Hi there! It's Tippie, making my first nsmb post! I'm still smiling after an epic adventure yesterday. Margus Riga, Johnny Smoke and I worked together planning a rad day climbing and mtb descending Yak Peak. It was old school mtn biking at it's best, chartering new territory and stepping into the unknown! Whatta rush!
We had all looked lustily at those granite slopes since the Coquihalla Highway opened for Expo '86. We sweated our way to the top hauling our big bikes but couldn't get to the line Smoke and I had analyzed from photo's and visuals due to huge cliffs, ice and snow on the ridge, and a 1200 foot vertical drop off the back. We ended up riding over 2/3's of the mtn down the riders left of the face and mostly followed the route we had climbed.
It was very exposed and the view was amazing from the summit as we could see Mt. Baker, the Cascade and Coastal Ranges, Nak Peak, Needle Mountain, and even glimpses of the interior! You should have seen the faces of the rockclimbers as they got to the peak and found us having lunch at the top with our Rocky Mountain Flatlines! It was scary pointing it down the granite and the gnarl singletrack in the bush but very satisfying to high five each other at the bottom. We sweated and laughed all day, got some killer shots and adrenaline rushes, and most importantly went home safe to our families. Go big…then go home. Thanks for props everyone and see you on the trails!