Official Mt Washington thread

Here's my beef with Mt. Washington - blah blah blah - I'm getting old….

FYP

Last Sunday wasnt bad up there. They're making an effort and there were people out working and buffing trails while we were riding.

It'd be nice to see Monster Mile and Scratch 'n' Sniff open but I'm not holding my breath since Monster Mile is listed as "race use only" on the trail report and Scratch 'n' Sniff doesnt even seem to exist anymore

I'll back up there this weekend…but more for the bearclaw and less for the riding.

Anyone headin over on the horseshoe ferry tomorrow for the bearclaw invitational and have room for one person plus a bike from the nanaimo side up to the hill? Or if anyone on here is going up from Nanaimo and has room for one for some gas money it would be appreciated.

FYP

Last Sunday wasnt bad up there. They're making an effort and there were people out working and buffing trails while we were riding.

It'd be nice to see Monster Mile and Scratch 'n' Sniff open but I'm not holding my breath since Monster Mile is listed as "race use only" on the trail report and Scratch 'n' Sniff doesnt even seem to exist anymore

I'll back up there this weekend…but more for the bearclaw and less for the riding.

Rumor is they are making an effort because without the ridership this year they will shut down. Too little too late.

Here's my beef with Mt. Washington - it doesn't really cater very well to the intermediate rider.

All of the gaps are pretty high consequence, and while for 10-15% of the riding population, they are fine, for the rest of us they are just a little too big. The same goes for all of the table tops - they are mostly a little out of the average riders league - and I am an average rider.

This wouldn't be a problem if you were to, say, never ride Whistler or Silverstar. However, for an intermediate rider, a couple of laps on Crank it UP, B-Line, Ninja-Cougar etc and even A-Line followed by a day at Mt Washington and the difference is stunning.

What's most frustrating is that with just a little more investment, Washington could have a couple of stellar intermediate trails- Hustler used to be awesome; Big Brother could use some size reduction on the jumps, MMT could use some re-organization etc. But the reality is the trail system is just so scattered. Big Brother is a Blue trail that ends in a very high consequence jump sequence to step-up gap. I am pretty sure I saw at least two riders spine boarded out of that location last year and in Strahan's video I see it is still there…

It would also be nice if they buffed the trails…you used to be able to ride Hustler on an AM bike - now it is a challenge on a DH rig.

Having said all of that - I haven't ridden there yet this year, so I will re-assess after I go try it - probably next week.

Strahan - you rip - enjoy the park. I will only go once or twice, so I am sure to not get in your way.

I'm sorry, but as a barely intermediate rider I have to say Mt.Washington is about as intermediate as one can get.

There are gaps yes, but the majority of the jumps are easily rollable tables and the drops are about as straightforward simple as possible. This hill can barely afford to stay open (probably won't) yet you want what…3 jumps of every skill level instead of one intermediate one? Sorry but I don't see the point in them spending already lacking resources on obstacles that a rider is going to do once or twice and then never bother with again. There is plenty of beginner riding to be found on other trails in the valley as well as on that hill. I'm not sure what your perception of beginner jumps are, but sections of 2 foot long tables don't exactly get much smaller.

Some of the jumps on A-line are much more intimidating to a new rider than any of the gaps found on Wizard or Big Brother. Relatively tame kicker vs near DJ style booter into 15 foot table? One requires speed but is essentially just a ride off, the other being able to throw you off your bike if you're not ready or skilful enough for it yet.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/273748/

Think they need to make some of the jumps bigger. Ie time warp your braking hard not to overshoot almost every jump.

Aside from the 4x track and big brother. They actually got those right for the most part. It was good to see them buffing out trails. I think they're in the best shape they have been this year. I liked seeing little kickers set back from some of the step downs. Way better for intermediate riders that dont want to brake as much.

No offense, but if you find Washington trails to difficult you should prob get more practice before going to any bike park. Just about everything there is rollable. And most
Of the jumps are too small at a bike length or under.

As a guy who rides every jump (I think) on Washington. Going up to a line was intimidating, carrying a lot of speed thru what seems like endless jumps.

Think they need to make some of the jumps bigger. Ie time warp your braking hard not to overshoot almost every jump.

Aside from the 4x track and big brother. They actually got those right for the most part. It was good to see them buffing out trails. I think they're in the best shape they have been this year. I liked seeing little kickers set back from some of the step downs. Way better for intermediate riders that dont want to brake as much.

No offense, but if you find Washington trails to difficult you should prob get more practice before going to any bike park. Just about everything there is rollable. And most
Of the jumps are too small at a bike length or under.

As a guy who rides every jump (I think) on Washington. Going up to a line was intimidating, carrying a lot of speed thru what seems like endless jumps.

