Me and the GF are off on our first biking trip to BC later this year and sampling trails at a handful of locations (mini roadtrip) including a couple days at Whistler. Seems those couple days are the last weekend of Crankworx!

Will we get anywhere near the lifts/trails or will it be so rammed that we are better off extending our riding time at Squamish (where we are actually staying)?

The hope was to buzz some park runs day 1 and something like TOTW/Khyber/Baylon route on day 2. It’ll be a shame to miss out Whistler but not the end of the world as we also riding at Squamish, Kamloops, Revelstoke, Rossland and Nelson 🙂

You’re prepared to miss out on Whistler bike park, which is only half an hour up the road from Squampton, in case it’s a bit busy? Madness.

Go for it. There will be lift queues but the trail traffic isn’t too bad as it’s massive. It depends what you’re into. I ride DH and for me it’s heaven on Earth. Every year that I don’t go back is a knife in my heart.

It’s not ‘that’ bad – the last weekend from memory is Joyride so the village is packed.

The bottom lift is always the slow one, even on the days when it’s literally rammed in the village & people are queuing for an hour to get on it, the Garbo lift is pretty much spinning free all day.

Garbo is generally always quiet. To get up to TOTW you need to be on the gondola anyway, but you can always jump on at the mid station.

Do TOTW > Khybers > Upper Babalon > Lower Babalon > SCAP > Highside > Highline > Duncans/Business Time for much epicness. Then on your way back to the village, climb up the flank & link up some of the blacks up there for extra fun 🙂

+1 for it not being that bad at all, I’ll be there the whole of crankworx this year, and have been there for a lot of it the last 2 years. certsinly don’t feel I’ve missed out on riding

Cheers… we’re not massive park/bermy/jumpy fans but definitely want to sample the trails/place – the footage I have seen of trails like Khyber, etc is right up our street though…getting a wee bit excited now

Last weekend of Crankworx.. expect 30 minute lift lines at the bottom each lap.. (varies depending on time of day) but yes, the trails themselves don’t get busy as the throughput higher volume than the lifts can deliver.
As above, garbo is quieter. If you want to do a day, start at park openinhg, bash out a couple of low laps while the ‘rats’ are still sleeping of their hangovers then head high once the lift lines start to swell.

The non-lift accessed trails are largely unaffected by crankworks with the exception of Lost Lake. The pedal to trails are very much worth exploring and shouldn’t be missed.

Guides available with us if you’re looking to maximize your days.

If 30 min queues are the only downside I’d it’s more than worth than to be part of Crankworx – it’s got to worth sampling or there wouldn’t be such crowds!

We queued for more than 30 mins on a normal sunny day in Whistler Bike Park. I’ve queued for 30 mins to get on the Pleney lift before now!