Yield to the Climber

Nothing better than getting on a bike and pedaling uphill to be able to own the downhill. After the long climb, you turn around and are so stoked to rip. You take off with extreme excitement and hit top speeds railing downhill. Then, you see a biker climbing uphill and you remember a sign saying that you need to “Yeild to Climber” sign and at that moment when you are in heaven flying down the hill you try to stop. The problem is there is some technical steep areas that make it very difficult to stop and then you start skidding and becoming out of control. There is a strong chance that you will get injured in the process but at least you are following the rules.


So many advances have happened to mountain biking in the past few decades. Bikes are more capable then ever. Trail design has been on point and is continuing to improve every year. Some trail systems have been able to address the problem of bike traffic with making one way trails. This eliminates most conflicts and potential collisions of riders on the trails. This works well when elevations allow you to have a climb trail that leads you to the downhill specific trails.

I have tried to find the origin of this rule of yielding. I have yet to find the origin or logic. The best explanation that I have heard is this rule was actually made for log trucks on fire roads. If they have to stop when going up the hill they would lose momentum and not be able to continue to climb. Which this rule makes sense for semis but it does not make sense for bikes.

Should there be an update on the rules of “Yeilding to Climber” when there is two way traffic on trails?