Looking for some advice on getting the best out of a couple of days riding at Fort William. Background, recently got back into mountain biking after a few years hiatus road cycling. Have bought a hightower and I am visiting family close by Fort William so will be taking the new bike! What’s good to ride? My brother will also be there who rides downhill and is only keen to do the downhill track, but what else is there? Watched a few videos of the top chief red trail, looks similarly rough to the DH track. Any preference on these two? Any other trails that shouldn’t be missed lower down the mountain? Any stuff local to Fort William that isn’t at the main lift area?

Any input or guidance appreciated!

 Any preference on these two?

Do them both? Take it steady on the DH track and you’ll be reet on the Hightower. Take. Midge. Spray…

When you going?
Blue steel might be open by late summer….

Laggan is not far away – great manmade stuff on the trail-centre side, lots of natural on the other side of the road. Worth a visit.

Going in a couple of weeks time, I’ll try and do as much as I can, however my brother who I’ll be riding with will have eyes for the DH track only.

Do all the features on the dh track have chicken lines?

Laggan is not far away – great manmade stuff on the trail-centre side,

+1
Love Laggan

It’s rough AF at Fort Bill. Some of the big features you see on the races are…big.
Stuff like the road gap is I think only open on the races.

The easy trails are rough af too.
It’s rough 😂

I love Laggan. Having ridden at a lot of trail centres, I couldn’t believe it when I rode here. It’s actually got much more challenging lines. It’s brilliant.

Do all the features on the dh track have chicken lines?

yeah, most of the track is the same, especially the upper part (If you can do/have ridden at Antur Stiniog, it’s similar sort of terrain.) the public track lower down and the WC track aren’t the same. lots of the features are closed. If i can get down it, anyone can

Do all the features on the dh track have chicken lines?

I was just about to reply to say no.. depends what you mean by a feature though. The rock gardens and a couple of the rocky features near the top have no chicken line. Same with some steep bits; the Elevator springs to mind.

I think all the obvious man-made jumps have a chicken line as do the jumps into the finish line.

Both the trails down are pretty challenging and there’s not really a way to roll down avoiding all the exposure / tech bits. If you’re happy on more challenging reds, you’ll probably be able to pick a route down and enjoy yourself though.

Rode the DH last Autumn, having tackled the Top Chief a couple of times prior.

As above; it’s Rough – like, proper rough.

There’s a chicken run around the hazard hoofer (water gap) which runs you through the splash rather than over it, and the massive road gap and woods section prior is off-limits to the general public so no worries there.

I was lucky to tag in behind a lad that’s raced it who was coaching his Mrs down for the first time and was rather grateful he was happy for me to follow them in. It’s do’able and after a few laps I’m sure you’d start picking out lines and ways down some of the more intimidating stuff.

Top Chief is fun and hard enough to feel like an achievement if you’re not used to that type of terrain.

Wild Goat Red section at the bottom is excellent fast and flowy fun.

(*Be warned – sitting scratching your head whilst figuring out a particularly sketchy looking section as Mikayla Parton floats by and down it as if it was a gentle slope is both humbling and awe inspiring in equal measure).

So both trails are rough as, so happy days!