[Closed] Top 10 best descents you have ever done

Anything in Crested Butte.
Monarch Crest, from the top of the continental divide, also Colorado. Natural trail that pumped and flowed like a purpose built trail, went on forever.
Pleney DH, for being the first proper DH run I'd ever ridden. We'll gloss over snapping my tibia on the "10%" section 🙄
Not 10, but heyho.

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When I rode down Llanberis path at 7am midsummers(eve) this year, having spent the night at the summit.
(Photo is for illustration purposes only and does not reflect actual product. The value of investments may rise or fall. Your home may be repossessed if you buy too many bikes)

Top of Flaine to Sixt

Does that follow the Cascades ski run?

Windsor trail in New Mexico and St Juan trail in California. Both about 12 miles of joy.

Dunno. All decents are good.

Cut gate's fun on both sides

Dore Drops/Blaka Moor

Skiddaw because it's long and very very fast.

Prodigal son, Punctured Lung, Petrolhead & Hysterectomizer in Bubion, Sierra Nevada.

I like the bermed bit heading into the visitor center at Dalby, not techy, just fun trying to maintain speed.

Chapel gate (before it was sanitised)
Cut gate
Cavedale (just for the challenge)
Then a few of the trail centre DH's, Glentress, Cwmcarn

+1 Ullock Pike

Did it a few weeks ago for the first time. I'll be back soon...

Pila to Aosta 11km run

Always the one that's right in front of my wheel, it's the only one that exists in reality 😀

That's the philosophy done..
Quantocks Weacombe Hill
+1 for punctured lung in Bubion
Frozen Heifer in Landry with Bike Village
garburn Pass at -4C ice and rocks all the way 😆

Oh no, now I'm looking at booking next years holiday.... so much for saving

The woods behind the Nationwide in Swindon

Not a patch on some of these exotic types but I like nevis red with a cut off onto the dh track. I wish I was rich enough for the big ones you fellas mention - they sound great.

Tibet down into Nepal.

Only 4.5 km or so...

The Whole Enchilada is almost all downhill. From snow and thin air down through forests to the desert. 26.5 miles.

Not sure I would manage a top ten but here goes in no particular order

Glentress Red / Spooky Wood + Super G
Glentress Black - Deliverance
Glentress Black - Double X + The Bitch
Arran - Clauchland Hills from the cairn west to the main road
Innerliethen XC route Enduro Trail plus Caddon Bank
Nevis Red - once you are passed the stupid boardwalk

ginger mullet - somewhere near verbier
toboggan run - verbier
rheola in the wet - wales
a run in the tokai forest - cape town, don't its name but it had baboons!
a trail on seymour mtn vancouver - again not sure of the name but was good becasue of the snow!
the brazilian - verbier
the hysterectomizer - spain
a whole load in les arcs mainly Ash's back country stuff
Innerleithen gold run (i think thats its name)
and for a local slant top to bottom on ranmore finishing with numbskull and jims hole

or

wedgie on pitch

the theme being i am rubbish at remembering trail names :o)

In no particular order:-

Snowdon Ranger
Cut Gate
Skiddaw
Cadair Idris
Helvellyn
Loughrigg Fell
Staveley - Three Passes
Macc Forest
Long Mynd
Jacobs Ladder

I haven't been to any in the Alps yet 🙁

I didnt rate Gargamel, cant remember why. Lack of flow iirc.

I'd agree about Gargamel, there's a few good bits but a lot of crap bits too!

Ride Don't Slide - Whistler
Hey Bud - Garbanzo
Original Sin - Whistler
Fort William DH
Chilcotins - BC
Mega Avalanche - Qual & Race runs
Cream Puff - Pemberton
Garbanzo to Whistler Village by the fastest route! (Started a T2R mini challenge 2 years ago to get from top to bottom the fastest by using official marked trails only) Ferkin scarey, but got it down to 11 mins :o))

Clearly Cockburn Woods, High Blantyre. You lot are delusional.

