Epic AM riding for an Aussie on tour

Hey guys and girls!

Im bringing the family over for a 3 week holiday in August, and bringing my Trance SX with me. I really want to hit all the "must rides" in Pemby, Squamish and the shore.
Will be heading over to Banff for a bit of site seeing with the family, so any rides over there would be of interest too.

Background is DH and own a demo, and love flowy single track, tech etc. Not so pumped for skinnies and mega booters.

Can anyone help with suggestions? Tour guides?? Will be staying in Chilliwack for a few days- any riding around there?

Thanks heaps!

Sam

Chilliwack is actually a pretty good homebase for riding. Vender and Sumas are right there, and it's not too far to daytrip the Shore, Squamish and Whistler. When you're heading east you can hit Kamloops on the way through.

Sweet. Are the trails generally pretty easy to find/follow?

Sea to sky trails way to much to list. I say come back on here when you're in BC and I'm sure you can hook up with someone. I'd be in to show you around, Pemberton is by far my favorite spot for riding.

friggen awesome! Im actually going to be up in Whistler for a week, so getting to Pemby should be pretty straight forward.

Since you're heading east, you should stop in Revelstoke along the way. Ride Keystone Standard Basin, Frisbee Ridge and Martha Creek (Sale Mtn). Stop in and do a lap of Mt 7 in Golden on the way through as well. It's much more suited to a DH bike, but driving through Golden without doing a lap would be a serious mistake for someone who may never return. If you skipped everything else between Pemberton and Banff, but hit these 4, you'd have made the best of a good situation if you ask me. Not that there's nothing good anywhere else, but these are truly unforgettable gems and offer a broad selection of styles with high alpine flow and technical gnar. Epic gets thrown around a lot, but Keystone's views are truly that. Frisbee Ridge is flow central with 12 km of nonstop DH high speed ripping and when added to Frisbee DH a little further down the road which is steep and technical, it makes for one of the best AM rides on the planet. Martha is 5000ft of vert, so how can you go wrong; from alpine meadows with sweeping vistas and awesome rock sections, steep gnar and pinned technical singletrack that never seems to end, it's pretty hard to beat. Mt 7 is my favourite track in the world. Nowhere else can you go that fast for that long over very rough terrain with natural doubles everywhere.

When you're in Banff, ride Upper and Lower Stoney Squaw at Mt Norquay. Good times to be had there too.

Jack the Ripper in Pemby is pretty sweet. So is Stirling on Cypress. I live in Squamish and there's some amazing stuff here too; it just doesn't have the 'epic' feeling. More of a fuck yeah feeling.

I'm an Aussie too; used to live in Brissy and raced DH there for about 5 years. Hit me up when you're here and I'll show you around Squamish if I'm around.

Thanks so much for that! that was exactly what i was after.
Awesome!

No worries mate

Kram pretty much nailed it with his Revy/Golden mandatory rides. Do not miss these. Really, just don't.

An overlooked area both for mind-blowing scenic beauty for the family and good (not epic) riding is the Invermere/Radium area, which is easy daytrip from Banff and better riding than most Banff riding. Panorama bike park is good fun for a day as well and doable on a Trance for the most part. In Invermere fun riding is had in the Swansea area and the Johnson is a truly nice all mountain 12km loop.

In Banff, a short rip away from the family, but right in town is the Upper and Lower Star Wars trail… add the Toe on the Tunnel Mtn loop and you've got a great 2 hour loop. Agree with recommendations on the Squaw - both upper and lower - horse traffic can be annoying and flow killing, as you've got to be super respectful around those big animals.

Shore, Squamish, Whistler, and Pemberton could be months of riding. Or, talk locally and read reviews and pick 2 very selective days at each and you'd have a great time.

In Banff, a short rip away from the family, but right in town is the Upper and Lower Star Wars trail… add the Toe on the Tunnel Mtn loop and you've got a great 2 hour loop. Agree with recommendations on the Squaw - both upper and lower - horse traffic can be annoying and flow killing, as you've got to be super respectful around those big animals.

agreed on the first 2. The Squaw I thought was kinda meh.

agreed on the first 2. The Squaw I thought was kinda meh.

Fair enough. Upper Squaw is more fun than Lower, but Lower would be fun if you could ever really open it up… which you can't (maybe a night ride?). I actually really enjoyed climbing Upper Squaw…. some good punchy challenges.

Prairie View in K-Country is worth the ride if you are doing a daytrip into Cowtown, as it's only about 10 minutes off the highway.

http://trailmapps.com/index.asp offers iPhone and Android GPS map apps for the Shore, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Sunshine Coast and a few others. They're a bit expensive but absolutely worth it if you're trying to explore new places alone.

http://trailmapps.com/index.asp offers iPhone and Android GPS map apps for the Shore, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Sunshine Coast and a few others. They're a bit expensive but absolutely worth it if you're trying to explore new places alone.

$9.99 is hardly expensive for something that won't break, get lost or wear out … how many parts on a bike cost below $10?

Well, expensive compared to $0.99 games. I bought 5 of them. Money well spent. They've paid for themselves a dozen times over.