“Dis is the Island Mon…”

“Dis is the Island Mon.” That was the response that I got when I asked why the charlifts didn’t open until 11:00 am. Things on the Island are done a wee bit differently than on the mainland. Mount Washington played host to the first annual Rocky Mountain Roots, Rocky and Reggae Festival over the past weekend. It was a Rasta-themed Customer Appreciation weekend bash located on Vancouver Island’s only lift-accessed mountain bike destination.

Brett ‘Bunny Wailer’ Tippie and Wade “Rasta” Simmons dishing out the goods.

Riders who made the trek were treated to luxuries normally reserved for kings and queens; 2-for-1 lift tickets, Rocky Mountain Flatline Demo bikes, food, drinks, tonnes, and I mean tonnes, of swag, all dished out by none other than Wade Simmons, Brett Tippie and Andrew Sherry. Not only were they giving out the prizes and spreading the cheer, all you had to do was ask and you could get some laps in with the legends.

Rocky Mountain, Raceface and Marzocchi took over the space in front of the Alpine Lodge.

Raceface was on hand and they were tossing out Atlas Freeride Cranks, handlebars and stems in every colour imaginable, t-shirts and stickers. Okay they weren’t throwing the cranks or the bars, but you get the point.

Reg Nightingale collects his winnings. Photo ~ Phil Mowatt

The biggest prize came from Rocky Mountain bikes in the form of a 2009 Rocky Mountain DJ Flow. The lucky winner was Reg Nightingale and while he professes that DJing is not his game, his 17 year old son, who wasn’t present at his fathers glorious win, will sure enjoy it!

Well built woodwork only helps the flow.

I asked Wade Simmons what he thought of the Mount Washington Bike Park and the weekend in general. “I was sweetly surprised at the quality of riding that Mt. Washington had to offer. I can’t exactly remember the last time I rode there, but it was in the early ’90s at a BC Cup DH race. I do remember how gnarly and rooty the course was. How different the park is now! Of course the gnarl is still there located on the higher but slower Eagle Chair, but the trails off the lower running Hawk Chair are divine. Very Whistleresque. One can berm ’til their heart’s content, send it on sizable ladder gaps, practice true wall rides on both sides and table/double jump until the sun sets over Forbidden.

Brett Tippie, always out chasing the ladies. Photo ~ Phil Mowatt.

“There is bridge work meandering through meadows, a large step-up that takes you into a corkscrew berm that is so fast and steep that Andrew Sherry and I coined it the Hellevator and wicked forest single track peppered throughout. It is a rider’s park to safisfy all desires.”

Time Warp from the lift, and yes that is a berm to wooden step down, and yes it is super fun to ride. Photo ~ Phil Mowatt

Brett Tippie also weighed in (we actually had to pry the mic away from him) on his thoughts about the weekend. “We were all surprised at how good the trails were and the high level of trailbuilding the local crew displayed. Runs like the Wizard, Time Warp, Hustler, Helter Skelter and Back in Black were wicked off the Hawk Chair. Tons of berms, jumps, man-made drops with lots of flow. Smooth and fast! The Eagle Chair, which went higher, offered steeper, rockier and rootier technical gnarl on trails like Scratch and Sniff and Hidden Valley with gorgeous views of the mountains and the ocean.”

Andrew Sherry chases Brett Tippie Down some sweet shale runs. Photo ~ Phil Mowatt

I sat down with Mike Manara, Business Operations Manager for the Bike Park at Mt. Washington, to discuss the massive changes that have occured. Mt Washington has always been known as the gnarly, steep mountain. As riding progressed to a more “slopestyle Park” form, something had to be done. Slowly over time they have worked on getting trails that rival the ones found in other more note-worthy parks like Whistler and Silver Star. But true to their “roots”, they have kept the vestiges of Helter Skelter, Monster Mile and Scratch and Sniff. Mike explained that the demographic of the park is a 23 year old male, but you can’t cater to just him. Hence, one of the reasons for running two lifts.

What’s Tippie’s wife going to think? Wait a minute…

The Hawk Express focuses on access to the trails that are fast, flowy and are peppered with the built-up jumps. The Eagle contains the “old school” steep and techy trails. The other reason is that there is little dirt on that side of the mountain and it makes building trails very difficult.

Darcy O’Conner (Rocky Mountain Engineer and recent inductie into the 30 year old group scopes the step down on Back in Black. Photo Phil Mowatt.

We even had time to get some helmet cam footage of Brett Tippie chasing Vincent Pernin down Time Warp.

Take a weekend and get up and ride the trails in Mount Washington. They have reshaped just what it means to be a bike park by offering a taste of everything.

Life in the trailer. Working with professionals is always a pleasure.

Mount Washington is getting rave reviews this year. Have you hit it? Are you going to? What’s your favourite run? Give up the goods here..