Folks, am heading off in a few weeks to Whistler and wondered if anyone has any advice on which trails to try first, i'm not likley to be hammering down the A-line on the first day tbh as i'm more used to riding red / black trail centres in the UK, i'm an average rider tbh and wondered which trials i should try first – i'll be taking a 6inch full susser and want to ease my way in gently as i'll be there for 3 weeks.

cheers

B line, Heart of darkness, devils club, smoke and mirrors – to name a few.. Its amazing how quickly you will progress, by the end you will be smoking down Goats Gulley, Rock city, Dirt merchant, freight train etc.

Lots of good trails out of the park as well. Perfect for the sort of bike you are taking.

'Crank it Up' into 'Heart of Darkness' Is a good run. If the upper lifts are open then 'Blue Velvet' (I think).

So gutted that im not going back there this year. You will have a great time over there and as nick said above your riding will progress faster than ever over there.

The sc stuff is awesome too, try Kill me thrill me and River runs through it.

Gargamel on the far side of the valley is just awesome and feels really out there in the wilderness. That would be a "crowning glory" of your Whistler experience if you ride that at the end of your trip.

Actually good point, only the bottom of the park will be open as its still skiing up top!

1st lift on Day 1, warm up on Easy Does It or Golden Triangle.

Then start with B-Line into Heart of Darkness and Crank It Up. Also highly recommend Ninja Cougar/Karate Monkey/(Samurai Cat) (see "Seasons" Whistler segment, 22seconds in).

Lost Lake trails are a good loop to try out for your first XC experience.

Heart of darkness, devils club, smoke and mirrors

I love those trails. Go find 'Too Tight' too, awesome wee section.

Crank it up is a fantastic confidence builder

over and over and over and over and over again 🙂

then a pitcher of kokanee at the longhorn at the end of the day

and wear mirrored sunglasses or you WILL get caught out

Crank it up is great – forgot about that one.

I wouldn't bother with Easy Does It. It's just a narrow fireroad with about 1/100 gradient. I went down it once after getting a flat and it took forever.

I'd just head down Crank It Up personally.

Once you are up to speed, then Ninja Cougar / Karate Monkey / Samurai Pizza Cat (or WC Singletrack if you want to try it chainless / brakeless)/ Ho Chi Min / Monkey Hands is a good singletrack rip.

I agree about Gargamel. I rode it solo the other year and spent an eternity growing the balls needed to ride that little raised wooden berm over the rocks to jump at the end.

Walleater, 😛

+1 for Crank it up, B-Line and Heart of Darkness (just beware of the drop into the stream the first time you hit HoD). Karate Monkey and downwards are great fun once you're feeling a bit more comfy on the bike.

It's REALLY easy to find yourself on A-Line from B-Line if you just do what I did and follow people so watch out. On the first run down the mountain, it's a bit of a shock to the system (especially with a hangover when the lifts first open).

while were at it few more from the bikepark from my year in BC.

and take some time to session the learner drops if you want to get your confidence up, they cut off from crank it up and you can drop into another trail, i forget which one

Aye, that's the one Freeridenick. Funnily enough it looks really mellow from that angle (unless I was being a pussy!). IIRC it was steeper at the start of the turn and raised up so you'd land headfirst into rocks if you slipped off it.

Goodwork on your own! I seem to remember it being a nasty entrance onto the wood… 😯

It was the last trail I rode in BC after a year living there. 😥

spend some time at Squamish as well

New trail just opened in Squamish, looks like a pedal-up version of Crank It Up.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/half-nelson-trail-squamish-2010.html