I'm heading out to see a mate in Calgary in the summer so planning to spend a few days riding somewhere. Has anyone riden on the east side of the Rockies (Fernie, Banff, Jasper, etc), any good companies that people have used, etc, etc??
A mate left work a couple of years back to go out to Fernie. He's still there, biking and boarding. More than this I don't know, but he seems pretty happy.
/jealousy
/end of pointless post
We did about 11 years ago - a few days self guided round Banff and Carnmore. Ace back country riding, with not a soul to be seen - and hot springs, cold lakes to swim in, freezing rivers/streams to cross. Some gert big hills...I even pushed about 50% up Sunshine MTN (the one with the cablecar in Banff) one evening and rode the many switchback back down...8)
We just got good advice from a bike /hire shop in Banff, and superb advice from a great, welcoming hire and LBS in Carnmore.
I have ridden in Banff, Fernie and Golden and I can highly recommend this people (who are based in Fernie):
The guides are sound, and the riding is excellent.
cheers richc, i'd already spotted them so good to get a recommendation 🙂
they are very good, and they can cater the riding to whatever you want from sweeping XC singletrack to shit yourself northshore and DH runs.
We rode Jasper, Banff and Canmore in 2001. We just hired a camper van and bought a guidebook over there. There is fantastic riding both near those towns and out in the hills. Canmore and Kananaskis County is closest to Calgary. Unfortunately Kananaskis was closed to the public when we were there because of massive forest fires. I really wanted to do Jumpingpound trail.
In 2002 we went to Fernie & the western Rockies with http://ferniefattire.com/. They were fantastic.
Jumpingpound trail is awesome (to quote the Canadians) and might be the best singletrack trail I have ridden, however I don't think I would like to do it without a van lift up, as its a long long fireroad/gravel track climb up to the start of the singletrack climb (which is a decent enough climb on its own).
If you are near Canmore and can do this trail its well worth the effort.
Took too long to post my reply. Fernie Fattire andSacred Rides are the same people. I would highly recommend them.
Rich, did you camp at the edge of the cliff with the sweeping river bend hundreds of feet below?
Nope they ditched the camping when we went, as people (and the guides) hated mosquito lake and hiding in tents, so we stayed in Lodges or ski chalets.
I don't think I could have done camping as the sheer volume of biting insects was driving me nuts enough as it was, let alone trying to sleep with the ****ers eating me alive.
I have never been bitten so much in my life, and a couple of Scottish lads we were chatting to mentioned that the only bad thing they could think of about Canada was mossies that could bite you through 2 layers of clothing,
We went in September 2001 and June 2002 and I don't recall a single mosquito!
IIRC there is a video of Jumpingpound on the SacredRide website.
I have it's ace!
You don't necessarily need a guide. The bikeshops in Jasper are very helpful.
This biking part of the holiday i'll be on my own so the guided option will be best/easiest - i'll get in touch with sacred rides. Woooo can't wait!!