A-line more intimidating than Back in Black? Sorry, but the big drop on BIB is way bigger
than anything on A-line…or any double black on Whistler.

A-line more intimidating than Back in Black? Sorry, but the big drop on BIB is way bigger
than anything on A-line…or any double black on Whistler.

The 6' near the end? I guess but as a whole back in black doesn't seem very challenging to me. Looking at Past vids it seemed to have a few bigger stunts that have been removed.

I guess since I only did a line once and wasn't familiar with the trail the adrenaline was going more than if I'd rode it half a dozen times.

Maybe it's just me but I still think the speed required for 10-15 ft tables are harder than rolling a 6' drop with a 3' gap. To each their own

The 6' near the end? I guess but as a whole back in black doesn't seem very challenging to me. Looking at Past vids it seemed to have a few bigger stunts that have been removed.

I guess since I only did a line once and wasn't familiar with the trail the adrenaline was going more than if I'd rode it half a dozen times.

Maybe it's just me but I still think the speed required for 10-15 ft tables are harder than rolling a 6' drop with a 3' gap. To each their own

I haven't been to MW in two years so maybe they removed the big drop (it was easy 10') with
the doubles after the wood step down-gap, the wood A-frame-to-root-drop things, plus the
12'+ tables are/were far harder than anything Aline has to give…even if you're blazing
off the rock drop you might get 8'. I do agree that they've made the lips on Aline more
lippy which is why a likes DM better (even with the three lippy tables they had).

Then again, I think GG is probably the hardest trail on that mountain (captain safety
Crack addict and clown shoes are close).

But to each their own, there are a lot more trails WBP than Aline.

Yeh wish I coulda rode them all freight train Aline and orig sin are the only blacks I did. looking at past vids bib has tamed down a lot. Never got to ride the old bib so a little dissapointed.

It was quite a bit more exciting I.e wood step down to double to wallride looked hairy

Yeh wish I coulda rode them all freight train Aline and orig sin are the only blacks I did. looking at past vids bib has tamed down a lot. Never got to ride the old bib so a little dissapointed.

It was quite a bit more exciting I.e wood step down to double to wallride looked hairy

Local knowledge - there are two BIB's - one off of big brother that is newer, and one below Wizard that is the original. Pretty sure the big wood step down to gaps to wallride is still there…

Local knowledge - there are two BIB's - one off of big brother that is newer, and one below Wizard that is the original. Pretty sure the big wood step down to gaps to wallride is still there…

Lots of it was closed off when we were there at the end of August.

I'm sorry, but as a barely intermediate rider I have to say Mt.Washington is about as intermediate as one can get.

There are gaps yes, but the majority of the jumps are easily rollable tables and the drops are about as straightforward simple as possible.

Easily rollable yes - a bit more challenging to actually jump. Even Bearclaw couldn't make the frst few jumps on Big Brother work as shown in this clip from Seasons (go to 8:10:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74gFvB2FW1o

This hill can barely afford to stay open (probably won't) yet you want what…3 jumps of every skill level instead of one intermediate one? Sorry but I don't see the point in them spending already lacking resources on obstacles that a rider is going to do once or twice and then never bother with again.

This is a chicken / egg thing. The issue is that the ownership group doesn't see the point in spending money on anything, and isn't willing to spend the minimum necssary to make the bike park really worth people's while. They don't need a drastic improvement, but they do need to improve it.

The telling thing for me is how many people from the central and south island buy Whistler bike park season's passes, and will pay for the ferry and accommodations to get their moneys worth from Whistler and will ride Washington maybe once…for most people Mt. Wash is so much worse than Whistler that they find it worth the money to go to Whistler all season.

There is plenty of beginner riding to be found on other trails in the valley as well as on that hill. I'm not sure what your perception of beginner jumps are, but sections of 2 foot long tables don't exactly get much smaller.

Another problem with Mt. Wash is that the local trails in the Valley are soooo much better than what they offer, that all you really get is the ride up. I know lots of very capable, dedicated riders who won't go to the bike park ever because the local trails are so much better.

Some of the jumps on A-line are much more intimidating to a new rider than any of the gaps found on Wizard or Big Brother. Relatively tame kicker vs near DJ style booter into 15 foot table? One requires speed but is essentially just a ride off, the other being able to throw you off your bike if you're not ready or skilful enough for it yet.

For me the jumps on A-Line (at least the last time I rode there) are far easier as they are all the same. ie the angle of the kicker remains consistent for the entire run. The same is true at Silverstar - which in my mind is the model that Mt. Wash should be following.

Having said all of that, I am still going to ride up there this Sunday…