Issue 164: Rossland – the great unknown

Nestling high in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, I will hold up my hands and say that I had never even heard of the place nor the Monashee Mountains where it nestles. Being about as close to Washington State as you can get without being in the US, I would probably have confused it with Roswell in New Mexico, such was my ignorance. I suspect I am not alone in that. However, let me be the first to say that Rossland is an absolute gem of a small town.

Arriving late on Monday afternoon after an easy four-hour drive from Fernie through some now almost customary incredible Canadian scenery, the main street cut a fairly sleepy figure. An obligatory stop at the nearest coffee shop (Seven Summits) which served Nitrogen charged coffee (looks like a Guinness – Who knew this was a thing?) gave us the opportunity to ask our host what the highlights of Rossland were. “Well, folk come to the supermarket for a start!”, she replied breezily. I couldn’t help but wonder whether she was taking the piss but to be fair, upon investigation we realized that the supermarket had a brilliant deli and sandwich counter so she wasn’t wrong, particularly given how much I spent in there on food to take back home as pressies for the family.

Checking into The Flying Steamshovel, a gastropub and well-appointed inn (the oldest in town), I was curious about the history of the name. According to the local museum, the Flying Steamshovel was a steam driven contraption that was the brainchild of local railway engineer, Lou Gagnon. Legend has it that his helicopter like machine managed to take flight for a few seconds near the site of the hotel before it fell back to Earth. An account of what would be humankind’s first flight, pre-dating the Wright brothers by a year, was recorded a number of years later by a local Catholic priest. In the absence of newspaper reports of the time, no one really knows if it happened but it certainly makes for a great story. After another excellent meal (I can heartily recommend the curry), we were pretty beat and retired for the evening after a stroll down the main street.

Time to roll

After a hearty breakfast, we rode up the steep drag through town that leads to the trail network. With well over 170 km of trail built and maintained by the Kootenay Columbia Trails Society, there is an awful lot to choose from. Fortunately, we had local guide Pete Burkitt, owner of Kootenay Mountain Biking, as our guide and guru for all things Rossland. I say local but his accent marked him out not as anything but. Hailing from Lincolnshire, he told us how he had spent time working in Fernie but settled in Rossland. His was a familiar tale of folk coming over from the UK and falling in love with the Canadian lifestyle. If the trip was making one thing very clear, it’s that BC is a very easy place to fall for.

After a thorough briefing and bike check, we were soon up and riding. The trails network starts from the car park and within a matter of seconds, we found ourselves in climb mode as we gradually made our way up the pristine, bench cut trails through the forest.

It being another bluebird day, the sun streaming through the trees as the first signs of Autumn were showing made for a feeling of contentment. I had to pinch myself at my good fortune of being in such a beautiful spot on such a lovely day. What followed was the best part of an hour of simply playing in the woods as Pete showed us some edited highlights of trails close to town.

Regrouping at the parking lot as the locals would say, we loaded up his truck and drove up the highway out of town and into the hills. Something special was promised and the Cedar Trail certainly did not disappoint. Cutting up an unmarked track, we joined it part way down the upper section. Running from Nancy Greene Pass (nice to see somewhere named after a successful female athlete and not some slave owning industrialist that we seem to specialize in here in the UK) all the way into Rossland, it gets its name from the Cedars that tower above the trail when it starts.

Although machine built, the builders were careful to build over tree roots and not dig down which lends a particularly pleasing natural feel to it. It would be easy to fall into an alliterative and metaphorical dreamscape as I wax lyrical about the ebb and flow of the trail as it took us through verdant landscape and golden autumnal hues. ‘Flowery wank‘ as someone of this parish once called it. Let it just suffice that the trail was a veritable joy from top to bottom. Every twist and turn brought ever wider smiles. It’s not a trail that requires the skills of a Trail God to enjoy; rather it is one that pretty much all riders will get immense pleasure from riding. The gradients are mellow; so much so that we met several riders going in the other direction who looked to be having just as much fun. When finally we reached a levelling off near RED Mountain Resort (itself home to lift assisted trails but just closed for the season), we were all very happy bunnies. Pete could easily have just dropped the mic, his work was done but he had a little extra gem for us to round things off.

