Canada Kicks Ass (part 2)

[Particle]

Well Super G asked me to write up a little sumpin' in thanks for his very kind lift tix hookup at Whistler a couple weeks back (Smith ROOLZ!), so here goes. Just got a couple pics but they're not too bad IMO. Anyway, enjoy!

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“How the hell do these people do it?” I think to myself. There’s a fat couple ahead of me in the queue, some kids wearing too-high shorts and tucked-in tees, and some confused muddy guy. There’s a gaggle of teenage girls, babbling loudly, oblivious to the world around them. And I have to wait for them all. People do this. They go on vacation and stand in line, waiting endlessly for some glassy-eyed stoner and a “fuck off you’re just another sheep” attitude to take their rental agreement form and trade it out for some ill-fitting, terribly maintained, rank-smelling rental gear. And I’ve got to wait for them all. Shoot me.

That’s not to say I don’t understand the shop guys; half the reason I’m pissed off is I’ve been in their shoes…if you’ve ever had to put an extra bail on a ski boot so the cuff will actually ‘close’ around some woman’s cankle, you’d know. It burns you out faster than one of these shop techs can smoke a blunt. But although the scene is the same, these kids aren’t sacrificing their sanities for snow, at least not yet. Right now, it’s all about the dirt.

And when the last chattering Kathy teen clears out ahead of me, I accept a grimy, well-used Kona Stinky and wheel it out the door, relieved.

Bikes. I’ve never seen so many big bikes in one spot. It’s like Willy Wonka’s factory, but with $6,000 high-tech candies. Like Canada itself, everything here seems familiar, but just different enough to be foreign: the armor and attire, the accents and money. People wear their full face helmets perched on their foreheads; they hang their bikes on the chairlift hooks from the wheels, not the frame. (Which earned me a full stop on the lift and a no-holds-barred heckling.) No matter how much I feel like I can slide under the radar as a local – and am in fact mistaken for one in the village – I grudgingly accept that yes, I am a tourist in this place.


wild(mild)bill on a super greasy wet rock roll in Goat's Gully. I always seem to run into this guy in the most random places...Chamonix, Goldminer's, Berthoud Badass...Whistler

It’s painfully apparent on my first few runs through the bike park, and for that I’m glad to be riding alone. The braking bumps toss me wildly through the lower berms, I misjudge table lengths, and lose my pedals just looking at a bump in the trail. My bike is uncomfortable, must weigh 50lbs, and the Roco rear shock sounds like a dying cat every time I unweight the suspension. But something clicks the last run of my short first day out. I discover Crank It Up, an intermediate trail with some fun obstacles – a few tables, wallrides, even a step-up to step-down box. The trail smoothes under my wheels, the bike doesn’t screech so horribly, and I find a bit of calm and flow…and start to smile.

The next day I avoid the rental shit-show and head for Evolution, a small snowboard shop that houses a tight fleet of Specialized rigs for rent. Their bikes are well-maintained with high-end components, and their employees treat me like a human being—one who knows something about bikes and mountain culture, even. And on day 2 it makes all the difference. Well that, and having a good friend in town to act as guide.

The amazing thing about riding Whistler is the speed at which you progress. Features that intimidated me the first day felt like anthills the next. The jumps on A-Line quickly went from an anxiety-filled workout to working the jumps for every transition I could hit. The step-downs and step-ups on Dirt Merchant. Most are blind takeoffs but you learn to trust the mountain and the skill of its trail crews. The landings are good—just go. Then on to the steeps, the rock rolls, the tech. I’ve never ridden truly vertical rock before. Slickrock in Moab doesn’t hold a candle to the rolls on Original Sin. No brakes, just let the flow of the trail steer your bike, flow you off drops, send you over gaps. Any of these features on their own would normally give me pause. I’d stop, inspect them, maybe watch a friend hit them first. Then pedal into them and boost them with a surge of adrenaline and be stoked to have survived the stunt. But here, there are so many features, so many airs, so well-built, they all flow together. I line them up, one after another, and they disappear beneath my tires. After 4 hours of riding Whistler over 2 days, I’m a better rider.


tuadog, wall ride

It goes on, and the addiction grows. I’ve fallen in love with my bike, a Demo 7. I must have one. But maybe it’s just the mountain, and I want to own something that reminds me of this place back home. We knock off trails as fast as possible, but there’s not enough time. Too soon, it’s over. The tacky dirt, the grippy granite rolls. Linked log rides for 200 yards, rooty rocky chutes too steep to walk, more air under my tires in one trip than I’ve had in the last year…it’s all still with me.

Back home, we start to build trail. And in every feature, I see visions of what could be. What I’ve ridden, what I’ve learned. And mostly, I look forward to picking up my newly build Demo 7 in a few weeks. It might not bring back Whistler, but damn it’ll be fun.

[flowtron]

That wallride pic is sick!
Good summary of what happens up there...everything changes.

[TuaDog]

Sweet write-up homie. You got some skillz!

Also, that pic does not do Wild Bill justice. That was some greasy, snotty, shiz he rolled down. It does't show the tree on the opposite side that he came inches from ramming his face into. Nor can we hear his giggling as hi pins it.

[RootSkier]

Damn, the wallride pic is off the hook!

[brice618]

Niiice! I can't wait to get up there. Soon enough!

[brettf]

uhh... said it in AG's post... gotta go next summer. Will go next summer.

nice writeup.

[Conundrum]

So many Whistler trip reports! Nice wallride pic!

[altagirl]

Sucks we all missed each other by such a short period of time! But sweet TR and pics!

[Particle]

thanks all. yeah I wish the planets had aligned a wee bit better and gotten the AG's, woo, funken, and everyone else up there at once. next year!

yeah that wildbill roll was ske-etchy! the pic doesn't do justice at all. that guy is the tech slayer.

oh and tuadog's wallride - he BOOSTED off the end straight at me, I think his tires came within 6" of my lens

[dallread]

i cant get over that wall ride pic

[biggins]

wildbill is the tech slayer.

The irony of this is that he is currently neck deep in math equations. Tech indeed.

Looks like August is Whistler month. Someday...

[Mr. Altagirl]

Awesome. It does seem like you need a day or two to change the way you look at things up there. The first day, I didn't even think of riding off the end of the wall rides, then you see someone just stay high, keep their speed up and boost off the end. Every wall ride after became that much more fun. You even begin to notice that there was often a sweet transition located under the wall ride, just to make you smile a little bit more.

I really wish we could have met up with you guys; bumping into W/M Bill would make a Canadian holiday even better. Next year for everyone.....

[Lonnie]

Ahh, it's not so impressive when you discover that trees grow sideways in whistler....



Damn photoshop!!!

[uncle crud]

nice write up and great wallride picture.

[Super G]

Yeah Particle, that about sums it up. It is crazy to roll off those step downs blind, but like you said, trust the trail and let it roll. Glad you had such a good time

[Particle]

Jus found this vid on Transition's site...awesome:

http://blip.tv/file/363361/