Whistler trails 2021 (Not WBP)

On The Rocks is usually rideable until at least late September. 

I agree that the Chipmunk Rebellion is a lot of fun. The top section (ITM to Flank) flows so well!

Posted by: DanL

How late into the year does LoTS go? Mid September? Man, that Function Climb and the Dark Crystal climb are two I really don't want to do again in a hurry.
Chipmunk Rebellion->Industrial Waste was a blast however, but I wish I'd carried onto Butterflies instead of turning down Danimal South

After mid September it's a gamble. 

You don't have to climb from function, up Stonebridge place/Darwin's or up industrial waste are easier haha

For sure. Of all the climbs to get to the Flank, my favourite is the route out of Creekside behind Nita Lake. Piece of Cake > Danimal Middle > Industrial Waste feels like it has less pedalling on a road than Stonebridge > Sirloin > Darwin's and I appreciate the shade of the trees in the summer.

I was picking up some new toys from Function Junction and thought "well the trail starts just over there, why not" and then I learnt why not. Next time those other two choices will serve me better in the long run.

Posted by: FlipFantasia

agree re/ ITM, when the muni guys started building we had a bit of a "WTF are you doing?!" moment as it was even steeper in places, and they did improve some bits of it, but still could use some mods here and there.

Full loop is worth it, imo, but I love big days. It's really nice to be able to spend a lot of the ride in the alpine and get to see lots of different views and angles of distant mountains. Definitely a full day though, bring lots of food and water. Did the full pull a year ago, 50km and 2100m-ish of climbing https://www.strava.com/activities/3890292463

I saw your Strava last year before I did a full pull and was salty when I only recorded 1865m vert haha. Start/end was Stonebridge by the Danimal Middle exit. Felt like over 2k for sure but maybe there's an extra couple hundred from Function.

I never know what to believe for elevation. I rode up to the Sproatt lookout yesterday (i.e. Rush Hour > Last Call) from Creekside. Strava running on my phone shows 1503m elevation. The same activity shared to Trailforks shows 1781m.

GPS is notoriously bad at tracking elevation changes, especially in steep terrain.

Posted by: BeesIntheTrap

GPS is notoriously bad at tracking elevation changes, especially in steep terrain.

Phone GPS is shitty. I had a friend ask me where the new trail was a couple years ago. He had seen my Strava recorded ride. The ride was an out and back but looked like a loop which crossed the Cheakamus river I. A new spot. However my Garmin 130+ is far more accurate. It uses GPS, GLONASS and Galileo and I assume the elevation numbers are also more accurate. They seem to be but I’ve never really cross checked with other sources like maps.

I assume the TrailsForks, Strava etc are all using the horizontal readings and mapping them to a known elevation map to generate the elevation data, or at least using that to 'correct' the figures. The more accurate the coordinates are then the more accurate the elevation data will be if using known elevation maps. Think about traversing a steep mountain side, 5m drift uphill then 5m downhill away from your true position could cause a huge difference in elevation recorded. This blog explains it quite well: http://regex.info/blog/2015-05-09/2568 

2-4mm forecast Thursday and <1mm Friday 40% chance... thoughts on Dark Crystal being Friday? Not sure if recent rains have undone the dust bowl up there yet?

Posted by: grambo

2-4mm forecast Thursday and <1mm Friday 40% chance... thoughts on Dark Crystal being Friday? Not sure if recent rains have undone the dust bowl up there yet?

Havent ridden it in a while, but heard from friends Blackcomb was ultra greasy on the weekend. No rain (or warmth) since then, so imagine with some more rain itll be greasy but not muddy.

Posted by: nortonwhis

Posted by: grambo

2-4mm forecast Thursday and <1mm Friday 40% chance... thoughts on Dark Crystal being Friday? Not sure if recent rains have undone the dust bowl up there yet?

Havent ridden it in a while, but heard from friends Blackcomb was ultra greasy on the weekend. No rain (or warmth) since then, so imagine with some more rain itll be greasy but not muddy.

Thanks. Maybe I’ll check out Howler instead, never ridden it… if it takes me 75 min to get up to Dark Crystal from Painted Cliff, any idea how the climb up Ricks Roost will compare? On that note is it worth going to “upper” or “mid” Howler as shown on Trailforks? That last part of Flank to mid and upper looks steep AF.

Thing I like about Dark Crystal is how you can ride at a decent clip without braking or pedaling much and not really any slow jank corners. Not sure what other trails are like that, besides the Blackcomb ones. I guess Tunnel Vision, Hindsight are too.

Howler is a similar sized ride to dark crystal, it should take you a similar time to climb, probably a little longer the first time though. Definitely at least get to mid, and do upper if you're feeling good. The part from the creek to 'mid' howler is suuuper steep but worth it, it's a good challenge to try to ride that part. From 'mid' to 'upper' used to be a little more technical with some punchy bits but it's been rebuilt since I was last there and is probably pretty good now. Haven't done it yet this season but really need to. Rocky and rough but almost flowy in its own way, and rides great in the wet.

Posted by: Kevin26

Howler is a similar sized ride to dark crystal, it should take you a similar time to climb, probably a little longer the first time though. Definitely at least get to mid, and do upper if you're feeling good. The part from the creek to 'mid' howler is suuuper steep but worth it, it's a good challenge to try to ride that part. From 'mid' to 'upper' used to be a little more technical with some punchy bits but it's been rebuilt since I was last there and is probably pretty good now. Haven't done it yet this season but really need to. Rocky and rough but almost flowy in its own way, and rides great in the wet.

Thanks for the info, went up and rode Howler this morning. Took close to 2 hours from Meadow Park, but that included at least 30-40 mins cumulative standing under trees cursing the rain that wasn't in the forecast (should've looked at radar before leaving rain jacket in the car). You weren't kidding about those steep sections, wow, if there are people pedaling to the top without pushing that is really impressive. Big thanks to Howler Contracting for his work up there, that last bit to Upper Howler was really nice, as was Cultured Climb and the other bit to cut off the steep switchback.

Very good trail to ride in the wet and just overall good fun, enough to keep you on your toes, especially first run and the top section which was still wet, but nothing scary. Got faster and drier the lower I went, with sun popping out at the view point which was great. Somehow managed to stuff my front wheel into a root just before a bridge on No View on my way back to the car and went OTB without unclipping, got super lucky and landed soft, narrowly avoiding a big rock... funny how crashes often happen when you least expect it.

Grabbed lunch and bought a TOTW ticket.. by the time I got up it was cloudy and drizzling, TOTW was fine and fun in the wet but wow is MissFire ever greasy right now, could not stay on the bike for the life of me.