Rolling All Over Whistler
Two-Wheeled Adventure Awaits Summertime is bike time in Whistler. Not long after the snow melts, locals dust off a small armada of two-wheelers to roll around town—as well as roll up and over everything else, riding up and down everything in sight. From such wheeled wanderlust the legendary sport of mountain biking was born, and today the Whistler Mountain Bike Park is an international destination for lift-assisted downhillers. This year, Whistler opened the Creekside Gondola to bikers, with new access for advanced and expert riders. But Whistler sports even more: a historic network of singletrack trails for mountain bikes, simmering steeps and cardio-wracking pavement for road riders, pioneering and machine-bermed fast downhill lines that feel like rollercoaster rides in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, and forty kilometres of relaxing Valley Trail, for leisurely cycling and commuting alike. Maps are plentiful. Rentals for all shapes, sizes and styles are easy to source from multiple locations, making it easy to leave the car in the lot. Most accommodations are bike-friendly. All this for good reason: bikes be everywhere in this town, from plush suspension mountain bikes, gnarly and slack downhill bikes, sleek and fast road bikes to luxurious cruisers and rusty old clunkers. And for every bike, there’s a rider with a favourite trail. “You don’t need much of a cool section of trail to fall in love with it,” says Dan Raymond, chief trail builder for the Whistler Off Road Cycling Association (WORCA), which was formed back in 1989. WORCA has teamed up with the Resort Municipality of Whistler to cut two new epic trails that climb up to the alpine on the West side of the Valley. The Alpine Trail Network is a machine-cut track that climbs up from the Flank trail high into the wildflowers and rock of Sproatt Mountain, while WORCA’s dedicated crew of builders and volunteers have been carving out Lord of the Squirrels, an epic singletrack line that descends all the way down to the treed slopes and bars below. Watch for the official opening and otherwise please obey closure signs to avoid damaging fragile flora and fauna. For more information visit whistler.com/ activities/biking.