Whistler Spring 2011 Update

There’s a lot of talk about Whistler in the MTB community at the moment. With record snowfall this year, the trails are mostly hidden by snow and the mountain bikers are still getting organised for the season. Ever so slowly however, the snow is melting and the bikes are coming back to life.

Whistler Bike Park is set to open on May 20, pushed back 5 days from last year’s planned opening date of May 15. The park opened last year with some 16 trails – an enormous challenge for the trail crew to try and meet this year.

Reports from Whistler Bike Park Manager, Brian Finestone, indicate that there is a huge amount of snow being excavated from the trails in the Fitzsimmons Zone. Four days ago there was still a decent amount of snow on Lower Crank It Up, and it appears that the weight of the snow last Winter has damaged the Easy Does It bridge that crosses A-Line, to the point that it needed to be completely dismantled.

Heart of Darkness is confidence inspiring with over half of the trail clear at the moment thanks to the weather. With some extra rain today, this looks to be a sign of things to come. The weather and trail crew still has twelve or so more days worth of work until the bike park opens. A lot can happen in this sort of time, but the word around town is that opening day could have very limited trail options.

For official updates on the Whistler Bike Park, check out the official website at www.whistlerbike.com.

Whistler Village is full of bikes again as more and more people ride their bike instead of catching the bus or driving. Ski and snowboard shops are closing and converting their stores back to bike shops. Garbanzo Bike and Bean reopened today full of new stock while Evolution have loads of new Specialized Demo’s sitting out the front all waiting to be abused.

Whistler Blackcomb’s G1 Rentals have just received their new fleet of Kona rental bikes for the season. From what I’ve heard the Kona Operator rental bikes have an unbelievable parts spec which should keep the punters happy.

The Alta Vista pump track is absolutely buff, and the village dirt jumps are really coming along nicely. This year it looks like the small jump set won’t have any gaps, which will keep me happy while I’m working on my skills. The middle and large lines however have some pretty decent gaps – can’t wait to watch the skilled riders hitting these jumps again. Honestly, the crew building these jumps have some serious talent – respect!

Finally, word on the street is that while the majority of the local trails are covered in a foot or so of snow, ESP and Train Wreck are both completely clear! I’m yet to ride them as I’ve been out of town the last few weekends, but I think at least one of them is a sure thing next time I have a day off.

Hopefully that sums up what Whistler is currently like in the world of bikes. With any luck I’ll have plenty more good news for you over the next few weeks.