Trails in Canada
- Thread starter yuley95
- Start date
yuley95
soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
I actually came across 3 grizzly bears the other day. Hauled arse in the other direction pretty quick.
This def feels like a once in a lifetime adventure. Trying to make the most of it!
Jpez
Down on the left!
I’ve slowly been getting my missus stoked on the idea of a North American conference as she’s now seriously boarded the junket train and now she’s found that Canada has some of the most highly respected forensic psychology conferences in the world she’s now salivating over the idea for next year. I’m quietly fist pumping.
I’ve got a mate over there atm so loving seeing all the photos and ride reports.
Awesome thread and updates @yuley95.
I’ve got a mate over there atm so loving seeing all the photos and ride reports.
Awesome thread and updates @yuley95.
Last edited:
yuley95
soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Nelson - 49er
I’ll keep this short as I only sampled the trails in this region over one session…
49er is a smaller region of trails 15 mins out of Nelson with a flavour all its own. In fact, one of the things that blows me away about Nelson trails is the variety. There are 4 or 5 distinct trail networks all within 15-20 mins of this small town and each networks has a unique vibe.
Mountain Station is steep and deep freeride in feel with technical, hand cut trails that head straight down and include lots of timber features.
Morning Mountain has more flow and jump trails with the odd bit of tech here and there.
North Shore is apparently a massive huck-fest (still have to get out that way to see for myself).
And 49er has more of an old-school, all-mountain adventure vibe to it. The day I went there, it was misty and I was pretty much riding in a cloud. The mist and the old growth pine had a ‘Mandy’ vibe to it (if you are a horror fan and have not watched Mandy yet, stop right now and go watch it).
I was the only person riding out there and my ‘bear alert’ algorithm was pinging like never before. I ramped up my HPM (holler per minute) ratio to new heights and started a long but easy climb up a fire service road. I got to the top of the trails after 30 mins or so and sampled the OG trail out here called 49er.
I’ve said it before but the soil out here is all-time awesome. Springy, rich loam that is silent under your tyres and gives grip for days. Unfortunately wet pine roots aren’t as grippy
First corner I came to, I turned across a pine root, washed the front and sloooooowly hit the deck as my tyre got pushed off-line, hit the loam, dug in but couldn’t hold me and slowly dug in further as the soil lowered me into its embrace.
Lesson learnt, I charged on and tried to keep upright over the wet roots.
The trail undulated through old growth pines. It was pretty magic being out there in the mist and silence with not a soul to be seen - except squirrels and chipmunks every now and then.
49er has lots of old wooden skinnies and bridges. Some are still ok but others have rotted and some have been rebuilt. Given the dampness, I avoided most. Eventually the things start to get steeper and there are some proper tech sections of very narrow, steep and twisty trail but nothing extreme. After a while it opens up into another trail that is more pedally but fast and follows along the side of the service road to finish with a bit of a fun and fast blast.
I rode back up and did it all again - this time taking the Hotwheels trail top to bottom. It was similar in starting with undulating sections through pines before getting steep and technical. This trail lacked the timber features of 49er and spent time in a recently logged area of the mountain that kinda detracted from the magical feeling of the other trails.
Glad I went out and sampled it but with so many other amazing trails to session, I can’t see me getting back there in the near future. Heading to Rossland tomorrow and will try and get to the North Shore area of Nelson next week.
I’ll keep this short as I only sampled the trails in this region over one session…
49er is a smaller region of trails 15 mins out of Nelson with a flavour all its own. In fact, one of the things that blows me away about Nelson trails is the variety. There are 4 or 5 distinct trail networks all within 15-20 mins of this small town and each networks has a unique vibe.
Mountain Station is steep and deep freeride in feel with technical, hand cut trails that head straight down and include lots of timber features.
Morning Mountain has more flow and jump trails with the odd bit of tech here and there.
North Shore is apparently a massive huck-fest (still have to get out that way to see for myself).
And 49er has more of an old-school, all-mountain adventure vibe to it. The day I went there, it was misty and I was pretty much riding in a cloud. The mist and the old growth pine had a ‘Mandy’ vibe to it (if you are a horror fan and have not watched Mandy yet, stop right now and go watch it).
