Squamish/pemberton

We are headed up to ride in Squamish/whistler/pemberton for 4 days in August. Right now are looking at a day at Diamond Head, Alice Lake, and the Alpine trails around Sporatt. Any favorite trails or can't miss areas we're not thinking of? Likely skipping the bike park. How are the trails in Pemberton? Worth a trip up if we are staying in Squamish?

My wife is solid on the chunkier black trails in Park City, but does not have a ton of confidence on really steep trails. She would love to try some slabs or harder riding here and there but definitely not looking to get really rowdy for the whole time. I am looking for some trails with reasonable sized drops and some harder riding, but nothing insane (5-7ish feet, small to mid-sized gaps) to try out but will mostly be riding more mellow stuff together.

Thanks for any tips!

-Spencer

Pemberton: It's been wet in BC pretty much all summer. Pemberton is usually dry & blown out by now. Worth going if for no other reason than it's very unlikely it will be this good this late anytime soon. Or if Whistler and Squam are still getting rained out. I'm usually still skiing when Pemberton is good. (I was there in early July, could have dried out since then).

Rudys' - Type 1 fun woods riding, point and shoot, nothing crazy
Creampuff - Fun rollers and slabs. Would be really fun to ride fast (doubles etc.) on lap 2 or 3. Wife zone for sure.
Overnight Sensation - Some broken slabs, steeper, nothing crazy.
PHD - Steep, technical slabs and chunk. Awesome trail. I skipped multiple A lines. Favorite trail from my most recent trip even with the ego hit. Be prepared to plug your nose riding through the dump on the climb.

Did not ride but got a recs for Hawaii and Bob Gnarly

Whistler:
Out There - Point and shoot slabs, connected with mellow dirt. Goes quick. Wife zone. You'll both have fun.
Dark Crystal - Some broken slabs, maybe on edge of comfort for wife? Rode it wet this time so could be OK dry. Dirt sections are all sweet.
Lord of the Squirrels - Super fun alpine ride. Awesome views. Climb trail is a a sidewalk. Nice.
Rockwork Orange/KMB/Wizard Burial Ground - Tech and slabs, not steep. Rooty, so not recommended when wet.
Green Monster - 3-4 very steep slabs. Not wife zone. Super fun novelty that goes quick if you're feeling comfortable on slabs.

Alice Lake: Slabs and Tech. Everything in this zone is fun. Double black usually means steep or tech slab with tech exits.
Rupert - Great intro for other trails in this area. Some small slab/rolls. Wife will be stoked.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Monkey - Kind of a one off for this area. Fast w/ some root chunk. Super fun change of pace if your nerves are fried from slab riding. Drops you into a hole, short punchy climb out kinda sucks.
Pleasure Trail - Beautiful trail, build is amazing. Not wife zone, but not as gnar as other double blacks in the area.

Somebody can recommend a lower slab trail on the Entrails side.

Diamond Head - Faster than Alice Lake, more berms. Double black means big doubles and/or drops big gaps. Or steep/loose fall line.
Angry Midget - Fun fast chunk. Probably my favorite between Full Nelson and Ditch Pig. Ditch Pig second. Full Nelson is an incredible build but very bike park-y not as much my style.
Somewhere Over There - Big/Medium slabs. Probably not wife zone. Kind of a pain to get to. Three Unrelated Dead guys is a fun variant off the top. Spotted a fun looking unmarked loamer off of this. Looked sweet.

Heard Cakewalk is rebuilt and super fun but didn't get to ride it.

Thanks! Super helpful. Theres so much up there for a short-ish trip it was hard to know where to start. Really looking forward to riding a whole new area.

For squamish, personally I've always enjoyed the alice lake area more than diamond head. Lots of fun, interesting trails of various difficulties that are long enough to be satisfying but short enough that you can do a lot of laps. Agreed with North's recommendations. Especially Rupert - that's a great trail for reasonably competent wives.

Pemberton is relatively wet this year, but it's still much, much drier than Whistler or squamish. Great trails though.

For Whistler proper, a river runs through it is a fun, pretty quick and easy trail that's wife friendly. It's a great evening ride to shake the legs out after sitting in the car.

Good trail recommendations so far.

Pemby has pretty sandy soil, and it takes 2-3 hot, sunny days after the rain for it to be riding pretty loose. I’d hit it only if it rains while you’re there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by North

Crouching Tiger Hidden Monkey -…. Drops you into a hole, short punchy climb out kinda sucks.

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I actually prefer to park at the bottom of Brackentrail so I can finish my ride with Crouching or something else in the area and don’t have to climb at the end. There’s a new-ish climb into the network (Craig’s Connector) that’s a lot more mellow than climbing Brackentrail.

Some other specific recommendations not mentioned:

Whistler:
- get the one ride up ticket and do Top of the World - Khyber - Middle of Nowhere - Kashmir
- the four big Blackcomb descents are all fun. Hey Bud and Crazy Train are a bit steeper overall, which gives you a bit more momentum through the holes. Microclimate and Dark Crystal are a bit less steep.
- Howler is a good option if it’s wet but will be quite loose if it’s dry
- most of the Westside stuff above Stonebridge is similar in flavour - steep rock rolls, janky corners and short, punchy uphills. It’s fun, but expect to work hard.

