Maybe have a look on Youtube for the Lost Lake trails, Danimal, Cut Yer Bars, Highline, Farside/Riverside and some of the other blue trails on Trail Forks. Should give you an idea of what the trails on the easier end of the spectrum outside the park are like. One criticism I have of Whistler is that there's not a lot of interesting 'easy' trails. The Lost Lake blue trails are great, but if you're not confident on wood work (of any width), small rockfaces etc then they can be quite intimidating. The green trails tend to be pretty dull, smooth and wide gravel affairs. Basically not much approaching the UK blue trails that are mostly singletrack but not filled with rocks and potentially intimidating features.
You cannot roll all of A Line, the tail head is a drop off but you can ride about trail and then link into it further down.
Whatnobeer, that was an issue for me when guided there. People would head over there due to hearing that Whistler was a mecca for mtbing but not doing any research. You'd ride around the Lost Lake trails and people would already be taking their bike for a walk. I'd then be thinking "**** they are here for two weeks! Where can I take them?!". People tended to like the Flank heading south and down 27 Switchbacks. Probably not everyone's first choice for a Whistler lap but at least people got 'out there' and got to see some awesome views, good lunch spots etc.
You cannot roll all of A Line, the tail head is a drop off but you can ride about trail and then link into it further down.
If you go - Do not do this! If you're not comfortable with the small drop in you shouldn't be riding the rest of the trail. It's a fast black with some large jumps. That small drop in is a gate keeper and it's there for a reason.
Whatnobeer, that was an issue for me when guided there. People would head over there due to hearing that Whistler was a mecca for mtbing but not doing any research. You'd ride around the Lost Lake trails and people would already be taking their bike for a walk. I'd then be thinking "**** they are here for two weeks! Where can I take them?!". People tended to like the Flank heading south and down 27 Switchbacks. Probably not everyone's first choice for a Whistler lap but at least people got 'out there' and got to see some awesome views, good lunch spots etc.
Yeah, I could imagine that being the case. I know everyone has different tastes and the standard tech that makes up a lot of Whistler isn't it. At least Squamish is reasonably close with a decent selection of trails which won't scare the pants off the less confident rider.
I only really realised the lack of 'friendly but interesting' trails which I started teach my girlfriend to ride. She'll get around most of Lost Lake, which is good, but where else do I take her? She's not quite ready for Danimal so that leaves the Riverside trails in Function and Cut Yer Bars. So not a huge selection. If someone is happy to push through and accept that they might be walking a bit (or a lot) it's fine, but it definitely not for everyone.
Only in Whistler would the Aline squirrel catcher be called a small drop... I've ridden it but I was feeling very confident that day and was still shaking a bit for the next couple of jumps just from adrenaline.
I always forget about the squirrel catcher as it really isn't an issue. There's nothing to it. You could do, as many people do, and ride down Karate Monkey and pick up A-Line where you meet the fire road. Everything beyond that is rollable and the jumps are quite easy to squash.
I always forget about the squirrel catcher as it really isn't an issue. There's nothing to it.
You're right, there isn't really. It's super easy and well built. But if you're not sure you can do it....
You could do, as many people do, and ride down Karate Monkey and pick up A-Line where you meet the fire road. Everything beyond that is rollable and the jumps are quite easy to squash.
You shouldn't do this. It's there for a reason and if the small drop in isn't in your skillset you're likely to have or cause issues later down the trail. Just because it can be rolled doesnt mean it should.
