Pre-Season Update
Hey Park riders here is a pre-season update for all of you losing sleep and grinding your teeth flat in anticipation of the first day of Bike Park 2010. Last night was the premiere of Anthill’s “Follow Me” and after watching the teaser at least once a day for over a month, the real deal didn’t disappoint. The crowd was suitably rowdy before the film started and my favorite moment was when some random bearded dude came up and gave Gully a hug on the stage when the athletes, filmers and photogs were being introduced. I won’t spoil the film for you but will say that Matt Hunter’s new school feature was a highlight as was the Brandon Semenuk’s allyoop-360-lookback. When I get my copy of the DVD that part will get worn out first from replays.
The real news this week is on the trail front. Most trails in the valley below 1000m are opening up pretty quickly on the west side. The east side has snow dwindling to the 40cm depth range which should come off pretty quickly once the Trail Crews puts a few shovels into it. My hope is to dig out A-Line and see how it weathered the winter after the work we did on it in the fall. Crank It Up should come to life pretty fast as the drainage on that aspect is really good. Joyride and Schleyer are melting out fast and once that rock on the upper section pokes out the snow doesn’t stand a chance. With the return of the “Crud 2 Mud” race we are guaranteed to have some serious muck out there and it remains to be seen which trail will be the sacrificial lamb for the event.
We have been having great discussions with Cowan about the 2010 design for the Slopestyle and Dual course and without leaking any top secret details, both will good with the return of some features for the rest of us so the whole space doesn’t sit empty until Crankworx.
The TWSSF is well under way and the snow farmers are having a tough time keeping a ski-out open which translates to quicker opening of the goods in the woods; so start doing your squats because the countdown as I write this is 25 sleeps. See you on the trail. B.
- JR
The real news this week is on the trail front. Most trails in the valley below 1000m are opening up pretty quickly on the west side. The east side has snow dwindling to the 40cm depth range which should come off pretty quickly once the Trail Crews puts a few shovels into it. My hope is to dig out A-Line and see how it weathered the winter after the work we did on it in the fall. Crank It Up should come to life pretty fast as the drainage on that aspect is really good. Joyride and Schleyer are melting out fast and once that rock on the upper section pokes out the snow doesn’t stand a chance. With the return of the “Crud 2 Mud” race we are guaranteed to have some serious muck out there and it remains to be seen which trail will be the sacrificial lamb for the event.
We have been having great discussions with Cowan about the 2010 design for the Slopestyle and Dual course and without leaking any top secret details, both will good with the return of some features for the rest of us so the whole space doesn’t sit empty until Crankworx.
The TWSSF is well under way and the snow farmers are having a tough time keeping a ski-out open which translates to quicker opening of the goods in the woods; so start doing your squats because the countdown as I write this is 25 sleeps. See you on the trail. B.
- JR
Whistler Blackcomb - Whistler, BC Canada -
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