Blasphemy!!!!

 

It may be you were just there between maintenance or right after a huge weekend or something. Or maybe they hadn't had rain for a long time -- that can make it damn near impossible to maintain regarding braking bumps.

I've been there times when it was smooth as butter and other times when the bumps were pretty bad. Best thing to do is stay off the brakes...

But then again you might be right too -- maybe they're getting too big for their own britches and getting lax.

 

I'm going to guess that since they're so popular and this was right after summer that they hadn't gotten around to the maintenance yet :skep: We hit Crested Butte 2nd week in Sept and in the bike park the trails were full of nasty braking bumps and such like you describe, figure they were just waiting to do repairs. Guessing it's hard to shut down popular trails for repairs just when they're the busiest.

 

SMT... it could also be a number of things:
1) more trail use
2) riding style of a majority has changed (too much Canadian whipping... lol!)
3) bike technology (riders more confident to go fast because they know they can slow down a lot before a berm/jump so the trails take the brunt of their Gorilla-riding style).

And sure, it could be due to lack of maintenance. But I did notice that on my local trails, the ruts/braking bumps are much deeper despite efforts of maintenance. Thank you Pinkbike! =P

 

Nah I have heard all year people complaing of the lack of maintenance Whistler has done this year and the last 5 years.....it use to be really taken cared of

Maybe there are more riders now days going there....but that would be more money and more money to spend on trail crew

 

I totally agree. I rode for a week in late August and didn't notice much, if any real repair to trails while I was there. The first time I rode there (5yrs ago), the trails were in amazing condition for the whole week.

 

Handy link for feedback: Trail Engaged | Whistler Mountain Bike Park

Use it. Complaining on forums rarely accomplishes anything.

 

Didnt they just get bought by Vail Resorts? Maybe they are doing some personnel house cleaning

 

Hello Vail…

 

I think you just got a bad impression from a couple trails. The trail crew has been killing it lately, upper a line got a lot of love, angry pirate, 7 year war, fatcrobat, ninja cougar lots of great work done. Not to mention complete rebuild on crabapple,and there's a new trail almost finished in Garbo.

But you probably only rode crank it up a line and dirt merchant.

 

crank it up, blue velvet...beat/washboard holes in berms...A Line Dirt Merchant holes in berms sections of freight train washboard/holes in berms ...these are the super flow trails that need attention bi weekly

the other trails are great raw

 

Too bad the industry doesn't come out with a bike with 8" of travel or something to soften the blow.

Anyway, we were there in July and though there were some bumps, it wasn't bad at all. Where the bumps were, I rode the berms higher up.

Why do people brake in berms? Seriously? Ttyl, Fahn

 

Too bad the industry doesn't come out with a bike with 8" of travel or something to soften the blow.

Anyway, we were there in July and though there were some bumps, it wasn't bad at all. Where the bumps were, I rode the berms higher up.

Why do people brake in berms? Seriously? Ttyl, Fahn

It's the Canfield riders who brake in berms.

 

Cant be all that bad if you keep going back after a disappointing 5 years straight. Like others have said, lot's of variables go into it, including that it closes Oct 10th.

 

actually the crew I was with where complaining a lot...How Whistler use to have better maintenance program....we are talking about the flow trails....the othe trails are awesome and provide great variety....but the flow trails need to be kept up.

 

Good thing you were not using Shimano brakes or you probably be dead! Really need to have these trail issues resolved to make sure no one is injured, can you imangine using Shaimano faulty brakes or poorly maintained trails, I cannot, whew, this should be a PSA sticky.

truth....shimano and whistler....good you are following along and deligent

 

Clearly you've never ridden north star.

 

many times...a dust pit ...holes everywhere.....but we are talking about the mecca of mtn biking parks

 

I don't think there's a bike park in the mountain and Pacific time zones the SMT hasn't shredded

 

Never rode Whistler before this year, so I can't compare to what it used to be like, I but made it up there for 3 days in early June, and just rode 5 days in the park in mid-September with my entire family (wife and all 4 kids).

I rode all the flow/jump trails if I recall (A-line, dirt merchant, freight train, blue velvet, una moss, Crank it up, Crank it up more, B-line). Family cross wasn't open on either trip.