Squamish, Alice Lake
- for some longer slabs, check out In and Out Burger and Hueso. Value Added to Penthouse is a good option
- Hot Tuna, Miki’s Magic, Man Boobs and Pamplemousse are fun non-slab options with more flow
- Take the Donut is a good quick warmup trail to test the waters on slabs. There are three different ending options of varying difficulty that will give you a feel for what’s in the network

Squamish, Diamondhead
- Airplane Mode is a new advanced jump trail that’s short and easy to tack onto a ride there
- Somewhere Over There is maybe my favourite trail in Squamish. It has a bit of everything.

Pemberton
- Upper Mackenzie Cruise below Let it Go to Max Pains/Back pains is a fun rip with some great views at the top
- The Sickness/No Err is a fun one to tack on in the Mosquito Lake zone
- Live Like Lisa is a favourite
- Rusty Trombone is similar to Overnight Sensation but with some harder slabs. I think I like Overnight better overall - has a bit better flow. But both are great.

If you're staying in Squamish it's not worth the extra time for Pemberton unless like others say it rains. Fwiw Pemberton trails now dusty and loose.

I'll add Whistler wife friendly trails

- Park at Cheakamus. Ride Cheak River trails on the W side heading to Suspension Bridge. Continue Far Side to road then to See Colours and Puke. Up to Hihi, HiLine. Climb to It's Business Time. Do IBT and if you like the first and can get most of it then continue and finish back at Cheakamus. You can bail at AM PM also. That's 2 to 3 hours.

If you want more ride Trainwreck then cross river at bridge and ride Trash. It's technical xc but next to the river and nice for a hot day

For your wife to get comfortable on slabs the best recommendations are the Alice Lake trails mentioned above. In order of difficulty from easier to harder (all wife friendly). Leave of Absence, Rupert, Boney Elbows, Room with a View.

Once you both get comfort you can branch out

Quote:

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Originally Posted by D(C)

I actually prefer to park at the bottom of Brackentrail so I can finish my ride with Crouching or something else in the area and don’t have to climb at the end.

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Me too. I lived in a buddy's front yard in Brackendale for a month and would always finish my ride down there and cruise by the blackberry bushes and fill up a bottle on the way home. Whenever i suggest this to buddies they bitch about the climb, hence the caveat. Good beta on the new climb trail.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeeLau

For your wife to get comfortable on slabs the best recommendations are the Alice Lake trails mentioned above. In order of difficulty from easier to harder (all wife friendly). Leave of Absence, Rupert, Boney Elbows, Room with a View.

Once you both get comfort you can branch out

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This. If you only have 4 days to ride it might even make more sense to just stick to Squamish. It would certainly keep you busy. Imo the wife friendly options are better.

Heads up, I just got back from 6 weeks up there and the mosquitos were intense. I've been up there before and don't remember them being that bad. They also gave zero fucks that I had sprayed with deet.

Also, I'm sure it will open soon but last I had checked Lord of the Squirrels was still closed due to snow.

Really appreciate all the info everyone. Glad to know about deferring on Pemberton unless it rains. Sounds like Squamish mostly is the move and hopefully Lord of the Squirrels melts out before we get there as that looks really fun. Looking forward to checking out the reccommendations.

-Spencer

Echo most - Pemby is arguably the BEST riding conditions permitting. And now, high and dry, means fast, loose and comitting. If you do make it there: Rudys-Overnight, Upper Mac Cruise, Creampuff. Whistler: as lee recco'd: Its business time, Howler, Dark Crystal, Microclimate... all great bang for buck. Squamish: As mentioned - point and shoot the classics in Alice lake/Debecks.
If you have time and want to see a wild mess of Vancouver - Ride on the shore, i.e Seymour - Severed- C buster-Asian-Penny Lane/GSM - Old Buck - DJ/John Deer. Very fun and fast.

Thanks for the write ups!

In Whistler through Saturday, digging the riding (shocker), light rain in Whistler so headed to Pemberton tomorrow, stoked to check it out :-). Same as op, riding with wifey, will start with Rudy's and head to Hawaii, videos look great :-)!

nice rain last evening in Squamish too, should help the dryness situation for a couple days. great timing for Pemby, and Rudy's Hawaii is a great call!

Finally got up to Squamish a few weeks ago, did a short trip over Labor Day weekend. Stellar trails, Teh Spousal Unit™ and I will definitely go back. Got some of the greatest hits, probably revisit this thread for more ideas next time we go.

My buddy (Powtron) is running a trip for us and yesterday they were in Pemberton... crazy smoke in the valley, but goddamn those trails are so fun. I need to get up there to ride Jack the Ripper at some point.

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^^ sick shot!!


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My weekend outlooks have improved greatly. If anyone in seattle or bham wants to make a trip. Advanced rider, but not psychotic and no big gaps.

Besides going up to pemberton, do any of the diamond head trails/Alice lake trails hold up particularly well in the rain? We are going up for what has become an annual trip on Monday, they are calling for half an inch of rain then showers the rest of the trip. Not sure how limited we will end up being. Thanks!

I'd say go for it. Last time I rode there it rained overnight and most of the morning. Trails were hero dirt in the afternoon at Diamond head.

we haven't had any rain in weeks here in Squamish and its dry AF. Half inch of rain will be sublime and it's much needed!

Awesome!! So glad to hear that, thanks for the info.