Riding through the rapidly expanding ski resort, it being in the middle of a building boom, we headed down a trail called Blue Elephant. With some nice sections of exposed rock, it felt a little more technical but still just as fun, Rounding a corner, I met two of the local trailbuilders, Mark and Sam, of the Kootenay Columbia Trails Society, who were doing a sterling job of armouring up a section of trail. Chatting with them, they were enthusiastic and a great advert for the Society. Showing me their little black book of trails they work on, they told me that they are involved in the management and maintenance of the best part of 200km of trail spread across some 74 trails. As with Fernie, the scale and ambition of the trail network blew me away.  Bidding them a fond farewell, I soon caught up with the guys for the final flourish – Claim Staker. A Black Diamond trail, it features an exposed rock chute and rollable boulder that makes for a smashing introduction to the more technical trails on offer. The chute was a hoot to ride. All you need to do is just point and shoot, if you will pardon the pun. So fun was it that I felt compelled to ride it several times. Just make sure your forks have plenty of air in them – if the compression at the bottom doesn’t get you, it will on the boulder that follows soon after as I found out, much to my shoulder’s complaints.

Rocky Mountain High!

Bidding a fond farewell to Pete, we were all ravenous and so made our way to the deli counter of the Ferraro Foods in town for an al fresco lunch. With the sun in the sky and a Jarritos slaking my thirst, we had ride options open to us – but where to go. Wandering into Revolution Cycles, making our way past the super chilled shop dog that is Django, we got chatting with Tyler and the guys. “You can’t come to Rossland and not ride the Seven Summits” he intoned sagely. Showing us a map on the counter, he advised that we should drive up to Nancy Greene Pass and have a crack at reaching the first summit from there. “Have you got lights?” he asked, before offering Mark a set to use free of charge. Once again, Canadian trust and generosity had shone through. He didn’t know us from Adam yet was lending us lights. What a star!

Thus it was that we found ourselves at the top of the pass just after four, about to head up onto what we subsequently learned was a trail of almost legendary status. Named as an Epic Trail by IMBA (one of only three in Canada) and a winner of Bike Magazine’s Trail of the Year, the Seven Summits is over 30km of almost entirely singletrack traverse over the Rossland mountain range. With over 1000 metres of vertical gain up to a high point of some 2200 metres through lush forest and high Alpine territory, it is a proper backcountry riding experience that is technically and physically challenging and offers a truly immersive riding experience. The average Joe or Joelene is expected to take 6 to 8 hours to ride it. Unfortunately, with only one full riding day to sample the delights of Rossland and a briefing that made it quite clear that I wasn’t allowed to bring Mark and MJ back broken, we were going to just have a taster of what it offers.

But what a taster. A gentle initial spin through the cedar trees lulled us into a fall sense of security. The late afternoon sun gently warmed our bodies as we followed a glorious trail that snaked through the woods. Even at over 5000 feet of elevation, it did not feel too taxing on heart and lungs. Passing the oddly named Booty’s Hut, an inviting looking elevated day lodge on the side of Mount Lepso (and not some ill-advised novelty named b-restaurant a la Hooters), the trail turned upwards and continued to climb inexorably for the next hour and a half. I have to admit that I was in my element. I love climbs that go on and on where a mix of switchbacks, exposed bedrock and glimpses of stunning scenery through breaks in the tree cover make for a compelling and engaging experience.

Making plenty of noise to alert the local wildlife to our presence, we each found our own pace and settled into a comfortable rhythm. Stopping regularly in order to keep together lest Yogi and Boo Boo decided that there was a tasty new addition to the all you can eat biker buffet, the altitude gain could gradually be felt as breathing became just a little bit harder than normal. Well into the golden hour, each turn in the trail offered up something new, whether a rocky step up, a narrow corridor of impending joy or the russets and golds of the fast-encroaching season, all presented in glorious technicolour. Ever upwards we went until finally we reached the agreed turn around point. It had gone half five and the trees showed no signs of thinning. We were not to get the sunset ridgeline views we had hoped. I was disappointed but turning around, my disappointment vanished as we positively flew down the trail we had just ridden up.

You know when you get into the flow of a trail and you find yourself singing as you go down it at altogether a faster pace than you would normally? That was the descent. Whooping and hollering as we went, it was utterly intoxicating. Even an impromptu tree hug by Nutty did little to dampen our enthusiasm and delight when we got back to the truck. We had enjoyed a glorious introduction to the Seven Summits and were all left hungry for more. Speaking of which, the Mexican restaurant we visited that evening in Rossland was a real trip highlight. My fajitas were fabulous while the King Prawn burger that Nutty inhaled had me salivating and hoping that he would not polish it off – sadly he did. As we headed north to Revelstoke the following day, we could not help but reflect on just how Rossland had managed to get under our skin. It is small but perfectly formed with a real Gilmore Girls feel to the main street. It is picture postcard lovely in a fantastic location. It would be easy to arrive there and think it small but when it comes to a riding destination and somewhere to come with the family for an outdoor holiday, it has charm and style aplenty. Safe to say all of us were planning a return trip before we left the city limit.

The Rossland Unused Gallery

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