Whistler's summer secrets
When the snow disappears in North America's top ski resort... biking takes centre stage
It’s easy to be a bit short-sighted when looking ahead to summer in a ski resort. The thought of the place you love to ski without the thick blanket of snow is quite depressing. However, once the snow has gone, resorts often reveal their full potential. And when the snow melts in Whistler, Canada, a mountain biker’s paradise is released.
Both locals and tourists can be seen rolling through the village on everything from beautifully painted beach cruisers to scratched-up BMXs, and skinny lightweight road bikes to massive, full suspension, downhill beasts.
So whatever type of bike you have, or like to play on, Whistler has a place for you to ride it from morning until night.
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| Whistler Bike Park mixes freestyle features and jumps with flowing singletrail and technical downhill descents. |
Downhill Biking - Whistler Mountain Bike Park
The Whistler Mountain Bike Park offers one of the best downhill biking experiences in the world and has everything from wide open undulating trails like Easy Does It for beginners, through to hair-raising descents filled with rocks, roots and cliffs such as Goat’s Gully. If you’ve never pulled on a full face helmet and donned body armor, and pointed a meaty full suspension downhill bike towards the bottom of a trail, it truly is a unique style of adrenaline rush. It is also far easier than it looks.
Whistler Blackcomb aims to prove this with Ladies Night, which takes place weekly. Full equipment rental, lift ticket and a two-hour lesson only cost $76 and Testosterone Tuesdays offers the same value so the boys can test their metal in the bike park. Both deals mean even those of you used to keeping both feet, and certainly both wheels, on the ground will be bouncing down the bike park in no time.
For the experienced rider Whistler Blackcomb introduced a unique downhill trail - Top of the World - last year, which winds down the mountain from the peak of Whistler Mountain.
XC Biking - Lost Lake Park Cross Country Trails
If you like a bit more balance in your life then maybe the cross-country (XC) riding is for you. Whistler and the surrounding areas have hundreds of free XC trails that make you work for the stunning alpine views and flowing descents, with some grueling but rewarding climbs, perfect for building your ski fitness between seasons.
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| Lost Lake Park is home to the famous Zappa Trails. |
Lost Lake Park’s famous Zappa Trails are a mixture of green and blue trails that vary from easy wide open gravel paths to more technical single track with exciting downhills and features, both natural and man-made.
The rest of the valley has a huge network of trails straight out of a mountain biker’s wildest dreams with single track that has you riding logs over raging rivers, weaving through dense trees and skidding your way around hairpin bends.
Some of the most popular local trails are the flat, but feature filled, A River Runs Through It, the incredible Train Wreck that weaves around genuine old train debris, and the epic full day adventure that is Comfortably Numb (know as Uncomfortable Bum to locals).
Cruising- The Valley Trail
Whistler’s Valley Trail is 40km worth of paved pathways connecting every neighborhood, lake, park, and point of interest in town.
It’s used everyday by hundreds of walkers, joggers and bikers, including locals commuting to work and tourists searching for outdoor adventure. The trail is the perfect place to take a few big comfortable cruisers, complete with picnic baskets hanging on the front and spend the day exploring.
It’ll probably only be a few minutes riding the Valley Trail before you reach that picture perfect spot you were looking for, or bump into a resident black bear.
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| Howe Sound from the Sea to Sky Highway. |
Road Biking - The Sea to Sky Highway
The Sea to Sky Highway, redeveloped for the 2012 Winter Olympics, was been transformed from a narrow and closure-prone route to one of the most beautiful drives on the West Coast.
This newly widened Highway comes complete with a bike lane, so what better way to experience this stunning trip than on your trusty road bike? Every summer this attitude inspires bikers to compete in the GranFondo - an epic race that sees more than 10,000 riders pedal all the way from downtown Vancouver to Whistler.
Grab your road bike, pull on you spandex and take on part of the challenge yourself, even if it is just rolling down to Squamish where the Greyhound Bus will be waiting to drive you back to Whistler. The best time to do so is early morning when there are fewer cars and a beautiful sunrise. Not for the faint of heart but the rewards are amazing views of the Pacific Ocean, Howe Sound and the Coast Mountains.
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| View from Whistler Peak towards Black Tusk. |
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