Based on current conditions, what would that be like – worth the 500 mile drive?

Slippy and miserable most likely!

Get yourself to a trail centre, Glentress or the likes must be closer, no?

The Red trail looked immense fun from the Gondola

and how many great riding places will you pass in 500 miles?

The woodwork has chicken wire on it now so no problems in the wet there. The rest of the trail is really grippy rock. Unless it was torrential wind and rain, it should be fine.

Edit: I’m assuming you’re talking about the lift assisted “XC red”

take pads!

I assumed the world cup witches trail that starts right of the carpark?

Been a few years since I was up there, didn’t know there was another XC route there?

Wouldnt fancy nessie in the pissing rain, pretty slippery there as it is!

Surely trail centres are a better idea in this weather and if you don’t like the first one then you can be at another in a hour. 500 miles up the west coast is a long long trek!

If you a re a confident rider and roll over whatever it throws at you you will be fine. If you are a nervy brake dragger or might suddenly grab the anchors when faced with a nastry drop you will come away bleeding. The rocks and chicken wire might be reasonably grippy but they aren’t brilliant in the wet. It would be low on my list of places to be in the rain.

Got to disagree there, Nick. The rock is similar to the rock at Dalbeattie in that it doesnt seem to get slippy when its wet. The only thing that would stop me going weatherwise would be if it was blowing a hoolie.

FWIW, the witches trail is pretty poor.

If the DH track is anything to go by, the rock is very grippy when wet

Given that it rains 200+ days a year in Fort William, avoiding it in the rain if you have to travel a way to get there is going to be difficult. Just get on with it, there’s varying degrees of wet and the wind / fog / low cloud will be the real problems.

The rock grips absolutely fine in the wet, very little difference to the dry. But I did find it basically downgraded the boardwalk from something that could be fun to charge along and do the jumps etc, to something to be a little bit cautious of even with the chicken wire. But then, I see the boardwalk as mainly just a method to get to the good bits so I don’t mind that much.

The xc worldcup route works fine when wet, though I must admit I shat it off Nessie last time, after falling over trying to walk up it. The waymarked 10UTB course sucks regardless, frankly, but would suck more in the wet.

The world cup dh route rides absolutely fine in the wet- the boardwalk sections do go slimy but they’re all straight and simple.