Cheating a bit as I can't choose between individual trails but-
Most of Whistler - both the groomed jumpy ones (A-LIne, Dirt Merchant etc) and the more DH stuff (Original Sin, Schleyer etc)
'Secret' loamy stuff on Fromme
The DH race run at Sunshine Coast
19th Hole, Squamish

Bit of a recency effect after an amazing trip to Canada last year. So I should also add -
Ben Lomond
The Old Man of Coniston (years ago, fully rigid with cantis a wooly jumper and walking boots)
The Surrey Hills
Some old favorites round Brighton
Some stuff near Crowborough 😉

Careless Whisper - Verbier 😀

Argh! I forgot Rock Star (I think) at Silver Star...

Sticks Pass is brilliant

Cut Gate descents. Good on both side (but Langsett slightly edges it)

Some cheekiness that I'm not at liberty to share in ***** and off *.

Snowdon Ranger I love.

Shooting Cabin descent on the hayfield side...oooh and Peep o'day.....ooh and far Phoside. All good.

Borrowdale in the Howgills

Martindale in the lakes.

Screaming mile in the peak.

All good fun. But in ****** is the best. 😉

I don't think the best one even had a name... So let's call it That Trail We Did In France Halfway Down The Mountain That Ended Up By The Water Tower Thing, On The Day Of Misery. Just stunning, that one...

Cairn O'Mount, Glenshee, The Lecht, Cabrach, Gairnsheil are all wonderful descents. On a mtb, possibly Gypsie Glen or Corbie Linn.

No particular order...

Grisedale Tarn to Grisedale, Helvellyn (actually this is number one ATM)
Pila to Asota "Freeride"
Magic Carpet, near Les Arcs
Double Header, Les Arcs
Nuthouse, Verbier
Porridge, Morzine
Super Morzine(?), Morzine
Leith Hill to Friday Street, Surrey
Sheepskull, FoD
Babies Heads(?), Grizedale

So many happy memories!

🙂

Nuthouse Verbier.
La vada Les Arc.
Double Header Les Arc.
Lochnagar to Loch Muick.

Freight Train > Dirt Merchant > Lower A-Line is one of my favourite combos at Whistler 🙂 Crank It Up is the most fun though for sure.

In the UK, Minton Batch on the Long Mynd gets my vote I think.

From a wimpy jeycore pov:

Drum to Llafairfechan.
Dinorwic Quarry.
From Apedale Road over the top and back to Low Row.
Last bit of Penmachno.
Lady Anne Clifford highway, going north.
Bewick Moor.
Embsay Moor, over the road and through the fields to the Abbey.
Calderdale cheek.
Telegraph Valley for pure speed.
End of Llyn Crafnant back to Capel Curig, which scares the oxo out of me every time.
Llyn Anafon back to the little car park at Aber.

Many picked for the views.
All non tech.

+1 for Ride Dont Slide and Pila to Aosta
Also Khyber pass

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Mommoth, Ca. If you look carefully you'll see bikes on 1 of the loads of trails down..........I think the shortest way down was 4 miles the longest 45 miles..........

great thread, i'd consider myself not well travelled on a bike, but have ridden a good 5 or 6 of the alps descents above and a couple of the Spanish ones, plus a few more not mentioned - a long, rocky one in El-Chorro springs to mind. A lot of good memories

every-so-slightly off topic, but seeing as i'm off exploring Exmoor tomorrow, any suggestions for the next best descent to add to my list?

I need to ride more trails 🙁

Climach-X final descent is probably my favourite.

Cresta Run with Switchbacks in Bubion. 😆

Great trail

I would like to add the Tello descent near Lanjaron, Spain, to my list.

🙂

Cresta Run with Switchbacks in Bubion.

Great trail

+1

Also the route from the natural park back into Bubion we called it silk panties nothing too exciting but so much fun and went on and on.

47 switchbacks was fun too

the cheeky trails in the wood just behind the house 🙂

My favourite in Whistler Bike Park, done as one continuous run:
Original Sin into Freight Train, a bit of Upper Easy Does It into Dirt Merchant into Golden Triangle into Lower A-Line into Hornet into Old School into Lower A-Line to finish on the GLC drop.

Then on the chair & repeat... 😀

Elephants Tail, Sierra Nevada, courtesy of Marco & Co at Ciclo Montana.

