This week has been an opportunity to showcase our product to the media. The guys at WhatMTB were really up for coming out and seeing what we are all about. We wanted to show just what Whistler has to offer, and how we do it.

The current media trend is to highlight the bike park as all that is Whistler and this just simply is not true! Whistler has been a biking mecca for years now. It set the foundations for crosscountry riding many years ago making use of old game trails and logging trails that have been established over the decades.

We wanted to highlight to WhatMTB and their reader base that Whistler is not a place to be affraid of, but somewhere that can be enjoyed in whatever capacity you like. So, in came Pete with a plan for a feature on Extreme XC in Whistler. I had to ask him what he meant
by Extreme XC to which he replied, "well, slick rock, roots, technical singletrack"... Oh I realised... "you mean XC!"

Whistler is one of those places that incorporates all levels of riding, and its all there in the back yard. We had an idea from Pete as to what he was looking for, the only trouble was finding time in just one week to even scratch the surface of what this place has to offer!



The WhatMTB team arrive in Vancouver. After a glorious drive up the Sea-to-Sky Highway in some of the best weather we'd seen so far this summer we arrived in Whistler.
The guys got settled and after a light summers meal to compliment the warm summers evening, we set of out for an easy cruise through the Lost Lake trails system.

We cruised through a few miles of double track trail and on into a fairly technical singletrack trail called No Horses. This trail was constructed last year for the World Solo 24hr of Adrenaline series and is an easily accessible testiment to the quality of the Whistler trail network.

After an hour or so, we cruised back past the Cross Country Connection hut and were presented with a healthy looking Bear. He was probably about 2 years old, but big enough for Pete to give him a respectfully wide berth as we rolled on past.



First things first, a hearty breakfast for the bright eyed eager riders.

We then headed up the bike park to show the boys just what most people are talking about when they write about Whistler.
It was hot and the trails were fast. A few hits on the lower mountain and a blast through the Garbanzo lift area and it was time for a bite to eat in the GLC.
A few runs through A-Line in the afternoon finished off the day nicely.

After a quick change from sweaty DH gear into XC baggies and we were off into Whistlers signature trail 'A River Runs Through It'. 'River' is a mix of technical singletrack combined with North Shore inspired ladders and stunt sections. Each of these obsticals has an easy, medium and hard option and caters for almost all levels and diciplines of riders. Its as much fun on a singlespeed

Another fantastic meal courtesy of Becki and bed was calling!

Up to another perfectly clear blue sky morning and we headed out to shoot some images of the wooden features in River to make up part of the Extreme XC feature.

Repeatedly riding the most photogenic stunts certainly allowed bike handling skills and confidence to improve.

Robin the photographer had been 'taken out' during her Ultimate frisbee game the night before and was bravely nusring a sprained ankle but still working like a soldier getting the shots she needed.

Once we'd exhausted the angles and the patchy lighting within the forest, we headed back to the chalet for some lunch and appraisal of the images that had been taken.

After lunch we pedalled out to a great technical singletrack area called 'Cut yer Bars'. There are some tight, rooty, rocky and gnarly sections of singletrack and slickrock within the Cut yer Bars area. Its literally a stones throw from the chalet and can entertain you for hours just riding different loops or lines.

We lost Robin to a business meeting, but cracked on with a couple of other photographers to see what we could get.

Perfect blue skies helped set the photos off a treat!

We left the guys to fend for themselves for evening meal tonight, we recommended a steak house and left them to it.

Today we did something a bit different. A second feature for the magazine includes the top 5 places to ride outside of Whistler. What better place than the birth of freeride.... Vancouver's North Shore.

We headed down with the West Coast Freeride Guides, bikes carefully racked up on the roof of the van to Mount Seymour.

At the Seymour parking lot, we unloaded, kitted up, and set off for what would turn out to be 3 hours of some of the most enjoyable riding I have ever experienced!

We rode a trail called 'CBC', a mixture of man made berms, flowing descents and North Shore stunts. The trail went on and on, as did some of the features. At one point we were suspended on ladders, logs and skinnies for over 5 minutes!

From CBC we headed into Screwdriver and on into Neds Atomic Dustbin, all of which had some truly impressive trail work.

A bite to eat fuelled us for a 2nd shuttle and we rode even more technical trails. Some gnarly sections again, but most of it was getting soaked up by the plush forks on the DH rigs. A burly freeride bike would have been perfect in there, but the triple clamp forks made going through things super easy.




A busy day today!

Again the Freeride Guides were laying it on, and showing the guys another of the top things to do in Whistler. Today's delight was a heli drop up on Rainbow mountain. The tour costs £85 (half the price of other operators!)
A mile of vertical descending is something to savour for a long long time, and the experience is something else!

The adrenaline rush from the chopper flight stays with you for the first descent. The trail is really varied with some steeps, some smooth, some fast and lots and lots of down.


Once back at Rainbow park there was little time to ponder the riding as there were showers to be had before heading up to the Very top of Whistler Mountain to do a peak tour. Back up again to the height from which we had just descended from Rainbow, only this time it took around 35 minutes as opposed to the 8 minute helicopter uplift.

The Peak is an awe inspiring place to sit and reflect. The surrounding mountains are so vast and the view down into the valley below blows you away.
We headed on down with Tom Pro, the bike parks manager and Robin was able to join us again to capture some of the incredible vistas through her lens.

We took a little under 4 hours to complete the descent and the promise of food and beer at the bottom kept us going.








After 2 miles of vertical the day before, a lazy morning was in order. The boys were having none of it and set off for the bike park on their XC bikes to see what they could find.

The afternoon was set aside for a ride into "Kill Me Thrill Me", another Whistler favourite. The trail got its well deserved name due to the long technical climb that really does Kill you, and the well earned descent which, well, Thrills you.

A few more photos were to be had at the last few rocky pitch's with a view to wrapping up the Extreme XC image bank.