1 day in Rossland

[raisingarizona13]

On my next episode of my exploration of the Kootenay Region I'm headed to Rossland for one day. One day, what would you ride?

Right now I'm thinking the Flume Trail, thoughts?

[Falcon3]

If you're just pedaling, the Flume or the Dewdney. If you've got some time to pedal, Flume+Whiskey on the Rocks+Cherry Poppins.

If you're open to the shuttle, the 7 Summits is.....something. It's a "do it once" trail for me- steep rocky uphills, then you're like "sweet we're at the top lets go down!" and you get like two switchbacks of rocky descent before you start climbing again. Literally the only part that was Type 1 fun for me was the Dewdney downhill section- the rest was solidly Type 2-3.
I did it once, I won't ever do it again. If you like challenging tech climbs and mountain views it's probably worth doing once though. The gear shop in town does a cheap shuttle from the bottom to the top.

[toast2266]

Personally I'd rather do a whiskey / cherry poppins / crown point than a flume. Flume has it's moments, but ultimately isn't that memorable. 3 shorter descents doesn't seem as cool as 1 longer one, but the 3 shorter ones are all better trails. Same opinion applies to SMD.

I definitely wouldn't bother with 7 summits, including dewdney. It's an xc trail that doesn't feel particularly alpine-y and the descents are very ho-hum.

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[kootenayskier]

If long technical descents are what you’re after, toast22266’s advice is sound. All are in primo condition after recent rain.

[406]

Subscribing... planning 2 days in Sept if weather looking good. 7 Summits really that bad? Or just not Alpine 7 good?

[406]

For trails toast recommended, best to ride up Tamarack?

[toast2266]

Depends a bit where you're coming from. If I'm camping at lions, I'll pedal drake's to Tamarack, down whiskey, then I usually just pedal back up the main road (malde creek), down cherry, then back up the 007 road to crown.

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[kootenayskier]

Subscribing... planning 2 days in Sept if weather looking good. 7 Summits really that bad? Or just not Alpine 7 good?

Seven Summits is polarizing. I ride it regularly and love it, but you have to enjoy long demanding (but satisfyingly rideable) climbs, descents that require precision to find flow through the rough, and a long day in the saddle.

[toast2266]

7 summits is like when the guy in Japan that skis so much powder that he's kinda sick of it tells you to go check out some nice corduroy. If I lived in rossland, I'd ride seven summits periodically. The beginning climb to traversey descent is a nice piece of trail, and dewdney is fun in a blue trail kinda way.

But if I'm visiting, it's not a particularly interesting or unique piece of trail. And there's a lot of other trails in the region (in Rossland, Castlegar, and Nelson) that are very literally some of the best trails I've ridden on the planet (at least in terms of steep, sustained tech and loam).



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[raisingarizona13]

7 summits is like when the guy in Japan that skis so much powder that he's kinda sick of it tells you to go check out some nice corduroy. If I lived in rossland, I'd ride seven summits periodically. The beginning climb to traversey descent is a nice piece of trail, and dewdney is fun in a blue trail kinda way.

But if I'm visiting, it's not a particularly interesting or unique piece of trail. And there's a lot of other trails in the region (in Rossland, Castlegar, and Nelson) that are very literally some of the best trails I've ridden on the planet (at least in terms of steep, sustained tech and loam).



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Well I didn't make it up there today with it being too damn hot for me. And Toast, you get me, I'm not driving up there for a day to ride the 7 Summits, I'm sure it's cool every now and then if you want that sort of epic type ride but that's not what I see as the best the Koots have to offer. The Koots to me are all about that classic steep and deep BC riding and that's definitely what I'm after and besides, I can't ride like that anymore. I can't even sit on a bike for much more than 3 hours and 20 miles. A ride like the 7S wouldn't be fun at all for me.

[evdog]

Subscribing... planning 2 days in Sept if weather looking good. 7 Summits really that bad? Or just not Alpine 7 good?

7 Summits is nothing like Alpine 7. You might be able to ride more of it up but the alpine parts are not very alpiney like Toast said. And there's no fun 3-4k descent.

I'd definitely give Castlegar a try, or Nelson if you'll be over that way.