Friggin' legit vic alpine trail report

Moodge

Likes Dirt
FRIGGIN LEGIT VIC ALPINE TRAIL REPORT

I’ve been on a bit of a road trip and thought a Vic Alpine Trail Report would help guide anyone looking for a shred- Obviously only reporting tracks I rode. Enjoy :)

FALLS CREEK-
Transport- Blue Dirt Shuttles were running, turnaround times were a bit inconsistent but great staff, u can buy essentials and good coffee. Also a bike wash, filtered water and plugs for Ebikes. Needs a toastie on the menu.

FRYING PAN SPUR- Rolling gravel walking style trail, rad views, links to High Voltage.
HIGH VOLTAGE- Cool start, lots of bus stops, rocky sections, didn’t tap the gnar ’cause I was still waking up but a good run to get the feel of Falls.
WISHING WELL- Some cool sections, seen heavy use so well bedded in, rocky outcrops felt better than High Voltage.
THUNDERBOLT- Downhill Track sections, good flow, lots of rocky bits, eats rims, Loved it!
FLOW TOWN- Great beginning, sucky middle if you’re unfit, great last section. Sweet corners, some gaps. Worth visiting to have a go for sure. Loved it.
EAGLE ROCK- Kinda like a rut down part of a creek, seen massive use, needs a fresh line, pretty views.
THE GENERATOR- It flows, it corners, great pedally trail, the descents link our you can do a loop and climb, no stress for anyone to ride.
VORTEX- Refer to The Generator


BRIGHT-
Transport- Shuttling with my mate Pete. The town of Bright has embraced bikes and the only thing missing is a chairlift to the top of Mystic and me owning a house there.

HERO TRAIL- Finally a track that will teach the average Aussie how to blend in when riding Aline.
WC DOWNHILL- A tad wild but still fun. Good for shitting my enduro green undies not knowing what was coming up.
CURTAIN- Tight, windy, a bit gay after riding Hero.
INFARCT HILL- Not sure it was a track or not.
WHOODARNET (or something like that)- I literally got stuck between two trees, easy rolly stuff.
TWISTIES- Was over the lower section of the hill by then.
SOME OTHER TRACKS I DIDN’T CHECK THE NAME- Seems neglected because there is so much new trail development going on which is fair enough. Bright is awesome and will continue to grow.

MT BULLER
Transport- Chairlifts for DH, Shuttling with Pete everywhere else. Wishing I still lived there for the riding and environment, $34.50 for 2 b&e rolls and 1 coffee makes it easier that I left.. but I have close mates and Buller has so much potential to be the best in Vic and I love the place so will always return. Ride the chairlift when it’s open.

ABOM- A tad schetchy but great as always, more jumps now and cleaner lower section. Showoff corner still sux but ABOM is a classic and always a fave.
INTERNATIONAL- The fastest i’ve ever seen it, decent road gaps that i’m scared of now, timeless DH trail. Love it!
YELLOWPOST- More people should ride this section, it’s good practice.
DELATITE- I have no idea why they bulldozed such an awesome and well established track. Whatever the reason is, right now it’s terrible.
KLINGSPORN- CLOSED…. like what the fuck? It’s a legendary descent and should be in the hall of fame, not closed. RIP
EPIC DESCENT- Brilliant, dusty, drifty, flows and fast. Do the climbs at least once to earn the right to ride it. Easily the best flowy run in Oz, brilliant.
COPPERHEAD- Still destroying beginners daily. Marble gravel and rocks have never boosted the confidence of any beginner I know. Rad track if it’s wet and you want to push it.

Cheers and hope this was some friggin legit advice. :)
 

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Ezkaton

Eats Squid
Heading to Falls and Bright this weekend, so I'm thankful to have read this! A+ for effort! :first:
 

Logic

Likes Dirt
Great Review! Super stoked about Mt Buller, going there in a couple of weeks for my first ever VDHS race!!
 

Nautonier

Eats Squid
Have ridden most of the above recently and concur with your thoughts completely - especially the sucky grading of Delatite - WTF?

Also, what are you doing riding my bike haha. Gotta love the Range for a throughly capable beast of a bike. Surprised you didn't take it down Mystic, or did you not have enough changes of underwear?
 

kiwiinmelb

Likes Dirt
Good Review, never ridden any of this but have an interest to do so,

Im looking for a weekend away with the missus ( she has no interest in riding) looking for somewhere I can go off early and ride for a few hours each morning , and will hang with her the rest of the day ,

And I will be happy i get to ride somewhere new , and she will be happy that we are staying somewhere nice ,

I was thinking Bright might fit the bill ?
 

