Westridge at Snow Summit - oh, yeah

@Roger - I did go once so far on Memorial Day weekend, and did 7 runs on Miracle Mile plus 1 partial Cruiser run (ended it by reconnecting to MM). Had a great time, but still felt like I was swimming in deep water so to speak on MM. On every run, it was adrenalin-pumping/breath-holding/eye-bugging work, and I got through it but never felt truly comfortable. Despite that, it was FUN, and I want to go back. But, it would be nice to have a run that I was comfortable on, with scaled-down or adjusted features, similar to those on the black runs, to allow me to practice.

Edit: It wasn't perfectly clear how tough a couple spots were in the video Russell posted, but it looks like a fun trail. I think it was about 5:07-5:10 that guy grunts loudly about a couple landings or something.
 
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2wheel_lee said:
There's something to be said for a more advanced trail that novices can ride. For example, I think it's B-Line at Whistler that has a lot of decently sized jumps that my wife can roll at speed - and she even accidentally jumps up one of the step-up jumps (she didn't know it until I told her), but more advanced riders can still have fun on the bigger tables. Some well designed trails can be really fun for novices and experts.
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Trust me ,this is not a case of B-Line or Crank It Up, these are A-Line lips, vault and carry on an otherwise intermediate trail. To whomever said Whistlers blues are like blacks elsewhere, I used to think this was true. The jumps on Westridge RA tougher than anything on any blue at Whistler. I know off which I speak.@Evdog - I appreciate the encouragement, but a serious crash on Freight Train last summer has made me gun shy on jumping. FWIW, nothing on Freight Train was as abrupt as the first two lips on Westridge, including the big step-up gap jump over rocks on Freight Train (which I loved).All that said, Westridge rips. I will probably take 5-6 runs on it again tomorrow. I will two-stage the bigger jumps.
 
Those tables do look fun. Shame there are only two of them. They do look like A-Line tables, intimidating at first but oh so sweet when you hit them just right :bang:

Whistler blues might be a hair more difficult than blues at other bike parks, but they are built so that anyone can hit them. B-line and Heart of Darkness are good examples of this. I could coax my grandma down those, yet they are still lots of fun for more skilled riders. A-Line, Dirt Merchant, Freight train, and the other flowy blacks, not so much. Likewise, there are a couple features on Miracle Mile that I would NOT want to take a beginner down, like the wood drops and steep sections. The tables on Westridge at Summit look intimidating, but anybody could just roll over the lip or land to flat on top of the table, no harm done. The trails at Summit are not nearly as difficult (or awesome...) as the ones at WBP but that crucial skill gap between blues and blacks still exists.
 
Trail looks fun. Can't wait to ride it! Maybe the lips were made steep knowing that they will be hammered out in a day or so...
 
Ill be there this weekend, looking forward to the new run
herzalot said:
Westridge was opened yesterday. It is phenomenal. It is not Intermediate.It starts with a bridge that has a 2-ft drop onto a 30 degree ramp. Fly it with speed and you'll drop 8-10 feet. Into a paver-reinforced right berm into two abrupt, sharp, advanced-level table tops. I clear all of the tables on Crank it Up at Wistler - I won't even attempt to clear these. After that the trail is just a masterpiece of berms, roller coaster, pump track, and a few more jumps. The crew had it watered, and there were no braking bumps yet. The trail is long and absolutely fantastic. If they toned down the jumps to match the trail gradient and the intended riders, it would be one of the best flow-style bike park trails I've ever ridden. Wow!
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I taco'd my front wheel overshooting the steep paver drop in towards the bottom of the trail today. Trail was def not blue after coming back from Trestle Bike Park last week. I liked the trail, but was bummed as I brought a newbie with me today who I figured would be fine on a blue trail first time out. Scared the crap out of him. Watch yourselves it's getting crowded up there!
 
SS needs to put in a true beginner run to funnel the people who are in over their heads. That and/or improve communication via signs and instructional material about how to assess your ability and navigate the best way down for you. I saw lots of people on the trails who shouldn't have been. Lots of scared kids, angry spouses or girlfriends and frustrated "leaders" trying to coax their victims down the trail. "Just use your brakes" yelled one clueless dad to his 10 YO daughter after she fell creeping through the first dusty, rutted turn coming down from lift #2. Wife and young son also looked baffled, unprepared, underdressed and improperly equipped. Fun for the whole family!
 
We made one run down it thur and my impression was no way was it a blue.

The few thing I noticed were one no markers for jumps(like the organe flags at whistler), really steep takeoffs( I would say worse than Aline) and there are a couple step downs that someone is going to get taken out by if they hit them to fast but not fast enough to make.

The worst part of making it blue is is its going to lead to more confrontations on the hill. People will see blue and go that way but there still are a lot of spots people will want to walk(because its not blue) and then you will have "rippers" pissed they are in the way. I had a couple kids upset I was blocking the trail while two people who crashed on a paver berm got up and off the trail(one was a freaked out 11 year old who can ride). I said riders down when they got there and they still were upset they couldn't get by.

Traci had a great pont that they tables were like snowboard jumps and that's all the guys here normally build.
 
Here's my vid of Westridge - top to bottom, on opening day.

