Sea to Sky Enduro Series

Oh it's on. Clark throws down a great course to cap off the Series.

The grande finale of the inaugural year of the Sea to Sky Enduro Series is this Saturday July 26, with hero conditions (wet dirt/dry roots) in the forecast. Continuing to mix things up, this round has the least amount of pedalling (but also the steepest climbing) of all the events, as well as the gnarliest riding, and the earliest course announcement. Full face helmets are mandatory, and DH rubber would be a good choice. All profits are going to WORCA’s incredible Sproatt trail project (http://www.worca.com/sproatt-alpine-mulit-use-trail/).

Sign in is 8:00am sharp at the bottom of the gondola. We’re starting early to get the first stage done before the public gets up there. Bring your park pass if you have one, or else a single ride up the gondy is $10. We’ll start uploading at 8:30. From the Roundhouse you’ll climb up Pika’s, past the top of Harmony lift, to the trailhead of Top of the World (a 30-min climb/push).

Stage 1 is TOTW (entire trail) to Franz’s bridge at the bottom of hwy 86 - good practice for Crankworx Enduro. In an effort to avoid gnarly trails, jumpy trails, and to avoid having to close a ton of other trails (since the park will be open during stage 2), we are doing a single lower mountain stage on the far left side of the park. Therefore stage 2 starts way down at the containers (ride whatever you want between Franz’s bridge and the containers), and includes No Duff, Duffman, Golden Triangle +/- Easy Does It (final details still being ironed out).

Stages 3 and 4 will be on Blackcomb, accessed via the efficient direct climb (not way around/across/over through the sliding center please). We’ll be riding Hey Bud twice! Why Hey Bud? Because its an awesome trail; its had some nice fresh work done by its long-time caretaker; its hard but not “crazy” (like it’s neighbor); its other neighbor (Whistler’s worst kept secret ever) is not an option; Golden Boner has been done to death; and there’s nothing appropriate/compelling in the Creekside zone. So there. All the jumps/gaps will be taped off.

Why run one trail twice? Two reasons: We are using WB’s fancy chip timing system which has only 6 readers total, meaning either 6 stages with fixed start times, or 3 stages with go-whenever-you-like starts. I prefer the latter. And since stage 3 is already set up, its easy to run it twice. They’ve been repeating tracks at recent EWS events and I like the idea - inevitably one of your runs will be faster, likely the second (if you don’t push too hard and crash). But both count, so you need to ride smart.

If you don’t like the trail selection or format, there will be a box of Kleenex at the top of Hey Bud for you to dry your tears so you don’t fog your goggles. Podium and prizes will be at the GLC about an hour after the last rider finishes their second Hey Bud lap, so likely early-mid afternoon. Feel free to buy me a beer. If you can’t race, please come volunteer.

REGISTER: http://www.worca.com/s2s-enduro-series-6-whistler-bike-park-top-world-registration-open/

Well this makes Top of the World interesting.

And by interesting you mean "incredibly awesome". Shades of Samurais past!

yeah we woke up to snow in the mountains. it'll be long gone by saturday.

Snow looks to be gone. Going to be some prime tacky dirt tomorrow.

Anyone driving up from North Van in the AM? Looking for a ride or car pool.

is this series running again this year? any tentative dates if so? need to schedule my summer…

Announcement coming soon…

Some changes for 2015, but the premise is still the same. Fun local events where the racing is secondary to the fact that we're raising money for the local trails.

Tentative dates.

Pemberton - April 25th
Squamish - May 23rd
North Vancouver - Sept 19th