RR: Whistler - Bruises, Scrapes & Memories

[allison]

Last night we sat on the patio at Citta; the sky mostly cloudy, with sprinkles hitting the table, and a myriad of people walking along the half dry bricks that make up the walkways of Whistler Village.

I drank Rickard's Red and reminisced about the past week. The final day of the trip had been the least best. I'd hate to call it the worst, since it's hard to have a horrible day up here.

Friday morning had started out with last minute packing. Since the four of us had a lot of full bags, we decided to take our four bags over to our "last minute deals" hotel for storage so we could get Ann and Andy's bags in the car after. We got lucky and were allowed to check in at 9:30 am. Sweet.

We headed over to Crepes for breakfast, and got some awesome fresh squeezed orange juice and food, all served by (authentic?) French women. After breakfast we walked through the Village for awhile, acting the tourists; wandering in and out of the many shops lining the walkways.

Ann and I got Mace pants that can zip into shorts. I didn't know it at the time, but those pants would be one of the best purchases I've made in a long time. I also got a black stuffed Canada bear. Our recent trips to Downieville, Kernville, and Mammoth last year left me yearning to see a bear in its natural habitat. Naturally, I wanted it to be far enough away from me, and not threatening, but I had been wanting to see one none-the-less. When Justin and Andy saw Alice the bear and her cubs on Wednesday evening, I was jealous. Ann and I also got to see them on Thursday morning, right after getting off the lift, and later that day we saw a male bear as well.

They are amazing creatures. Majestic, but quiet as well. The babies played and ran around, and mom mostly munched on the grasses and traversed slowly up and down the hill. They all appeared to look at us humans watching them, but seemed thoroughly unconcerned about our presence.

One male rider standing nearby on Thursday morning said, "You can't buy moments like this." How right he was.

The cloudy sky continued to yield slight drizzle throughout the morning. We parted ways from Ann and Andy around noon, as they had a long drive on the Sea to Sky highway back to Vancouver, and Justin and I had plans to get dressed up for the weather and do the Extended Play bike park ticket and rental.

We had been riding the Specialized Demo 8 and Demo 7, respectively, for the past 2 days, but Friday rented the Kona Garbanzo Deluxe and Primo, respectively. They were different bikes. The handling was good on both. Despite the brake levers hitting my knuckles, I preferred the Juicy 5's to the Hayes Nine's, and the Specialized Chunder tires to the tires that were on the Kona's.

For our first run we went down Crank It Up, and hit the Joyride jumps and drops. From there we took the Whistler Downhill. All went well. We saw another momma bear and her three cubs playing in some grass. As a few other riders took off and the bears made their way closer, we decided to leave them be and head down the trail. Justin took off, since the trails were in prime condition. We'd had some sun, and not many sprinkles in awhile. The water was soaking into the ground, and the rocks that weren't covered by trees were drying out. Unfortunately we went around a corner to the crosstrails of Whistler DH and Detroit Rock City. I slide on the slick rock slab and landed hard on my right hip. I wasn't sure which trail Justin had taken, but I thought I had seen him off to the right, so down Detroit Rock City I went. I rounded a corner above a gigantic rock face and saw him with the camera down below. I assumed it was ridable since he was down there waiting for the shot. Down I went.

I knew it was steep and loose right away. My rear tire slid a little, and I started to loose the bike. I picked up speed. I gathered the bike back, but unfortunately looking down the trail my eyes fixated on a pile of rocks. I went right for them and that was it. Off I flew and tumbled over rocks and wet dirt. Ouch. I bruised up my left hip and behind pretty good.

Once I gathered myself, down we continued, and took the final descent down Heart of Darkness.

The powers that be at Whistler decided to open the Garbanzo Express chair to take riders up the 2nd third of the mountain, so it opened up a bunch of new trails for us. We decided to head up. It got colder as we went. Patches of snow became complete snow coverage with patches of dirt. The rain picked up, and the clouds darkened. Down we headed, through deep puddles of water and mud on Freight Train. The "trail" wasn't much more than tire tracks in mud puddles, and the rain continued. I came around a corner to Justin standing there with a completely flat front tire and an extremely pointy rock for a souvenir. There was a fire road nearby, so we were going to take that down. We ended up a trail intersection for the Treehouse and Original Sin. There was a deep snow bank off to the side of Original Sin. A guide came up, but her walkie talkie battery was low, so she couldn't contact anyone to pick us up. She offered to take me down, but I was unfamiliar with the trails, cold, wet, and didn't want to leave Justin behind. Up we climbed. I think it took about 45 minutes to hike our bikes up the slick mud, rocks, and roots that covered the singletrack descents. The ups were steep, and sometimes long. It continued to rain. We finally made it up to the lift, which wasn't running. They were doing maintenance, so we waited in the cold rain to get on and download to the lift that would take us to the bottom.