SUPER fun! Definitely not intermediate, but definitely awesome! =D

[youtube]cCOushywzQs[/youtube]
 
mfoga said:
The worst part of making it blue is is its going to lead to more confrontations on the hill. People will see blue and go that way but there still are a lot of spots people will want to walk(because its not blue) and then you will have "rippers" pissed they are in the way. I had a couple kids upset I was blocking the trail while two people who crashed on a paver berm got up and off the trail(one was a freaked out 11 year old who can ride). I said riders down when they got there and they still were upset they couldn't get by.
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Maybe call it "Black and Blue?"
 
I hit Snow Summit for the first time this season yesterday. It was a blast. We hit Westridge first, thinking it was the easiest trail and the best one to warm up on. Those two big table tops definitely were intimidating. They are steep and there are lips on the downside that seem to make them more dangerous than they have to be. I was worried that if I tried to clear them and didn't quite make it the lips would make it more likely that I would crash.

Further down there are the two step-downs that MFoga talked about. Those are the same way. They step down, but there are also little lips at the start of the landing area that are more likely to hang you up. And a little further down the trail there is one more table that is quite steep.

We rode cruiser and miracle mile and thought that the jumps on Westridge were harder than on the other two runs. But, at the same time I think we all agreed that Westridge was the most fun of all the trails.

I was able to clear both of the big tables after a few runs and they were way smooth and fun as long as I could commit and go for it. The two step-downs are in succession and the first one is the bigger of the two. I wasn't able to commit to it, which means that there is no way you can clean the 2nd one. They aren't as hard as the tables, but with those lips at the start of the landing they are definitely committing. They are fine, but as most people on here have said, it's not really a blue-run, compared to the other two runs. It's at least as hard, and probably harder than Miracle Mile and definitely harder than Cruiser. And I saw a couple of guys clear them with no issues, so I think they are built right, they are just a bit hard and don't need the lip on the landing ramp.

And the last abrupt table top comes down pretty late on the trail and throughout the day I say multiple people unable to commit to just riding up the front of the table and having to dismount to get up it. Again, it's not hard, but I think it was a surprise for people who thought they were on the easiest trail on the mountain.

I can't wait to get back up there and hit everything again. My skills were definitely better at the end of the day than at the beginning and that was fun to see. I look forward to more trails. It looks like they might have another one soon that starts not too far before where Cruiser and Westridge split. More trails is more better.

Have fun and be safe.

~R
 
As I've stated twice before since the new trails have opened.. if they don't manage this right, they are going to be facing litigation from someone who dragged himself or his family down a "mismarked" trail and ended up getting seriously injured.. I also agree with mfoga you need to mark jump sections as Whistler does. There are flags all over that mountain denoting jumps.. SS needs to adhere to that, and given they consulted with GL on this stuff, I'm surprised they weren't advised to do so.. also, we're dealing with much worse dirt/conditions here than Whistler, so the loose dusty terrain adds to the degree of difficulty on these trails.. I love what's being done, but it worries me they are setting themselves up for failure if they aren't careful.. people are too litigation happy and just looking for opptys for a payday..
 
McG715 said:
As I've stated twice before since the new trails have opened.. if they don't manage this right, they are going to be facing litigation from someone who dragged himself or his family down a "mismarked" trail and ended up getting seriously injured.. I also agree with mfoga you need to mark jump sections as Whistler does. There are flags all over that mountain denoting jumps.. SS needs to adhere to that, and given they consulted with GL on this stuff, I'm surprised they weren't advised to do so.. also, we're dealing with much worse dirt/conditions here than Whistler, so the loose dusty terrain adds to the degree of difficulty on these trails.. I love what's being done, but it worries me they are setting themselves up for failure if they aren't careful.. people are too litigation happy and just looking for opptys for a payday..
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Totally agree with you. Have you passed along your opinions to SS? I hope someone up there tunes into this thread, listens up, and modifies the program a little. I have not been on the lifts yet and would hate for it to all go away in just one season before I get to try it out. I have stopped by the base on a couple of XC skyline loop rides and noticed what looks like quite a few novice riders asking what trail to start with. They REALLY need a TRUE green and blue trail for these riders, and for the benifit of all.
 
How did you clear the table at the 3 minute mark?? Are you pedaling a bit coming off the pavers??

I came close to clearing. Rear tire on the table while the front was on the tranny

The park is fun!! Some of the stuff is intimidating. But with all the riders, you can at least get an idea of how to attack the feature.
 
ssrmr2 said:
How did you clear the table at the 3 minute mark?? Are you pedaling a bit coming off the pavers??

I came close to clearing. Rear tire on the table while the front was on the tranny

The park is fun!! Some of the stuff is intimidating. But with all the riders, you can at least get an idea of how to attack the feature.
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I didn't pedal at all but had decent speed coming off the ramp at the end pf the bridge. i pulled up some on the tabletop but not a lot. How did it feel hitting the lip with your rear? It looked like you could get hung up and tossed.
 
doubleoh7 said:
this is cruiser. you can see the black diamond indicators throughout the video
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I agree that MM and Cruiser are marked as black diamond.. I'm just saying for those that choose to ignore it or think they have black ability when they don't, it would be good to mark jumps accordingly, but I was referring more to this new "blue" trail.. I haven't had the pleasure of riding it yet but from early indications it appears to be as black as the others..
 

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