Climb routes to Corkscrew?

Hi All,

I've ridden Corkscrew twice now, and I've tried to climb there two different ways, and I am wondering if there is a better option?  I don't really know my way around the mount so I rely on Trailforks and the posted signs.

The first time I rode Old Buck all the way up, past the power lines, straight to the road, and then pedaled up the road to Corkscrew.  Old Buck was pretty grueling, and riding on the road sucks.  

Second time I rode Bridle Path and then made my up Good Sir Martin and Mushroom Trail.  This was a much better (& enjoyable) route, but it meant I had to choose between hiking up Incline or Corkscrew for the final bit.  

Corkscrew sees more traffic, so while it would have been a nice way to scope the lines I elected to push up Incline.  This wasn't too bad, but as luck would have it a group of 4 kids happened to drop in when I was about half way up and I am pretty sure my scrambling out of their way messed up their flow (even though they were cool about it).

It left me thinking there has got to be a better way.  I am hoping to head back this weekend and was wondering if anyone has any alternate routes that involve pedaling up single/double track as opposed to hiking up either Incline/Corkscrew or riding the road?

On Trailforks it looks like Cabin Trail to TNT to Pinch Flat Alley would do it, but again, I would rather not ride up dedicated downhill trails if I can help it.

Thanks in advance.

It’s either GSM and push up or a combo of Old Buck and road. 

I agree it would be nice to have a climbing option from GSM to the picnic area.

That's pretty much my routes, Buck all the way to the road or GSM -> Powerlines->Upper Buck then the road if I wanted to mix things up

There would be a lot more pushing on Cabin/TNT to Pinch Flat than from Mushroom to the top of Incline.

Old Buck from the power line to the road definitely sucks, especially the loose steep section at the start, but I don't like pushing up technical trails, so that's the route I usually take.

I'll go up Mushroom if I want a nice long cardio climb, and then just do the lower half of Corkscrew.

old buck / BP / mushroom / push up remainder of incline

Posted by: xy9ine

old buck / BP / mushroom / push up remainder of incline

Second this, then you are only pushing the last 150m of Incline. For me it's way faster and less physically demanding to pedal up the road if I want to start at Corkscrew. That said, I do not climb the road during ski season because there's too much traffic/clueless drivers.

"Old Buck from the power line to the road definitely sucks, especially the loose steep section at the start" <- but on the other hand that loose section is great practice for the more brutal climbs (for me anyways) toward Upper Mad Hatter in Squamish or MicroClimate / Dark Crystal in Blackcomb

If I'm starting at Hyannis, I'll use GSM/Baden Powell/Mushroom trail and its then only a 5-10 minute push up Incline.

Otherwise it's Old Buck, Baden Powell then Mushroom trail as above.

No need to ride on road...

I kinda like Old Buck + road to Corkscrew because it takes you up fast. Good for a quick lap of Corkscrew, Pingu and Pangor or Boogie. I would say it's not a great climb but it's not too bad either.

GSM + Mushroom is a lot nicer, when I do that I don't bother pushing up the last bit and just drop in to Corkscrew from there.

Posted by: [email protected]

GSM + Mushroom is a lot nicer, when I do that I don't bother pushing up the last bit and just drop in to Corkscrew from there.

Pushing up Incline is also a good way to access Pinch Flat Alley and Cabin/TNT...

Posted by: SixZeroSixOne

Posted by: [email protected]

GSM + Mushroom is a lot nicer, when I do that I don't bother pushing up the last bit and just drop in to Corkscrew from there.

Pushing up Incline is also a good way to access Pinch Flat Alley and Cabin/TNT...

I know but thread is called "Climb routes to Corkscrew" 🙄

If I want to ride Corkscrew and ride up GSM+Mushroom, I don't bother with the push up Incline for 30m of additional elevation.

I prefer riding up over pushing up so even to reach Cabin/TNT I usually take Old Buck + road. If the climbing route would somehow continue all the way up I'd probably choose that about half the time.

So yesterday I went GSM to Mushroom and then pushed up Corkscrew since I was early enough to beat most of the traffic.  I found that push a lot easier than the hike a bike up Incline.  The ride around for the wooden bridge thing probably keeps you off the main route on Corkscrew for close to a 1/3 of the way.  Plus when riders did come down the trail they we typically going slower than when they were bombing down Incline, which gave me much more time to scoot off the trail and out of the way.  

It was a ski day the time that I took the road which explains all the traffic I encountered, so I will keep that in mind.

This has been my go-to after work ride lately, while waiting for Fromme to melt. Corkscrew-Pingu-BP-Severed-JD. For me, it's either old buck / BP / mushroom / push up remainder of incline, or else just ride up the road, depending on the day. As things warm up, there's less and less traffic going up to the ski hill, so the road becomes a better and better option. On a nice sunny afternoon without many cars, it's surprisingly pleasant, almost like during the Covid road closure last year.

Posted by: PaulB

I'll go up Mushroom if I want a nice long cardio climb, and then just do the lower half of Corkscrew.

Did this yesterday from Indian River Drive, up BP to Mushroom.  I'd forgotten how steep the last bit is before the intersection with Incline!