Squamish 2016 Trail Conditions

Larvicide is the hardest easily.
Last and only slab on intestinal is intimidating but super grippy, so not so bad.
Penthouse can be super easy unless you go for the drop.
Gouranga, hueso, dirks and in-out are kinda similar levels depending on line choice.

Thanks. The easy lines on Dirk's were at my comfort level so I've got a ways to go haha. Fun stuff, it's a mind trip how grippy that rock is, mental challenge more than anything.

Thanks. The easy lines on Dirk's were at my comfort level so I've got a ways to go haha. Fun stuff, it's a mind trip how grippy that rock is, mental challenge more than anything.

Rupert, treasure and value added have some nice slab lines too…

Rupert, treasure and value added have some nice slab lines too…

We rode Rupert on Saturday, prime condition right now and one of my faves in Squamish! I am able to ride all the lines on it no problem, I think it's the mental commitment to the longer ones such as Burger that freaks me out a bit (even if they are smooth and I know I can handle them). Treasure scares me from the POV I've seen but I would like to check out Value Added at some point.

cheers

Important notice for riders headed to the Alice Lake area. There was a forest fire off Jacks and the sh*tty esses on Sunday (including Icy Hole area). The firefighters knocked it down and put it out fast. However, there is still flagging tape up that cuts off a significant area from public access. It is best for your safety, and for respect to firefighter clean-up, that you obey the tape, even if it means turning back and pedaling or hiking for a while. The fire is out, but there are still dangerous trees that need to be mitigated and knocked down, and potential hot-spots to deal with.

ALSO…exercise care if smoking, or if you see someone being a careless douchebag with their butts or campfire. Don't just stand and watch. We don't yet know what started the fire, but inevitably it is idiot smokers or dumbass campers that cause the majority of human-caused fires out there.

FFS- every year it seems we're held hostage by the nicotine-addicted and pyro zombie crowd. There's this thing called vaping folks. And who need's a f88king campfire when it's 25 degrees out anyway?

NBR but, I'm wondering if anybody knows what conditions are like for getting up to Watersprite Lk. these days?

[QUOTE=cerealkilla';2916705]Important notice for riders headed to the Alice Lake area. There was a forest fire off Jacks and the sh*tty esses on Sunday (including Icy Hole area). The firefighters knocked it down and put it out fast. However, there is still flagging tape up that cuts off a significant area from public access. It is best for your safety, and for respect to firefighter clean-up, that you obey the tape, even if it means turning back and pedaling or hiking for a while. The fire is out, but there are still dangerous trees that need to be mitigated and knocked down, and potential hot-spots to deal with.

ALSO…exercise care if smoking, or if you see someone being a careless douchebag with their butts or campfire. Don't just stand and watch. We don't yet know what started the fire, but inevitably it is idiot smokers or dumbass campers that cause the majority of human-caused fires out there.

FFS- every year it seems we're held hostage by the nicotine-addicted and pyro zombie crowd. There's this thing called vaping folks. And who need's a f88king campfire when it's 25 degrees out anyway?

I'll make sure to tell every pot smoking mountain biker I see in Squamish, which seems to be all but me, that they should just vape.

We rode Rupert on Saturday, prime condition right now and one of my faves in Squamish! I am able to ride all the lines on it no problem, I think it's the mental commitment to the longer ones such as Burger that freaks me out a bit (even if they are smooth and I know I can handle them). Treasure scares me from the POV I've seen but I would like to check out Value Added at some point.

cheers

Rode Treasure and Value this weekend, way to much fun. Traction was fantastic.

NBR but, I'm wondering if anybody knows what conditions are like for getting up to Watersprite Lk. these days?

Some friends tried over the weekend. Ended up post holing up to their knees for a few hours, and then got turned around as the lowland area the trail runs through is a lake right now.

We rode Rupert on Saturday, prime condition right now and one of my faves in Squamish! I am able to ride all the lines on it no problem, I think it's the mental commitment to the longer ones such as Burger that freaks me out a bit (even if they are smooth and I know I can handle them). Treasure scares me from the POV I've seen but I would like to check out Value Added at some point.

cheers

If you have any qualms on Rupert still I'd leave Treasure out for a while. It's a pretty big step up from Rupert.

Definitely give Boney a go - if you're still building slab confidence the triple slab is a little scary to commit to, but pretty smooth and grippy so fairly good to gain confidence on.

Probably avoid the last optional slab though. It's an awkward one, and there's a sharp rock on the run out that I've seen destroy wheels [HTML_REMOVED] tyres more often than not.

Is Chesire Cat worth checking out? Always wanted to ride it but never got around to it due to it's location - is it easier to climb Section 57 to get there or is it better to take the road? I am not the strongest climber…

Cheshire is excellent. Climbing up Section 57 is not for the faint of heart and lung. Starts with a shortish hike at the bottom. Along the rest of the way, there are 4 or 5 punchy crux climbs. I love tech climbing, and I have only cleaned the whole thing once. If you don't mind stepping down a few times and pushing, it's not really that bad though.

Ultimately, getting to Cheshire is the tough part, which is why it doesn't get ridden as much. The highway can be annoying with all the rented lamborghinis and city slickers rushing to Whistler going by you at 140. There is a backdoor way through the dump, powerlines, old highway, and Brohm lake that is really fun, but it's not easily navigable unless someone shows you the way.

I parked at Depot Road and shuttled Cheshire Cat :)

I wouldn't bother with Grin 'n Holler. Fair amount of blowdown on trail. Hasn't been ridden much by the looks of things. Cakewalk, Cortes Planks [HTML_REMOVED] the 19th running very nice.

I wouldn't bother with Grin 'n Holler. Fair amount of blowdown on trail. Hasn't been ridden much by the looks of things. Cakewalk, Cortes Planks [HTML_REMOVED] the 19th running very nice.

It's a shame that, with all the maintenance going on in Squamish, no one has put any effort into Grin and Holler. It was a super fun steep janky tech line just a few years ago, and I suspect it wouldn't take more than 10-15 build sessions to get running again. Maybe there's more to it than lack of initiative, but it still sucks to see a fun line fall into disrepair.