Thankfully Fitzsimmon's chair has coverage, but it was still a long cold trip down.

Justin was determined to not end the day on a sour note, but I was thoroughly done on the mountain and had no desire to get on a lift again in the weather. Justin took his last run.

I got a Cappuccino at the "bean" section of Garbanzo Bike & Bean, and stood outside under an umbrella with a woman, her two sons, and a grom rider with a busted rear shock. They chatted for awhile, since the grom was waiting for his dad to come down the mountain. I eventually entered the conversation. The woman asked what the best place to ride was. We both said Whistler. The kid said it was useless to ask people riding Whistler where their favorite spot to ride was; the answer was easy. I'd had a bad day, was soaked to the bone, and using a coffee cup to keep my hands from freezing. It was still the best place I've ever ridden, especially taking Squamish into consideration. We hadn't even gotten near Pemberton, the Shore, or Kamloops.

Down came Justin, who washed off the Kona and took it back to Garbanzo rentals. We called it a day. After showering, and finally warming up my icicle hands, we went down and ate at Citta.

Check out the muddy riders -







Before the drama -





Lil sequence for ya's



Sign of bad things to come



Yeah, it's pretty cold and wet up here at 5500 ft





The aftermath





Parting shots







Days 1, 2, 3, and 4 forthcoming.

If you ever get the opportunity to come here - don't hesitate. It's well worth the money. It was a great experience. In addition to the credit card bill, we're leaving with some bruises, scrapes, and memories.

Ann and Andy - you guys rock. Thanks again.

[Mudd]

Cool pixs. I just returned from there too!

[Blue Rat]

Sounds/looks like you guys had a great time ... hope you're feeling better from your "meeting" with the trail.

[tkblazer]

that slopestyle park looks sick.... nothing i would even attempt riding there tho haha

[Sprockethead]

Ouch! I hope you're feeling better today. I figured it must have been pouring cause when we got into Vancouver, I could barely see out the windshield. The rain was coming down so hard and Danger Dodge didn't move the wipers fast enough. I'm sure it was snowing at the peak cause Friday was cold...brrrrhh

Thanks for coming, we had a great time.

[RustyIron]

Originally Posted by allison

I went right for them and that was it. Off I flew and tumbled over rocks and wet dirt. Ouch. I bruised up my left hip and behind pretty good.

Awesome trip report, Allison, and even better pictures.

A mate wrote me this a.m. (he's about 105 years old and his body is all twisted from years of riding). He said, "If you ain't hurtin', ya ain't winnin'."

Keep up the good work.

Rob

[Pain Freak]

Wow, what a lifetime of memeories you'll now have. I'm jealous, but happy for you all none the less. Some day I'll get up there.

[ka0t1c07]

WOW, the top still looks like a Winter Wonderland. Now when you ride around here, you will be like thinking of Whistler while youre climbing. Hope to be able to ride up there some day. By the way, is it prefer to have a DH or freeride bike up there. All I see are big bikes on the pictures.

[ka0t1c07]

I guess the Walmart Mongoose wont do it. LOL

[PacMan]

Awesome RR's once again guys. Glad you had fun and didn't get too bruised up.

The good news is, the baking we are all sure to get next Saturday will wash away all the memories of the cold rain and snow you guys had to deal with up there

[allison]

Originally Posted by PacMan

Awesome RR's once again guys. Glad you had fun and didn't get too bruised up.

The good news is, the baking we are all sure to get next Saturday will wash away all the memories of the cold rain and snow you guys had to deal with up there

haha! I already have NO desire to go outside at all. OMG. It was hot enough last night at midnight walking out to our car!!

Bring back Whistler!

[ka0t1c07]

Whistler spoils you.

[tkblazer]

bump for a sweet rr