Thursday, June 19, 2014

South Chilcotin 2014 season opener....


There's been much talk and concern that BC Parks will be limiting and or worse, restricting all mountain bike traffic in the South Chilcotin Mountains and Big Creek Parks in the very near future. Any rider who's had the special privilege to spend some time in this place would understand what kind of a loss this would be if the draft plan as written was implemented. Even though the comments section of the proposal has been closed it's very important the riding community expresses their voice. Anytime you get on these trails show what ambassadors you can be as mountain bikers and respect the other users in the parks.

So with the unusually low snowpack this spring I was eager as ever to see what the trails looked like as the trails opened up.         



The Hurley officially was officially cleared of snow during the week and was in incredible condition.






Saturday morning we made our way up the pleasant and gentle Taylor FSR climb....      





And took a nice and relaxing breather at the historic Taylor cabin....  




We reached Taylor Pass without riding through a single patch of snow.... by far the earliest I'd ever been at 2100m in these dry conditions. The view from this spot sums up what this place means to us.          



High trail through Eldorado meadows was in PERFECT shape!



A VERY fresh track from one of our friends was smack dab in the middle of our route.


From this perspective all was well at Tyax Adventure's Eldorado Cabin.  


From this perspective not all was well for our Lick Creek objective.    



After a BRUTAL isothermal rotten snow post hole session we arrived at the goods.    


By some miracle we found 2 unopened beers laying nicely on the ground near the Eldorado cabin and made good use of them before our final descent. Surely these were dropped in some deep snow and not found by some ski tourers this season.        


Classic line....







And on our way down Lick Creek we spent the afternoon clearing the trail of all but 3 very large dead-fallen trees. It will only take one small tank of fuel in a saw to take them out. See you soon Lick Creek!        


We made it back to our paradise just in time for a spectacular evening in the Bridge River Valley.    

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Mt. Baker the Corn Maker.....


I would be lying if I said I was thinking about shredding some corn in late May this year. The low snow pack and the great biking conditions weren't really inspiring me to get the board out anymore this season. Jason from G3 asked me if I would test a new shape on the Black Sheep Carbon X3 so I was in. Sometimes all you need is a little motivation. The classic spring rip in the lower mainland is Mt. Baker. No other mountain near Vancouver offers a descent from nearly 11000ft. So the last day of May Brett joined me for a quick lap down south.                


We arrived at the trailhead at 4:30am and decided on the Grouse Creek route to the Coleman Glacier.    


We only had 15 minutes of bushwhacking and slapped boards on. The conditions were still on the firm side as the sun came up so boot-packing was the efficient way to go in some spots.      


After about 1.5 hours the summit showed herself.



Shiny conditions....  








We arrived on the summit at about noon and Brett took a nap.  


Shuksan....



Steaming crater vent....  



A spectacular summit day with no wind!








Thanks for the inspiration and the sweet board G3!