Top of Rotthorn down to Tasch in Zermatt, Switzerland.

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(pic courtesy of goog from our trip there)

Top of Gornegratt down to Zermatt village.

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(not my pic)

Both decents 90% singletrack with smooth switchbacks interspersed with rocky drops, going from 3000m down to 1400m.

Thread closed.

Top of dollywagon pike to grisedale
Descent above slate mines at elterwater
Arret de berrouir (sp??????)
matadora
Mega race course (as it was this year without 20 min snow plod)
Mega quali
Pleany
Another vote for Garburn in the Ice (Possible the best ever)
Watendleth to borrowdale
Flaine to Stix

And all the better ones I forgot about

magic carpet (mont jovet) - la plagne
vini vidi vici - bourg st maurice
any 1 of a myriad of trails at the white room - sainte foy
toboggan - verbier
the ridge from col de cou to champery - morzine
nan bield - lakes
unknown grizedale jaggedy bedrock bw - lakes
hunters tor and nutcracker - dartmoor
plague - dartmoor
weacombe quantocks

Toboggan - Verbier. OMG I'd forgot about that, ace descent followed by a swim in the gravel pits with some bikini clad skandi lasses someone knew, lift back up to Verbier for beer and pizza. Don't get that vibe down in Hayfield!

Ullock Pike then the climb and steep descent into the village under Skiddaw
Whiteless Pike
Angle Tarn (more a traverse but lovely)
MacDhui to the Hutchison Hut
Glas Alt to Loch Muick
Ben Lomond - a reliable favourite
200 switchbacks in Verbier
Grand St Bernard Pass
Col de la Possette in Chamonix
Pierre Avoir, Chute De Bisse and Jackass in a oney, Verbier

So that's 10 that spring to mind but loads more I could easily add. Rode some lovely stuff in Kananaskis in Canada that was terrific. Some great stuff in the Basque country too.

There's loads of stuff I've still to discover on my doorstep in the Highlands. The Ring of Steall looks to be a belter. I can't wait for the longer days to be back.

Actually, Carn a Chlamain last Sunday was memorable. Glorious winter afternoon sunshine and over 2000 feet of vertical on a narrow stalkers path. Rides where you descend in the setting sun are always good!

Balls, I need to add Ben Lawers to the list as well as Carn Ban Mor - always fun. Does it need to be just 10?

Sidewinder - Sunshine Coast BC
Gargamel - Whistler - more for the experience of riding it solo, and shitting myself at times.
Ladies Only - Fromme BC. Digger has done his magic and re-worked it in fine style.
Rio - Kamloops BC
Resurrectum - somewhere in BC...
Toboggan - Verbier
Heart Of Darkness - Whistler - just good fun.
Any cheeky sheep line on the Long Mynd.
Skull - Fromme BC
The Wrekin - Shropshire - on a rigid bike at 40mph for that Repack vibe!

Pierre Avoir, Chute De Bisse and Jackass in a oney, Verbier 8)
nan bield - lakes 8)
Original Sin into Freight Train, a bit of Upper Easy Does It into Dirt Merchant into Golden Triangle into Lower A-Line into Hornet into Old School into Lower A-Line to finish on the GLC drop 😛 😛
and for a local slant top to bottom on ranmore finishing with numbskull and jims hole

Also just remember
Windy Pass - The Chilcotins
Sexboy on Cypress Mountain (northshore)
7 summits - Rossland
Speedway - Verbier

Garrr! Speedway then the super tech switchbacks off the bisse. How could I forget that? Doh!

200 switchbacks in the Rhone Valley

Emosson down to Le Chable.......Doh!

10 is too hard!

And then of course there is the Lairig Ghru. It's not long but it is flowy perfection.

Oh oh oh - can I add valon Darby in Verbier on an autumn day?

Pretty much anything on the Trans Provence, oh, and the Mega's quite interesting too because of the variation in terrain over the length of the course.

Sad to see so many Lakes descents here.. I'm a native but never ridden MTB there 😥

you live in the lakes and not ridden a bike there!?

Must do Whiteless Pike some day soon.

