Having just come back from the best time I've had on a mountain bike so far, I got to thinking about how much stuff I didn't get to hit at Mammoth this past weekend. Part of it was because we only rode one day, but another part of it was because we made some goof ball trail choices due to lack of good first hand info on the Technical, Gnar, Speed, and Traction/Soil aspects of each trail. I read up on the forums a little and asked a couple of questions, but when when we got off the gondola the first time, we pretty much just thew out a name and figgured out how to get there. You know you're in trouble when 1 out of the three guys hasn't been on lift serviced terrain in a decade, another has NEVER been on lift serviced terrain, and somehow they collectively decide to hit up DC10 for their first run With that in mind, maybe we could share our experiences and come up with a STR user opinion on the varying aspects of the most popular trails at Mammoth. As an example, the trail map calls Kamikaze a black diamond. But in reality it's a glorfied fire road that can be as dangerous or as timid as you want so long as you know how to control your braking. Or compare Velocity to DC10. Both are double blacks, but different in the reason why. Sharing first hand info in a somewhat organized fashion could really help maximize someones time on the hill. We could all just do mini RRs on the various trails, but then you'd have a bunch of different threads on each trail, and scattered data. So if no one objects, feel free to add to this thread with your comments on specific trails at Mammoth. Maybe toss the trail name in the title for each post, or put it in bold text if you're going to go into detail about multiple trails in one post. It'd probably also be helpfull to draw correlations to other so-cal trails that people might be familliar with, though for many of the lines at Mammoth, there aren't really any local parallels. Last but not least, if you have pictures of certain features or sections, feel free to post them. Everyone who goes is stoked, so let's help share the stoke and make the trip for each group of newbs a little bit better than our respective first trips. Chris
I don't think we made goof ball trail choices at all. Only so many hours in a day and to get more runs ya gotta get more hustle. We tried to ride alot of different stuff so all of us would get something out of it. Your brother made the DC10 call the night before. I liked it and you liked Seven Bridges. It's all good Chief.
STJunkie and I hit most of the runs yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm hardly of use because it was my 1st time there and we only got 1 rip at each run (except for Velocity). Single black diamonds seemed fairly tame Richter should have been rated a single (rather than double) diamond. Appreciated the use of the local ratings (red down arrows from 1 to 4) in tech sections Here is a decent trail map to refer to: http://www.mammothmountain.com/bike_ride/bike_park/trail_map/#
Lower Velocity- I like this trail for it's speed and flow. It's relatively short, therefore, easy to memorize. 3 warm-up runs, and you're ripping it! Chainsmoke- Has it all, drops, berms, jumps, steep rock rolls, rock spines, and, of course, plenty of pumice. More pucker power than velocity, but that's what I like. Bullit- Pain in the butt to get to, but the payoff is worth it. Has a rock garden that claims bikes and bodies alike. Twice as long as the previous trails, and you're arms will know it! Try to break the 5 minute mark! DC-10- Getting better each time I ride it, plenty of tech and gnar to ride. Biggest complaint: drops you off in no man's land. Flow- Drop is fun, dry conditions and braking bumps have turned it into no-flow. When I first rode this trail a couple years ago, I couldn't get enough of it, definitely needs some rain, or serious trail grooming. With this being said, I will post pics after 3 days of riding it this weekend!:bang:
I am all about VELOCITY!!!:bang: Whomever decided we should make it our first run of the day- THANK YOU!!! :clap: The trail is basically a white knuckle ride that has it all!!! Not a fan of Shock Treatment. Didn't suit my style of riding (Mechmann- keep insults to a minimum please). Not enough flow.... some sections had tree roots or obstacles that require you to launch and hope for the best. When rolling off a ladder, one is greeted by 12" of loose rocks/pumice... for less advanced riders an accident waiting to happen. I actually enjoyed every trail. If I could ride (1) all day long- VELOCITY!
