Hi,

My boyfriend are considering going to Canada for our honeymoon.

Ideally we want to go on holiday for 2 weeks – of which a week will be mountain biking. We want a xc orientated holiday, although it would also be fun to be able to spend a couple of days in the bike park.

Can anyone recommend a good company that will provide accommodation together with at 5 days of full day xc guiding? We would probably be looking at going in either May or September.

Whilst I am reasonably technically confident (quite happy on UK red routes and 90% of black xc routes) I dont want anything too difficult.

Thanks in advance,

Miss_spooky_b329

Myself and my good lady spent 2 weeks in Whistler with Bearback Biking for our honeymoon. I can’t recommend them highly enough. They will sort out the right riding for you and you’ll return home with more skills than you went with.

Thanks – I had looked at their website but was just a bit concerned it would be a bit too much ‘bike park’ orientated. Did you get to do many all day xc type rides – my other half likes climbing!

We rode xc type ride most days. We spent 1 day in the bike park which was fun but we both prefer xc type stuff. We also did the float plane trip was by far the best days riding we’ve ever had or likely to have. I then went and dud the heli drop too which was a bit to techy for mrstollah. People think Whistler is all about the DH, where there are miles upon miles of xc Singletrack. You will not regret going with bearback I promise you.

I wasn’t riding when we had our honeymoon in Canada, but for some none riding experiences I suggest hiking up Sulphur Mountain outside Banff, catching the cable car down and then relaxing in the hot springs.

And this place http://www.grizzlytours.com is absolutely amazing (if you go when the bears are about…….)

If you can ride 90% of UK black XC trails, then you’ll find at least some of Whistler’s ‘XC’ trails pretty challenging. Not wishing to put you off, but that’s just how it is. You could ride around Lost Lake, but you might as well be in Wales. But if you can put together a package that covers Squamish (maybe a couple of days even), Pemberton and head up to the Chilcotins or even the Sunshine Coast then that’d be cool.

I’d also aim to go in September rather than May as higher trails might still be under snow in May.

Hello, i went out to whistler with my girlfriend, we stayed with ticket2ride, they had a wide variety of riding on their doorstep, loads of cross country that suited my other half, we also got married at the top of the a line trail, so had our honeymoon there, it was very good.
Have a great honeymoon who ever you go with.

I ruptured my spleen 2 days in when we went to Canada on our Honeymoon 😳

Tollah – Re: the heli-biking trip. I’ve seen clips of it on Drop In and Ride Guide, and really want to give it a shot. I’m wondering how severe the trail is going back down the way though. For example, how would it rate to, say a trail centre red or black descent? Obviously it’ll be much longer, but does it require a full DH bike or would a typical trail bike do the job?

I rode all of exept a 6th drop to flatish landing on my old Maverick 7/5. It’s steeper than everything I’ve ridden over here. Just a rough guide the reds in Canada are more like our Blacks. The helidrop is tough but well worth it. If you can tide blacks over here then you’ll have no issues I wouldn’t have thought.

Have a great honeymoon who ever you go with

I would hope he goes with his wife 😉

I worked for Ticket 2 Ride last Summer(not as a guide i hasten to add ! ) after going on holiday with them in 2008 .They are set up to provide XC riding in the Whistler valley and also Squamish and Pemberton .Their guides do an excellent job of matching the riding to your ability .Contrary to some sources it’s not all about the Bike Park there is endless riding in the whole area .If you want more detailed information E Mail me at rolandjulie2001@yahoo.co.uk and i’ll bore you to tears ! I mean i’ll try and answer as many question as i can .Hope this helps O.F.
BTW one trip you should absolutely do is a float plane trip to Lake Tyax then ride down the Gun Creek Trail .That is 3 – 4 HOURS of the most jaw dropping riding you will ever experience i guarantee !Check out the Collective for the alpine meadows in the Chilcotins for a flavour .

Hi Miss Spooky, at Ticket2RideBc, based in Whistler, we tend to host a number of Honeymooners each season and have also had a couple get married in the bike park whilst staying with us. As Roland (oldfart) said in his comment, the bike park is a very small part of the riding we offer and we are certainly put together a package that will suit the pair of you in terms of riding style and ability. A very popular experience for honeymoon couples is the two day Spruce Lake float plane trip that we run, but there is a huge amount of riding to enjoy at all of the locations we visit.
For more detailed information feel free to email me at peter@ticket2ridebc.com and check out our facebook page where guest put up photos etc (Ticket2RideBC – Whistler MTB)

page 62 of MBUK autumn 2010 edition for Doddys take on Tyax.

Spooky, I hope I’ve answered your questions so far?

Thanks all for your replies, think we will go for it, I am sure my skills will improve a lot whilst there!

Now just got to decide whether to go for one week or two…

Second the Bearback recommend. Great bunch of guys.

Don’t be put of by Whistler bike park if you like trail riding, it’s 10% of Whistler. If the wife to be likes climbing give the Big Nimby/Middle Earth climb a go in Pemberton, 130+ singletrack switchbacks 🙂

Hey Spooky

As other have already said get up to the Chilcotins the riding up there was some of the best XC I did in Canada that wasn’t too extreme – other than the high chance of death by Grizzly Bear

Check out my web site for the trip me and my wife did out there in 2008

Canada 2008 MTB Holiday

Expect to do riding like this in Chilticons