I didn't see any recent discussions in this section, so I thought I'd start one.
Who rides here?
For new riders, here's a really good overview of what to expect at Blue:
Who rides here?
For new riders, here's a really good overview of what to expect at Blue:
Not knowing your background, but i'm guessing since your ride a 575 you're not a buff-trail-xc-kind-of-rider and have some experience getting your tires off the ground, i'd contribute some general comments like this
- rent a dh bike, save the pounding of your 575 the first time around. particularly the brakes. DH oriented brakes with 8" rotors are a different class than trail-bike brakes. Some experienced riders are using stuff like XT and XTR Trail instead of DH brakes like Saint or Zee or whatnot but I do not advise that for a first timer as you're going to want to heavily moderate your speed until you get the feel of how things work. Just like on snow, speed builds quickly. Sometimes too quickly.
- rent/borrow/wear full protective gear. You're likely going down a few times on your first time out. I always wear at least helmet, elbow, knee guards, and full-finger gloves.
- work the mountain west to east, that's the general progression of severity - note the word *general* as there are "clench" moments on most trails
- do not launch any dirt or drop or feature without scoping it out before-hand. Landing areas vary in how to handle them. Rocks move. Trail crud is. Some landing transitions are easy to over-shoot.
- Chainsaw and King Tut (western side) are two of my favorites and a lot of fun, with a few finish options for variety. Beware of projecting rocks the size of Smart Cars on the lower sections though, easy to clip a handlebar or knee or hip.
- Moto and OCS (eastern side, lower) are probably the most-rock-gnar-natural sections, steep and rocky. very easy to endo. Formula is less steep but still steep enough to be fast. The rock drop entering the second part of OCS can NOT be rolled, it must be dropped. There is a go-around you can use the first time (?) to scope it out though, safely.
- Ewok Village (towards bottom, visible to east from lift) is a fun jump line BUT be wary of DH bikes on it as the suspension can easily have you pitched wacky, some of the 'tables' are very short and steep. Feels more built towards DJ bikes than DH bike and assumes commensurate skills. All 'tables' are rollable though.
- Empire (eastern-most) is an excellent example of worked Free-Ride trail, not rocky, but pain could be large if you screw up on one of the features. Not all features can be rolled, some must be dropped/jumped. There are go-arounds though so you can scope it out without putting yourself in the e-room.