dean

@PanoramaMountainVillage: Awesome! Thanks so much guys, I'm stoked to come shred the trails!

Hey guys, great idea on this contest. Panorama’s improvements over the past years has been impressive! The Panorama course is a classic for good reason but even classics need to evolve here and there. Here’s *my opinion* on how to make a great course even better: Right off the bat let’s have a nice, big wooden start ramp. A covered start ramp that gets momentum going right away makes every course feel way more legit. Proper start ramps should be gripped and have supports for leaning on while clipped in- not metal barriers with sand bags. Regarding the whoops idea- I never felt there was an issue with the two drops at the top; the speed is fast but is controlled shortly after the road gap in the short wooden section. However, if whoops are already confirmed then I would recommend making them not too stutter-y and way more spaced out and rolling than most I see. Years ago the Pano race course had whoops near the bottom and these are the design I would recommend. Keep in mind if the goal of the whoops is to slow people down then they need to be long enough to not be jumpable, as is the case at almost all race courses that have whoops (Port Angeles, Silver Star). Let’s get drainage for the piece of open ski run the course crosses on the way towards the uphill to Cliffs of Insanity that is muddy. Either drainage to divert water or put down short section of wood boardwalk over this. This part of the course is already slow when you come out of the woods and then pedalling through mud just feels so garbage. That being said, any part of the course that is a wooden ramp should have grip put on it. The grip should be roofing shingles, not metal lathe as I believe this is a Cycling Canada requirement in case of crashes on the bridge. The rock garden section is awesome, no need to change this piece besides maybe stabilizing any loose boulders so it’s predictable. The uphill to Cliffs of insanity should be made to roll as fast as possible. This would involve building berms prior to the uphill (I’m thinking about that blown out left hander here), chopping out the roots, and laying down soil. This is also my advice for the uphill section after the Cliffs of Insanity. Uphill pedalling sections should roll fast; nobody likes uphills but these at least take us to good parts of the course. Regarding the highlighted sections; 1. Fort Drop. This is fine and should stay in the course. What happens after it- either remaining on fireroad or new section in woods- is fine as long as no signicant loss of flow or pedalling is added. 2. The Plunge. Not worth putting this back in there- it shortens the course way more than the Old Man corners, which are also more fun. I would however prefer to see the Old Man corners bermed instead of left flat to maintain the speed, especially the last left hander that leads to where the Plunge reconnects. Flat corners are great, but these ones are too tight and slow to remain flat. Also, take out the lefthand berm at the bottom of Plunge so riders don’t have to pedal over that hump. 3. Dollar Sign. The fact that this is known as crash central should be enough reason for change. I’m all for steep tracks, but if it’s routed straight down any crashes here are potentially very serious ones. The slightly better alternative of taping it so riders have to go slower to do the two corners will just send them through a tired, eroded section of trail. Yes it’s a classic but it’s had its day and a completely new re-route should be done. 4. The Sender. This seemed good to me, no need to change it. Sends you pretty far at race pace but nothing’s wrong with that. Could always add those corners in forest before it back in to slow riders down. Just make sure riders aren’t corner on wood like they were then. 5. The Finish. Finish line should have a big jump, hell maybe a couple. This is what spectators want to see. Most of the weekend tourists are not going to hike up the 200m to where the whip-off jumps are. Those jumps can also stay, but I think there should be one right at the end. Flat sweeping corners prior to it can be built to control the speed from being too high. Build the Finish coral large enough to allow adequate stopping time. Thanks for being open to ideas. Cheers

Sweet! Panorama keeps getting better every year. Stoked to visit this summer

$300 for Pro men's win? That's not that much. What was the entry fee? Great photos and article though, looks like it was a fun weekend.