit too low" camera angle.
  • 5 2
 I had a rocky pipeline up to about a year ago. The barney purple and yellow one. Got stolen. Im still upset about it. Those bikes are seriously rad. Quick release rear end changes from 4'', 5'' or 6'' travel. Built on annacis isl. One of the all time classics...
  • 5 0
 Song?


"Sound of silence" by Simon and Garfunkel...

That's a quiet bike!...
  • 4 0
 sounded more like John Cage - 4 minutes 33 seconds
  • 2 0
 There's several shuttle vehicles in these pictures. Can anyone suggest a good shuttle service for taking a day trip to Squamish from Whistler?
  • 1 0
 There are a few guys down there but best bet is to take an AM bike and just ride up. You can only shuttle part the way anyway so you're really better off getting the bus down and just riding up past Quest. Or you could just live there like I did.....
  • 1 0
 terribly run company...find another if possible!
  • 1 0
 www.ridebig.com they do a sea to sky that hits all the good stuff..not to mention cool group of guides.
  • 2 0
 This looks like absolute paradise. Good weather, new trails to rip, shuttles, girls that ride, hanging with the pros. Man I wish I was up in B.C.
  • 1 0
 Sick trail, heres to the builders great job. I would have like to see some colour shots and is it just me or does the vid need a sound track the breathing through it is a little creepy
  • 1 0
 great day! by the time we showed up the trail was turned into buttery grease through some sections but other wise amazing. it's expected to turn that way after hundreds of people ride in one day though haha. squamish is the place to ride! nice work boys!
  • 2 1
 I think its sweet what they did here instead of building something filming it and just letting it go to waste like most films do, they built a trail out of it and are let the public use it. tup
  • 1 0
 bad black and white setting. super contrasty. weird vignetting that forces my eyes to one part of the picture when I want to see the detail in the landscape. Cool pics bad editing techniques
  • 1 0
 that chest cam design needs work.i have a similar video.Doh.. . awesome event. good vibe from all the tents. would have been nice to see Julian C loading bikes onto the shuttles. we had a great time.
  • 3 0
 i go there if it be more colorfull...
  • 3 0
 Huge props to the trail builders and the local riding community!
  • 3 0
 Such a great day in Squampton! Great photos Margus.
  • 1 1
 got to be honest, no disrespect to the guys that built it, in fact huge respect, but it doesn't look more fun than 19th hole or something a bit more dh orientated on that hill.
  • 1 0
 It's slow and pedally because the trail was opened a week early. It rained the whole week leading to the opening hence the ruts on a machine built trail.
  • 2 0
 The more I rode it, the more I liked it! Just like every trail in that town.
  • 2 0
 this park know what flow means. every park must be like this Smile
  • 1 0
 It's fun but it's more of a confused a-line/b-line..... it is quite tough to link up the whole trail
  • 2 1
 A visual feist! Loving the feel of the b&w, it worked so well for those photos.
  • 1 0
 where have the colors gone? some pics are truly epic in b&w... but all?
  • 1 1
 agreed, the composition and angles are all really good but so many were spoiled by using that dodgy soft focus effect too...
  • 3 0
 Awww, don't like all the bendy bendy black and whites with a bit 'o blurry blurry eh? It's called ART Razz
  • 6 0
 Dodgy soft focus effect? That was a $2000 tilt shift lens.
  • 2 0
 Apologies Fraser, I am unaccustomed to tilt-shift lens technology and what it can/cannot achieve. My somewhat limited knowledge of photography has always seen pictures with a traditional 'focal plane' (or whatever the proper term for it is) where the focal depth is achieved horizontally across the picture. I thought heavy after-processing had taken place and I was wrong - my bad.

I do think it achieves a very strong effect, and with such an expensive bit of kit I'd be very tempted to get the most out of my money and use it a lot, but in my opinion (and this is only my opinion and certainly not the rest of pinkbike's), some photos would have been better without (eg some of the 'lifestyle' shots such as the guys in front of the Giant van and some of the other similar pictures where the focal blur stops you from appreciating other things that are happening in the frame)

Anyway, my original criticism was rather basic and unhelpful. Hopefully I have substantiated myself a little better now.
  • 2 0
 thanks again PK, JJD and BRT turbo fun....
  • 1 0
 Looks great I wish we had trails like that here, I am getting of the 28hr drive to BC!!!! And 'Squampton' lol
  • 2 0
 Grab your inhaler bro, sounded like you needed it! lol
  • 1 0
 POD Heaven, and Margus Riga playing god !
  • 1 0
 Straight outta Squampton!
  • 1 0
 funtastic collections of bw!! kewllll
  • 1 0
 cant wait for the helmet cams!
  • 1 0
 what the hell is a recreation officer? never heard of one?
  • 1 0
 Half Nelson, Full Nelson, what next? Father Nelson?
  • 1 1
 More color and less Hipster filters please.
  • 14 0
 Doesn't a hipster filter filter out hipsters? So what you're saying is, you want more hipster
  • 1 0
 1:30 -- whoa!
  • 1 0
 table yep.... ooooh soft
  • 1 2
 POD, POD, POD, POD, oo look, another POD
  • 2 4
 Is it just me or does the trail look really slow, pedally and just not really very flowy at all..? Frown
  • 1 0
 Half Nelson is an amazing trail. Like a Dh pump track, no pedalling involved.
  • 2 0
 Plenty of pedalling if you want to send it like Stevie...
  • 1 0
 its not just you... but perhaps its due to the newness of the trail, needs to pack down over time.







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