I don't remember you liking the top part of DC10 too much there bud Actually, I had the most fun on Seven Bridges, but believe it or not, I liked lower Velocity the best. Even with the crashes, and it basically putting an end to my riding for the trip, I felt really good when I was getting after it on that trail. The first crash was just a stupid rookie move looking at that rock too long. The second one, was a gnome in the trees with a M82A1 who snipered me off the bike... either that or I was pushing a little too hard or didn't get back far enough for what I thought was a smaller dip that it really was. Either way, I'd do that trail again. Probably be a little gittery rolling in, but I'd do it I still feel bad that we slowed ya down on some of that stuff, but be it this year or next we'll get another go at it. Chris
The top part of DC10 was the hardest thing I tried to ride all day. Did not even come close to cleaning it but that's part of it. Chris, don't even think about feeling bad for anything. It was a great time. It would be really hard to hit every trail in one day. You rode great man. You had a few crashes but look at the stuff you rode.
Seven Bridges If you're unsure about where you fall in the skill ranking for the trails at Mammoth, SEVEN BRIDGES is probably as good a place to start as any. Take the gondola to McCoy Station, or chair 21 if it's running and then ride "Brake Through" until the turn off for Seven Bridges. The trail starts off as single track with some quick downward traverses over what would be cruiser runs in the winter. The trail comes into it's own once you enter the shallow ravine/creekbed which the trails namesake bridges will traverse. The trail has some nice bermed turns and you can keep a good flow all the way down. There are no major commitment features to worry about, so the relative risk is pretty low. Difficulty of the trail can be modulated by increasing or decreasing your speed. The series of bridges themselves are well built 4'ish wide wooden bridges that criss cross the creekbed. The only real danger associated with them is carrying too much speed off one bridge, and over shooting the next. As you roll up on the first bridge, it may look like a drop, but fear not, there is a nice roll in on the back side of the platform. From there, just carry decent speed through the series of bridges so you can clear the stump/root at the end, then rail the remaining single track and berms until you get to the end of the trail. From there either hop back on chair 21, or pedal or take a shuttle down the road to the gondola. For me, if you can get down chutes in one piece at the oaks, but can't pin it all the way; this trail will probably be fun and a good starting point for your time at Mammoth. Chris Lower Velocity is probably one of easier/funner of the black diamonds excluding Kamikaze. The reason I break the lower section out from the whole trail is because the upper part is a mess of Mammoth's notorious kitty litter pumice/sand mix and just doesn't appeal to me the way the stuff below "trail home" does. To get to it, take the gondola to McCoy station or take chair 21, then head down St. Anton Trail, or Trail home until you see the signs warning of bikes comming down and crossing the trail. Hang a right and you're on your way down lower Velocity. The trail is a mix of some rough sections, decently bermed corners, wooden ladder drops/rolls, a couple 2-4' drops and a steep ladder decline with a 2' or so drop at the end. There are some features that require commitment, though there are some ways to walk around if you look hard enough/need to depending on the particular feature. For the most part, the safest way down the steep ladders is actually to ride them. I could see getting hurt easier trying to hike your bike down the face of some of the obstacles. If you're unsure about how you stack up, you might want to try one of the harder intermediate trails. I don't know of a good So Cal equivalent to compare it too for reference. I'd also be interested to hear how hard people think Chainsmoke is in comparision to Lower Velocity. Chris
Phew... I can tell this is gonna take awhile, so please excuse my wordiness (and the photos). Okay, starting from the top... Off the Top: a great Mammoth newb ride for those not looking for killer DH trails and hucks. If it's windy at all, or cold, it's gonna be *really* windy and cold on this trail. You may well be riding downhill, into a headwind, and pedaling your heart out to try to keep moving. Not to mention you're at 11,000ft, so breathing is tough anyway. It's pumice-filled switchbacks at the top, with lots of exposure to the wind. Eventually you wind down to the tree line and have some fun downhill goodness. We went around Red's Lake and took Beach Cruiser back to the gondola. Beach Cruiser: Winding trail, a tad bit of pedaling, a few small drop offs, more pumice. Fun trail, I'd say easily done on a XC bike. Uptown: never ridden this, but climbs from the Village up to the Main Lodge. Good luck! Downtown: nice, easy descent from the Main Lodge to the Village. Or, a way to get to the Village from 7 Bridges, Brake