I was the only person riding out there and my ‘bear alert’ algorithm was pinging like never before. I ramped up my HPM (holler per minute) ratio to new heights and started a long but easy climb up a fire service road. I got to the top of the trails after 30 mins or so and sampled the OG trail out here called 49er.
I’ve said it before but the soil out here is all-time awesome. Springy, rich loam that is silent under your tyres and gives grip for days. Unfortunately wet pine roots aren’t as grippy
First corner I came to, I turned across a pine root, washed the front and sloooooowly hit the deck as my tyre got pushed off-line, hit the loam, dug in but couldn’t hold me and slowly dug in further as the soil lowered me into its embrace.
Lesson learnt, I charged on and tried to keep upright over the wet roots.
The trail undulated through old growth pines. It was pretty magic being out there in the mist and silence with not a soul to be seen - except squirrels and chipmunks every now and then.
49er has lots of old wooden skinnies and bridges. Some are still ok but others have rotted and some have been rebuilt. Given the dampness, I avoided most. Eventually the things start to get steeper and there are some proper tech sections of very narrow, steep and twisty trail but nothing extreme. After a while it opens up into another trail that is more pedally but fast and follows along the side of the service road to finish with a bit of a fun and fast blast.
I rode back up and did it all again - this time taking the Hotwheels trail top to bottom. It was similar in starting with undulating sections through pines before getting steep and technical. This trail lacked the timber features of 49er and spent time in a recently logged area of the mountain that kinda detracted from the magical feeling of the other trails.
Glad I went out and sampled it but with so many other amazing trails to session, I can’t see me getting back there in the near future. Heading to Rossland tomorrow and will try and get to the North Shore area of Nelson next week.
beeb
Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
This thread is enough to give @Plankosaurus PTSD.
pink poodle
気が狂っている男
The forest looks awesome. I reckon running into (and thus having to talk with) a Canadian is probably more concerning than the beers.
Plankosaurus
Spongeplank Dalepantski
yuley95
soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
LPG
likes thicc birds
For me nothing stops me slower than moist wood. on the other hand the second quickest stop is the dirt under my tyres when I see the moist wood, the quickest is the dirt I hit when I don't see the moist wood in time.
yuley95
soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Rossland
In what appears to be a VERY bold statement, Rossland claims to be the ‘mountain bike capital of Canada’. I’m not sure the claim holds up but that shouldn’t detract from the fact that Rossland is one of the founding networks in BC and has a great variety of trails that are all accessible from the very beautiful town centre.
I can’t comment on much of what is on offer (apparently over 170 trails) but I can give you a little info about the trails centred around the ski resort of Red Mountain. Before you jump to conclusions that ‘soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again’, let me tell you that I was earning my turns at Red Mountain as it doesn’t run lifts (even thought they tease you by sitting there immobile).
I only had a couple of hours to ride after spending an hour driving from Nelson then having to be back by 2:30pm to pick up my son from school (don’t get me started on how short the school day is here…).
I sessioned a few trails, had a good chat with an old bloke and his blue healer (I’ve seen quite a few here that are either full Bluey or part) and managed to come across 0 bears. That’s a good day out in my books.
Red Mountain has a lot of work going on at the moment building new accommodation. Looks like a pretty cool spot. Might have to head back in winter.
The trails there seem to have been built around 2020. There was a reference on Trail Forks to a ‘bike park’ plan that may have been abandoned. I’m not sure what the status on that is but either way, there is a small selection of trails on the mountain that could be served by lifts and lots more space to further develop.
I ran three trails. One was a blue flow trail (Gold Digger), one a black jumps trail (Dragon Tail) and I finished off with a pretty flowy black tech trail called ‘Paydirt’.
The climbing trail to access all three was a really beautiful and climbed about 250 metres. The trails were really well built and surprisingly well maintained. Paydirt was definitely my favourite with some tech chutes, a little woodwork in the form of skinnies and drops, a few berms and jumps towards the bottom and a couple of sections with line choice to drop down big rock slabs or tackle tight tech corners.
I finished off by riding back into town by some of the more undulating single track. I would head back there to taste more trails for sure.
There is a 29km trail with 1000 vert metres of climbing called Seven Summits that seems like a bit of a marquee trail but I can’t see me getting to it.