For the most part, I didn't think they were too bad, with the exception of a few spots. The first turn below the wood drop at the top of A-line was pretty hammered. My understanding was they did a bunch of tuning on upper A line after crankworks. First day of our September trip it wasn't bad, by day 5 it was absolutely hammered.

A few spots on Crank it up were hammered (rockier sections out in the open), but mostly you could find smooth enough lines. It wasn't so bad that my 8 and 10 year old groms didn't want to hit it lap after lap.

I don't remember any of the others being so rough they stood out in my mind. A few spots on freight train maybe, but the soil up there is so much more rock than say A-Line, that it being rougher is pretty much a given.

Honestly, the only parts of the park that were so hammered that they were not enjoyable to me were Heart of Darkness and the bit below the GLC drop down to the bottom.

That is understandable, considering pretty much all the traffic in the park flows to those two spots. You could fix those spots, but they'd be blown out again in a couple days, and would cause traffic flow issues if you shut them down for any length of time.

Short of paving them, not sure there is much you can do about those two spots.

I like technical trails as chunky as possible, and the flow/jump trails as smooth as possible. While WBP is the premier bike park in the world, it's probably also busiest bike park in the world, and with all that traffic of varying skill level things are going to get beat.

I won't complain if they put more effort into maintaining the flow/jump trails, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it based on what I experienced.

Heck, I rode 8 days at Whistler and didn't get a single blister or have hands so sore that a short break didn't cure it.

That is more than I can say for the nearest bike park to me that has flow trails built out of jagged lava rock. After 5 days toughening up my hands in Whistler, I went to the local park a week later and my hands still got shredded.

 

wow. we are actually complaining that dh trails are dh worthy? what dafuk is next?

 

Must just be bad timing..... Was there about a week after Crankworx and the trails were money.... I have never seen A-Line, Freight Train and Dirt Merchant so sweeet.... Crank it up was a tad beat out but that trail is so dumbed down now it's not even that fun....

 

I've never been to Whistler, almost certainly never will go there and probably couldn't ride most of the trails if I did. But we do have trails here in Scotland. Ours are made out of ground too.

I don't expect them to stay the same, I don't really want them to. It's interesting finding that a trail that was easy the last time now wants to toss you down the side of the hill. The real world is like that, constantly changing.

 

Ride Steven's Pass

 

SMT would cry if he had to ride down Hardline...

 

I pray to god that no one complaining in this thread ever rides a dirt bike. proper moto tracks/trails will turn your brain into ****.

My girlfriend who is a beginner rider was able to handle CIU and bline the day after crankworks ended so....yeah, man up. Or woman up in her case.

 

Welcome to Vail resorts!

 

The Vail Resorts buyout was announced in early August, and the deal wasn't supposed to close til this fall, so I doubt Vail has had any influence as of yet.

My biggest concern is what happens to bike park pass prices for next summer and beyond. Can't imagine they will go down, but I sure can see them going up.

If I'm not mistaken, Vail also ones Northstar and Keystone. Anybody know how pass prices at those parks compare to Whistler?

And, what about the huge $345 million expansion that Whistler announced in April, that was supposed to double the size of the bike park? Haven't heard squat about that since, and have to wonder if that has been scrapped entirely.

 

Whistler is the place to go...The Mecca of Mtn biking

But are they resting on their reputation and not doing or bare minium maintenance anymore ??

Going to Whistler between 2005 and 2010 ...the trails were kept up so well....

My last 5 day trip in Sept....we spent 2 days in the park and rode other places instead because the trails are so beat up... and we rode mostly Garbonzo tech because none of the flow/jump trails were in good condition.

Whistler is sad !!!

Trail maintenance is none...the trails use to be kept up so well. Now days the brake bumps are crazy and holes in the middle of berms- seriously ??

And before someone says I am lame for posting this....think about this...On Dirt Merchant there was a huge hole in the middle of the turn.

Whistler needs to step up their trail maintenance.....thoughts ??

Thoughts:

When you asked in the other thread how long it takes to rebuild after Crankworks, a couple of us told you the truth: opening day the next year. The trails are never the same after the event. When you have a season pass, you get used to it.

Rocking the gnar is part of the deal, it's downhill, not bobsledding.

There is always a line at Whistler, carved in, slick, blue/grey and waiting for the right rider to rail it. Usually on the outside of the turn, the fastest straight through a given section, the Right Line throught the chunder: where the choads go, the brake bumps grow but there is gold on the hill for those who look for it.