Megavalanche Qualifier
then the Megavalanche
La Komatrautrail, Chatel
Swiss National DH
"Brendons" trail at Triscombe
French National DH
"SX", Chatel

Gah ! too many I don't know the name of...

where is brendons track in triscombe?
I love the steep tech stuff there but not sure if I have ridden that one.

When I look at all those, I think isn't life great, so many trails, so little time, I just wish the ones I have ridden I had the bike I have now, so I'll just have to go do em all again..

I only ever really got going on Crank it up at Whistler (still learning the ropes on a bit of a heavy old clunker bike) but I was lucky enough on the last day to follow a really good rider down and did stuff that looking back I must have been mad.

The others I enjoyed I've no idea what they were called, but like the other poster said if they downhill they're cool with me - I just love it.

Keep posting the pictures, it's damp and miserable outside and it turns my screen into a much nicer window to look out of.

Freeride Nick

When are you coming up to Jockland and we can show you some marvellous big mountain descents! 😀

Nan Bield is good sport when nipping off from High Street.

Fairfield Horseshoe on a frozen winters day in the snow is another cracker.

Jeez, there are so many good trails and so many more to discover. Roll on the hard frozen, snow free days in the mountains. Might as well make the most of my Ice Spikers!

Rusty Spanner - Bewick Moor Really?

It was an ok little xc ride but wasnt that impressed with it to be honest. Hardly this category.

Brendans trail is about a mile along the ridgeline.
Once you can see the Bristol Channel at the top, its a tiny trail in the heather on your left.
Ive got lost trying to find it every time i've been there...
Its the steepest, techiest trail i've ridden in this country.. 🙂

Hey Sanny

I know, I know...its on the radar - but always getting pulled to the continent where the sun always shines and the trails dusty!!!

just spent 5 days in Molini de Triora - 22,000m descended. Ace fun 😛
Highly recommended...

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I'm not sure I know the names of any more than a handful of descents. However pretty much all the downwards action I've done in Sierra Nevada knocks most UK riding into a cocked hat and I'd love to go back. Could be just the nice weather though!

Nick - I moved to Spain three years ago and have started riding MTB since then.
Done loads of walking and roadbiking in the lakes. One day....

I love my Scottish route's but the thought of riding here again has me drooling. South Mountain Trails Phoenix Arizona with Gnargnartours 😀

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My fave isn't there any more, the DH track at Nannerch 😥

Would struggle to pick ten but here's a few;

Fort William DH
The one from the top of the Chatel bubble back to the station just for pure speed and fun.
Top of Cairngorn back to Loch Morlich
Warton Crag near Carnforth for fond memories of riding it in my teens.
Pleney at Morzine is fast (a rondom clip off you tube, not me riding);

The bottom bit at Lee Quarry from the bmx track to the gate.
San Marino at Belmont before it got really rutted.

Trail 403 followed by 401 in CB. simply one of the best days of my life.
Not quite the same league but the Kessler run in fruita was a blast in the midsummer noontime heat. It's a nice and warm memory to me.
The descent from the back of clachnaben into Tarfside followed by The .
The Mounth descent into Glen Doll (from Loch Muick )
And I have a deep affection for the Glen Tannar descents
And hey, because it's true, the blue run at Glentress. 😀

The final descent coming off the back of the moon....
I'm not the best at bunny hopping but WOW did I get some air of that crater

The steps at the back of Rumbelow's on Stanley front street.

Dain_Bramaged - cheers going to try and find that.... 😯

Avoiding the Alps & Spain, cant be @rsed to remember gnar names given by English guides:

Starwars, Lungbuster and Little Verbier - Wye Valley
Limestone Link from Beacon Batch down to A38
Too many in Horner and Porlock Woods to mention, thanks to the local deers who dont bother naming trails
Rocks and Roots - Exmoor
Rocky Road - Mendips (for old times sake, but Badgers is now an alternative)
Golf Course descent near Rhayader - easy, but fast and fun
Dr Blackhalls
Grizedale tarn to Grizedale
Most of the rocky BWs in Grizedale Forest(Grandad etc, Fox, Devil's Thingy etc - not just Parkamoor)
Claife Heights BW to Hawkshead - happy memories of this summer's trip
Old Motorbike run - FOD (and tempted to add the new Verderers descent too.....)
Watendlath (as posted above)
Y Das
Knicker Trail and other Avon Gorge runs
Bourton Combe - for surprising me with it's very existance earlier this year
Weacombe (if I had to pick a Quantocks descent)
Cham-mini near Dursley

And Portal Rim, Moab, just to add one core run to the list.