Temps are dropping below 0 this week but I’ll make it a priority to hit the ‘North Shore’ trails before the snow rolls in. I’ll keep you posted
In what appears to be a VERY bold statement, Rossland claims to be the ‘mountain bike capital of Canada’. I’m not sure the claim holds up but that shouldn’t detract from the fact that Rossland is one of the founding networks in BC and has a great variety of trails that are all accessible from the very beautiful town centre.
I can’t comment on much of what is on offer (apparently over 170 trails) but I can give you a little info about the trails centred around the ski resort of Red Mountain. Before you jump to conclusions that ‘soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again’, let me tell you that I was earning my turns at Red Mountain as it doesn’t run lifts (even thought they tease you by sitting there immobile).
I only had a couple of hours to ride after spending an hour driving from Nelson then having to be back by 2:30pm to pick up my son from school (don’t get me started on how short the school day is here…).
I sessioned a few trails, had a good chat with an old bloke and his blue healer (I’ve seen quite a few here that are either full Bluey or part) and managed to come across 0 bears. That’s a good day out in my books.
Red Mountain has a lot of work going on at the moment building new accommodation. Looks like a pretty cool spot. Might have to head back in winter.
The trails there seem to have been built around 2020. There was a reference on Trail Forks to a ‘bike park’ plan that may have been abandoned. I’m not sure what the status on that is but either way, there is a small selection of trails on the mountain that could be served by lifts and lots more space to further develop.
I ran three trails. One was a blue flow trail (Gold Digger), one a black jumps trail (Dragon Tail) and I finished off with a pretty flowy black tech trail called ‘Paydirt’.
The climbing trail to access all three was a really beautiful and climbed about 250 metres. The trails were really well built and surprisingly well maintained. Paydirt was definitely my favourite with some tech chutes, a little woodwork in the form of skinnies and drops, a few berms and jumps towards the bottom and a couple of sections with line choice to drop down big rock slabs or tackle tight tech corners.
I finished off by riding back into town by some of the more undulating single track. I would head back there to taste more trails for sure.
There is a 29km trail with 1000 vert metres of climbing called Seven Summits that seems like a bit of a marquee trail but I can’t see me getting to it.
Temps are dropping below 0 this week but I’ll make it a priority to hit the ‘North Shore’ trails before the snow rolls in. I’ll keep you posted
yuley95
soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Nelson - North Shore
Slipped on my big-boy pants and headed out to the North Shore trail network yesterday. Turns out I should have packed pants that say ‘bad mother fucker’ except I don't own a pair.
This place gets really real, real quick. Fun though. So fun.
I started with a pretty easy climb up a fire road then headed down ‘Ledges’ for some rock slab action. The upper section of Ledges is awesome. It consists of a series of rock faces linked together by some sweet single track. The rock faces are steep but not too long and generally reasonably straight with ok runout.
The second part of the trail is more of a mixed bag. Some of the slabs lead to secondary slabs with only a short, metre long ‘ledge’ between. This makes for an awkward transition that a skilled rider would probably jump over but it left me scratching my head. Other parts of the trail are fast sections of narrow single track threading through huge pine trees over delicious loam.
The next trail I sampled was ‘Nooner’. This is where shit got real. The top section includes massive jumps with big gaps and big consequences. Riding by myself and without my ‘bad mother fucker’ pants, I decided to ride around the jumps then realised there is an alternative line with some sweet natural trail features including step downs off large rocks and root gaps to hit for giggles.
The bottom section of the trail is steep and loose with lots of roots to catch you out if you hit it fast. Things get less steep at the end and become more playful with more cheeky gaps to hit if you spot them.
On my third lap I hit ‘Morning Sickness’. The ‘really realness’ here comes in the form of almost a km’s worth of massive, STEEP slabs with no ride-around option. The first couple you hit are ok but as you head down the trail they get looooong. I don’t mind riding slabs but I’ve never hit anything the size and steepness of these before.
The rock is pretty grippy but the sheer steepness of them means you really only get a chance to get everything right at the top - and then you’re a passenger. There was a bit of sweating, a lot of rear brake feathering and a substantial amount of sphincter puckering.
