Mountain Bike Heaven: A Weekend in Vancouver

Ask people where they would picture mountain bike heaven, it’ll look something like beautiful British Colombia. More specifically, Whistler.

I’m lucky enough to be able to travel to Canada with work, so when I was told my latest trip would mean spending a weekend in Vancouver, you can probably imagine my delight! British Colombia is one of those places you simply have to visit. I was told about its sheer unspoilt beauty, but only upon seeing it could I really believe just how immense BC actually is.

Whistler is located about 1.5 hour drive north of Vancouver up the phenomenal sea to sky highway. The sheer scale of the mountains is incomparable to anywhere else I’ve been. I mean, I’d just spent 10 days in the European Alps, so I knew what a cool mountain range looked like. BC is different, purely because of the scale and remoteness of it, whereas the Alps are densely populated and more accessible by comparison.

Arriving in Vancouver late Friday night meant it was straight to bed, with plans to surface early and get out to explore the city. I’m not much of drinker & the cost of living in Vancouver made this a pretty sensible decision!

That said, you can get a pretty reasonable meal in the likes of Yaletown or Gas Town. Coal Harbour, where you can see the like of Grouse Mountain and watch the seaplanes take off in the estuary, is obviously expensive. As is the English Bay area. But, if you like to pay a bit extra for a view, these are the areas to go.*

Enough about food & cities… Whistler, BC & mountain biking heaven is what you want to know about!

A few friends told me at work, if I ever I got chance to go riding at Whistler, I should absolutely do it no matter the cost. So booking my mountain bike hire and lift pass for the day in the knowledge I was visiting mountain bike heaven was a pretty surreal feeling. Getting the confirmation emails through was like Christmas come early – my bank account confirmed this!

Full of excitement and anticipation upon arriving in Whistler, I didn’t really know what to expect. I sure didn’t expect to see skiers crossing the road in June! Much like Vancouver, it’s an uber functional set up – with a main road dividing the pedestrianised village itself from the parking lots. With June being the shoulder season between sports, the parking lots were totally free – nice work Whistler!

Whistler was the mountain resort which played home to most of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, so to wander through its streets and take it all in felt magical. Whistler is all about high octane mountain adventures – my kind of place!

I picked up my lift pass for the bike park under the main Gondola to the Fitzsimmons area – check out these links for Trial Maps & Tickets. I picked my bike for the day from Summit Sports, where you’ll find an awesome fleet of rental bikes here along with great set up service, tuning the bike to your size weight and riding preferences.

The lift network shuttles people fairly efficiently – although you become grateful for a little wait between runs to let your arms recover!

As far as the trails go – WOW! I’ve never ridden such smooth flowy downhill trail. Back home I’m used to bouncing off rocks everywhere, but not here, it was like a magic carpet. Freshly cut berms flowing into jumps and kickers, so intuitively.

The speeds and air time were pretty surreal too, even on the blues! Each turn lead perfectly into a gap or table jump, such that dialling your speed was so intuitive! Crank it up & C-more were definitely my favourite blue freeride trails.

As the day went on, I got progressively more dialled into the bike and used to the terrain, growing in confidence with each run. Although the local boys soon show you up how to ride a bike! Mountain bike heaven at Whistler obviously attracts some of the best bike talent in the world!

A-line was the big one I wanted to get ticked off. After asking a lot of locals about it, the general consensus was the faster you go, the easier it is – hmmmm. It made sense, but thinking it and actually doing it are two very different propositions!

Ticking it off was one of the best feelings. A super smooth, committing and pretty frightening run that gets you hooked! The jumps are pretty serious, casing them hurts… I remember just holding on for dear life, desperately squeezing pedal turns in to max my speed on the entry… praying I landed on two wheels!

All in all, one of the best days riding I’ve ever had – finished off beautifully with a Reuben (awesome Canadian sandwich) and a Molson (awesome Canadian beer) in Longhorn (awesome Canadian bar). I didn’t get to see much of Whistler & I would like to return to explore more of it, along with the surrounding area. But as a bike park goes, this place is mountain bike heaven for sure!

*Foodie recommendations in Vancouver are difficult. With a lot of different cultures living in Vancouver, the culinary options are massively varied – you can get whatever you want in this city & it’ll be good! I’d check out Yaletown Brewing Company for a good feed and decent beer, or Craft Beer Market in Mount Pleasant. I’m not a big drinker… I just like decent beer and food. For steak, all locals will tell you differently. Despite preferring to avoid chains, Keg do an unreal 12oz New York Striploin – the Baseball Sirloin is highly regarded too. Fish Tacos are a big thing in Vancouver too.