Theres just something fun about hitting water bars flat out and the scenery that make the delatite awesome.
I was up there hitting it on Boxing day and that video doesn't do it justice. It's awesome for them to finally have something that makes people think twice about (excluding the wall ride). It sounds like they're getting some assistance from the RMB to get the trails up to scratch as well. Maybe some more big things to come...?
Had a brief look before xmas - have they gravelled the entire track now? and turned the doubles into tables?
No, not sure where you got that impression from? There's one new tabletop about 2/3 of the way down but there weren't any jumps in that section previously. They only use the gravel where they need to try and reduce erosion or build a feature where there isn't enough existing soil/rock.
It is now just black powder which gets into everything. The line coming down into this has also changed making it harder to maintain your speed into this corner.
AH ok, they posted on their facebook page that they were turing all the doubles in table tops.
I rode Abom yesterday and found the changes really good. As quoted above I found I spent most of the day on it without getting bored or shaken to pieces. The brown powder they've laid down has taken some of impacts away from the rougher parts of the track. The realignment has made me ride some corners smoother. The new jumps keep it interesting enough to keep me coming back to try and perfect them or ride them faster. Got to to agree that the brown powder over the show off corner seems fairly pointless. I didn't have too many issues with the gravel.
The chairlift will give you repeated runs of the horse hill 'DH' trails which start at or near top of chair, and finish the the lift line's lowest point. International is prob the most DH-esque trail there. ABOM is gnarly but not too hard, as is Yellow Post and Outlaw. Copperhead is smooth and fast, and easiest.
The latter. But can't comment on whether you can bulk buy shuttle rides. Anyone? FWIW you can get to Klingers from the DH trails ... they all cross it if you know where to turn off. Otherwise there may be a sign near the Copperhead trailhead. You can also get to Delatite from the DH trails ... pretty sure if you ride the Buller road to box corner it'll get you to the Delatite trail without much climbing. If you're on AM bikes you'd be well served heading down past village and climb to Gang Gangs as a way to hit Delatite. Perhaps someone can confirm.
That's where I've always paid, never booked. Only thing to look out for is if there's a DH race on.
My first time on the DH trails at Buller was on a 130mm Scott Genius bike - practically an XC bike by today's standards. It was bumpier than it is on my Nomad now, which is obviously bumpier than on a DH bike. But totally do-able and plenty of fun. The thing with the Buller DH trails is they're all doable on a XC hardtail if you want - speed is what turns them from ultra technical slow-n-sketchy XC descents into DH trails. I guess with the exception of International - there'd be a few points along that which would prob require a bit of leg-work to get over. Or, from another perspective, points which will land you in a stretcher if you push too far on the wrong kind of bike with a lack of skill.