Most slabs had a reasonable runout but a few had tight corners following or a secondary slab straight after that required you to keep speed low and in control.
Temps have been dropping here for a couple of weeks and I was starting to wonder if I would make it out to North Shore. So glad I did as it was awesome fun and yet another really different trail network in Nelson. As I drove home, snow started falling and we ended up getting about 4 cm in our yard. Can’t imagine trying to ride the slabs in those conditions so I just may have snuck in before conditioned make it unrideable.
I’m still keen to ride a couple more times before the snow really sets in but not sure I’ll make it to any new networks. We’ll see.
Slipped on my big-boy pants and headed out to the North Shore trail network yesterday. Turns out I should have packed pants that say ‘bad mother fucker’ except I don't own a pair.
This place gets really real, real quick. Fun though. So fun.
I started with a pretty easy climb up a fire road then headed down ‘Ledges’ for some rock slab action. The upper section of Ledges is awesome. It consists of a series of rock faces linked together by some sweet single track. The rock faces are steep but not too long and generally reasonably straight with ok runout.
The second part of the trail is more of a mixed bag. Some of the slabs lead to secondary slabs with only a short, metre long ‘ledge’ between. This makes for an awkward transition that a skilled rider would probably jump over but it left me scratching my head. Other parts of the trail are fast sections of narrow single track threading through huge pine trees over delicious loam.
The next trail I sampled was ‘Nooner’. This is where shit got real. The top section includes massive jumps with big gaps and big consequences. Riding by myself and without my ‘bad mother fucker’ pants, I decided to ride around the jumps then realised there is an alternative line with some sweet natural trail features including step downs off large rocks and root gaps to hit for giggles.
The bottom section of the trail is steep and loose with lots of roots to catch you out if you hit it fast. Things get less steep at the end and become more playful with more cheeky gaps to hit if you spot them.
On my third lap I hit ‘Morning Sickness’. The ‘really realness’ here comes in the form of almost a km’s worth of massive, STEEP slabs with no ride-around option. The first couple you hit are ok but as you head down the trail they get looooong. I don’t mind riding slabs but I’ve never hit anything the size and steepness of these before.
The rock is pretty grippy but the sheer steepness of them means you really only get a chance to get everything right at the top - and then you’re a passenger. There was a bit of sweating, a lot of rear brake feathering and a substantial amount of sphincter puckering.
Most slabs had a reasonable runout but a few had tight corners following or a secondary slab straight after that required you to keep speed low and in control.
Temps have been dropping here for a couple of weeks and I was starting to wonder if I would make it out to North Shore. So glad I did as it was awesome fun and yet another really different trail network in Nelson. As I drove home, snow started falling and we ended up getting about 4 cm in our yard. Can’t imagine trying to ride the slabs in those conditions so I just may have snuck in before conditioned make it unrideable.
I’m still keen to ride a couple more times before the snow really sets in but not sure I’ll make it to any new networks. We’ll see.
Chriso_29er
Likes Bikes and Dirt
pink poodle
気が狂っている男
Mmmmmmm... delicious trails!
yuley95
soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Cheers mate. It’s outrageous how many good trails and trail networks there are around here. I’ve only ridden about half of what Nelson has to offer and there is still Kaslo, Castlegar and Trail that I haven’t touched yet as well as Rossland that I’ve only sampled a small amount of. All of those areas are within an hour (Castlegar is just 30 mins away).
I’m spoilt for choice and everything is world class. Can’t help but be greedy though and I‘m already annoyed I didn’t get to Silverstar and wont get back to Whistler (not for mountain biking anyway. Will maybe get a snowboard in before heading home though).
I’m loving the life for sure but I want more damn it! Can’t convince my kids to live here ongoing. They miss their mates and I should be grateful I‘m getting 6 months to live the dream…
Went for a walk at morning mounting the other day and it looks like the photo below. Will try and get a ride or two there this week but more snow coming soon.
wesdadude
ウェスド アドゥーデ
Just be aware that lift passes are fucking expensive.
pink poodle
気が狂っている男
Yeah they are...unless you have the epic pass, which is an expensive item anyway but if you are happy smashing a week or two of ice and rock here the (I think it is still) 10 free days at whistler (or other big ticket north American area) is some sweet sweet icing sugar.