Euro Prep

Words Cory Leclerc

Photos Cory Leclerc

Date Jun 4, 2011

So the day before I left for Europe, I had 2 lone soldiers show up for C4 Team Training. Zander and Jack had to race the Crud to Mud, Jack ripped it solo and nabbed a solid time, while Zander partnered up with Jake Allison for the win and the fastest overall time. Pretty Impressive stuff.

So seeing as I only had 2 shredders I decided to take them on an epic adventure that only a twisted old fella like myself could conjure up.

cory leclerc, world cup, fort william, 2011

So we decided that we should be the first to ride the ….. trail in Squamish but the snow really made it a challenge and we ended up slogging thru almost 8 feet of snow in some spots, and fighting with a very protective mama grouse that would not leave us alone until we got clear off of her turf. Its spring and I’m sure she had a nest full of babies, so we moved on and left nature the way we found it.

First creek crossing is a bit tricky in the summer but in the mega snow it was scary dangerous and crossing required team work and careful planning to say the least. Falling in and having a piece of that heavy wet coastal snow collapse on top of you could have been a mini avalanche style scenario. The boys handled it like pros and we were off to continue towards crossing number 2.

cory leclerc, world cup, fort william, 2011 Yes shimmying over on yer bum bum can look kinda wussy, but with shiny metal SPD cleats I would slide over on as well. Matt and I had 5 10’s

Creek Crossing number 2, after playing detectives to find the access, things look a whole lot different when there still 6′ of snow on the ground!

have to admit when we got to the other side I was beginning to get a bit nervous, the snow was at least twice as deep as I had expected and the trail clues were pretty scarce. Back tracking at this point was looking like an option, so we parked the bikes and hiked around until we found the trailhead. It’s usually a pretty long sweet ride and I had promised these 2 manimals some sweetness. We ended up hiking about 40% of the way down and then the snow started to disappear. Sorry there are no riding shots, but we were short on time and high on stoke at this point. These boys earned the turns they had on this day, and I’m sure this ride will last in their memories for years to come.

cory leclerc, world cup, fort william, 2011
After 4hrs of wet feet and serious teamwork the fun begins!