I’ve been riding in the SH for 5 years and I hardly ever get mixed up with other riders, faster or slower not even on the most popular trails. Gee there are plenty of trails for everyone, why not search out some new stuff?
A lot of the SH trails are great fun on a hardtail, there is also plenty of stuff you want a better bike for. I rode with a group on Wednesday and one of the good riders attempted something he’d not done for 2 years since his friend broke his neck at the same spot. He said he wouldn’t have attempted it on his Zesty, we was riding his Orange Alpine.
All this having been said money and time spent on coaching/training will yield greater results than fancy bike kit.