In no particular order

Northern Monkey
BKB
Gun Bucket
Windy Willow
Mangrove Alley
Summer Lightening
Reggae Reggae (RIP)
Evian
Deja Vu
T1-T5
(some of the others are beyond me....)

Someone once said I should go farther afield..........

Resigning from my safe professional job just as the recession kicked in, it has been a pretty scary and prolonged descent ever since...

Carlos45 - surreys finest...
gun bucket ?? must know that as something else.

Avoiding the Alps & Spain, cant be @rsed to remember gnar names given by English guides:

Starwars, Lungbuster and Little Verbier - Wye Valley

Are gnar names only acceptable in the Wye Valley then?

😉

oh, i forgot about crug mawr, that's got to go in there.

GlitterGary - Member
The steps at the back of Rumbelow's on Stanley front street.

I'm surprised you don't mention Sandy Lanes, it's at the back of where you live now..

we even have a "vertigo" in Surrey now 😛

Snowdon Rangers. I want to do it again. Preferably in the sun, please.

Panoramic down to Chatel - green graded, but so much jumpy bermy fun it's silly. Goes on forever too.

Suicide Brake. fastFAST[b]FAST[/b][b][i]ROCKS[/i][/b]

Green that I can't remember the name of in Les Gets, goes from the top of the bubble lift. Loads of roots, dead fast and long.

Grandad, Dad and the Dentist (I think) near Grizedale somewhere.

The really fast, jumpy one on the Monkey Trail at Cannock.

The top bit of Innerleithen.

The one on the Jacobs' loop from Edale that's always chewed up by 4x4s and has a stream at the bottom.

The bit at Dalby that used to be a descent but isn't any more. It was only a few hundred yards long but it was by far the best bit. And now it's a climb. Sigh.

Cutgate. Especially in the snow. Or the sun. But not so much in the rain.

How many's that? I'm sure I've forgotten a ton.

God, not sure. All in alps/Europe.
Normally the last one I have done but...
La varda blew my mind the last time I did it but not the first time
New vallon d'arby.
The ultimate
La tourche crazy hike
Emosson for sure
Spanish inquisition made me fall back in love
Valloire and galibier
Probably sounds funny but I love erection section with variant into martigny.
Donkey darko tp.
Col des milles
However, Careless Whisper is going to be the one.
Funny how a lot of people say Nuthouse. Great trail but not top 10.

Walna scar, Coniston in the lakes used to be good. Well, it was until they turned half of it into a pavement 😥 let's just hope a few hard winters restores it back to its former glory.

The trail outside my house.

My old local trail

The SRAM track

Rockadillo (on my little bike chasing DHers 😀 )

Crans Montana Black run

Bored of posting links now

Funny how a lot of people say Nuthouse. Great trail but not top 10.

I know where you're coming from, but I picked it because it was the one trail I kept wanting to do again in Verbier - and where I felt my riding really start to click and improve a bit.

Many of my choices wouldn't make a collective top 10, but they're as much about how I was riding on the day as the actual physical trail.

I thought about picking La Varda, it was fun and I surprised myself with my riding on some of it, but it just didn't give me that buzz that my other choices did.

I think I'd want to do it again several times, and possibly in a one-er.

Actually I meant Jackass not Nuthouse..
Vertigo should really be in there
Careless whisper sounds interesting?

Jon's 200 yards, end of thread 🙂
OK go on then I also like
Ullock pike
Styhead-stockley bridge
Watendlath-frith wood
Newlands
Don Juan de marco (switchbacks)
moody french bastard
Nan bield
Parkamoor-satterthwaite
lawn mower (i think, FoD, now apparently no more)
Bit short but I quite like Rake beck

Edit

Grizedale tarn to Grizedale