Switch

huskier headed gent
Good Review, never ridden any of this but have an interest to do so,

Im looking for a weekend away with the missus ( she has no interest in riding) looking for somewhere I can go off early and ride for a few hours each morning , and will hang with her the rest of the day ,

And I will be happy i get to ride somewhere new , and she will be happy that we are staying somewhere nice ,

I was thinking Bright might fit the bill ?
You can't go wrong with Bright if you are taking a non rider. All the trails are close to town so you don't have to spend ages commuting plus the tourists head there in their droves so there must be something to keep the punters happy. Plenty of accom to choose from, from the expensive romantic stuff that will keep you in your lady's good graces/nickers to the cheap and nasty that depending on your lady may have the same effect :eyebrows:
 

teK--

Eats Squid
What did they do to Delatite??

I always considered it to just be a fast and loose rocky fireroad with some nice river crossings but was still fun to ride at great speed.

Also some of the rock armoring has started to come loose in the berms up top of Epic Descent. Makes for some interesting mid-corner line corrections to avoid the dislodged rocks if you aren't careful.
 

Moodge

Likes Dirt
What did they do to Delatite??

I always considered it to just be a fast and loose rocky fireroad with some nice river crossings but was still fun to ride at great speed.

Also some of the rock armoring has started to come loose in the berms up top of Epic Descent. Makes for some interesting mid-corner line corrections to avoid the dislodged rocks if you aren't careful.
They graded Baywatch, all lines/ features are gone. Some Of The bottom is bulldozed which has just left it more rocky.
 

teK--

Eats Squid
They graded Baywatch, all lines/ features are gone. Some Of The bottom is bulldozed which has just left it more rocky.
Hrm

it was fine as it was. they should focus their effort on cleaning up Copperhead.
 

Moodge

Likes Dirt
RMB only employ 2 people to maintain the entire trail network (walking tracks included)... about 110k worth so it'll never get up to standard until they pull their finger out and invest year round instead of being satisfied with the massive $$ influx from winter....
BSL maintain the DH tracks but only the chairlift is open and again its a limited crew, they're doing a great job on the dh service tho :)
 
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ajay

^Once punched Jeff Kennett. Don't pick an e-fight
It was ok when it first opened some 4 years ago but does not appear to have had any proper maintenance since.

It was a sketchy, gravel laden disaster from day 1. Unnecessarily dangerous for the beginners it's aimed at, and unnecessarily sketchy for experienced riders.

Speaking of Buller though, I was there on boxing day and noticed a bunch of new/very inexperienced riders on Abom, some with supermarket bikes wearing cheap, poorly secured open face helmets... It used to be FF only, has that rule been relaxed? Needless to say we saw a few wounded bodies at the end of the day.
 

teK--

Eats Squid
It was a sketchy, gravel laden disaster from day 1. Unnecessarily dangerous for the beginners it's aimed at, and unnecessarily sketchy for experienced riders.

Speaking of Buller though, I was there on boxing day and noticed a bunch of new/very inexperienced riders on Abom, some with supermarket bikes wearing cheap, poorly secured open face helmets... It used to be FF only, has that rule been relaxed? Needless to say we saw a few wounded bodies at the end of the day.
I'm quite sure Copperhead is the only track that starts from up there and doesn't require a FF. Although last year in the bike buller XC Race I recall they funnelled us down the first 200m or so of Abom but then diverted onto the road shortly after the first set of whoops.
 

Boom King

downloaded a pic of moorey's bruised arse
I'm quite sure Copperhead is the only track that starts from up there and doesn't require a FF. Although last year in the bike buller XC Race I recall they funnelled us down the first 200m or so of Abom but then diverted onto the road shortly after the first set of whoops.
When I rode up there a couple of years back, there was nobody stopping anyone riding whatever they pleased.
 

dunndog

Eats Squid
Yeah copperhead is one of the worst manufactured tracks I have seen . Complete waste of money.
I don't know anyone that disagrees with this. Sounds pretty lame what they've done to Delatite too. Close the best run down the hill, and run a dozen along the other? Got some genius' up there!

Cool wrap up mate, sounds like you had a rather large trip!
 
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