Through, DC-10, etc... Paper Route: definitely a XC route. Some climbing involved depending on where you pick it up and ride it. Nice, fun trail. Don't recall anything really challenging, aside from the climbing involved at high elevation. Big Ring: another fun route. Fairly fast, not too challenging. Not much climbing. Skid marks: More challenging than Off the Top, but also more fun. Some exposure and rocks, but nothing impossible. I rode it all on my Stumpy with just over a year of riding experience. Maybe walked/tri-pod'd a few parts. Good way to get down to some of the better DH trails that also aren't too difficult. If you take it to Bridge the Gap, just note that you'll be descending a pretty steep, loose, long-ish section. Too long to walk all of it, but difficult to ride without sliding over at least once (we all did it). Bridge the Gap / Lincoln Express: Mostly just in between trails/fire roads to get somewhere else. Totally rideable. Follow Me: I called it "Don't Follow Me" after my first trip down it in 06. I didn't mind it as much in 07, but it gets challenging toward the end. LOTS of loose, deep pumice. Bullet: Fun DH trail. Lots of stuff to work on DH skills, but not really for beginners. Anyone can walk down/around stuff, and the rock gardens usually have go arounds. Cool container drop that is pretty easy. Flow: Another fun DH trail. Tough entrance, has the Flow drop (with a ride around), and some loose pumice drop offs. Shotgun: We usually get there after riding Flow. I really like the trail. Not really for beginners, but intermediate riders should be able to easy deal with it. Also includes the always fun Shotgun log ride! Seven Bridges: great intermediate trail, and fairly fun for experienced riders as well. A few challenges, but nothing impossible. Also scenic. Brake Through: I don't remember much about this trail, but it was pretty fun. Same line of technicality as 7 Bridges. Experts will be somewhat bored, but newbs can handle it. Lower Velocity: Fun run. Lots of loose pumice to practice (er, slide?) on. A few ladder rides up and down, and a ladder jump at the bottom. Not for beginners, but okay for intermediate riders, with a bit of practice on the pumice. Kamikaze: fire road DH. Beginners can easily ride it slowly down, staying to the right to not get in the way of crazy fast DHers. Shock Treatment: nothing shocking here... lots of loose pumice. A few drops, a tricky rock garden, and some ladder drops that leave you in pumice pits, but mostly rideable for intermediate/expert riders. We've yet to ride DC-10, Chainsmoke, Techno Rock, or Richter. The difficult thing about Mammoth, is that with only a day or two to ride, you never really pick up the trail really well, unless you're riding with fast riders and just do the same trail over and over again. We wanted to hit up a few different trails, so basically rode everything once. Also, I'm a photo whooer (hoo-uer), so I like to stop for photos, which also takes away from the Flow, but gives us some great memories n stuff.
I agree Justin, Kamikaze has gheyness written all over it, that's why trips down Shock Treatment are few and far between.
This has turned into a great thread. Chris, to bad you didn't think of this before we went. Allison, that post rocks! Great photos too. Like you guys we only rode each trail once. And did not go back and session any of the sections over. Here's my take on the place. Those red tail signs were freaking me out. Every time I'd see one I'd want to take a peek to see what's up. I'd almost rather not know and just hit it. I say almost, more on that later. Upper DC10 was the hardest for me. Velocity was bad azz from top to bottom. I'm not so much of a bridge / stunt type but everything on that trail I found fun. Plus it's easy to get to and ends right where you want to be. Lower Velocity is what Westridge should have been / could still be. Skidmarks, Fun trail to bomb and links to so many other things. 7 Bridges, Hey, for some reason I have this uncanny ability to show up for the womens MTB clinics. We ran into them on this trail. It is a fun trail with some good flow. Worth doing for sure. Kamikaze, Did it just to say we did it. I don’t regret it but it will be on the bottom of the list for a repeat run. Shock Treatment, Hey, I was happy to see it coming down the Kamikaze. I’ll take single track over fire road any day. Mostly no drama but I’m sure I dapped. Richter, It was the same basic deal as shock treatment. Fun but I don’t know if it’s fun enough to make another trip down the Kamikaze. Bullet, Out of all the trails I rode this trail was my hands down favorite. I love long downhill runs in natural terrain. It had a few man made things but not much. You will have to catch the shuttle back up but it’s worth it. It was my last run of the day. I started at the very top at Skidmarks to Bridge the gap on over to Bullet. And then it was still all downhill all the way to the campsite. Great way to end the day. One thing I did notice was all those trail signs that were freaking me out all day. I didn’t see any of those on Bullet. That did make for some interesting moments. Still a lot left to ride up there.
