Whistler has become a global capital for downhill mountain biking,
with its web of trails lower on the mountain. Now it has pushed the
bike park into new territory, opening its first trail off the peak,
dubbed Top of the World. We are among the first to test its rigors.
Top of the World begins on a steep decline over the back of the ski area proper. The grade at moments exceeds 20 per cent.
The switchbacks cut through loose rock and dirt, and the open alpine
expanse is extraordinary. Single-track trails often flow through
forests, on rooty, rocky ground. This high, it is a single-track
fantasia, a vista of the jagged Coast Mountains and the iconic Black
Tusk in the near distance, framing a photo Instagram could hardly make
more perfect.
The initial descent of several hundred vertical metres – oh my
goodness – offers sweeping views, but I keep my eyes on the ground. It
is exposed territory, high on the mountain, where a fall isn’t just a
little oops-and-dust-off. Up high, on steep ground, a simple fall could
easily cartwheel into body-rending territory. So my ride, initially, is
self-circumscribed. Finestone(Manager Mountain Bike) had
described the first section as “pretty gnarly” and noted the option to
walk the bike through too-tough sections. “It’s a bumpy ride out on the
rescue road,” he says. Without chagrin I choose caution, as the spectre
of flying body-over-handlebars to a certain busted collarbone or worse
washes away any worry of appearing cowardly.
The start of the trail is rightly designated expert, a double black
diamond, even if most of the rest is intermediate. I am passed by a
guided group of skilled riders in a “summer gravity camp.” As he passes
me, carrying my bike on my shoulder, one rider blurts: “I’m not sure
that guy should be on this trail.” Possibly true. But once I do humbly
manage the first pitch, I’m on my pedals for the rest of the rip, first
into the beginnings of the tree line.
Rolling through percolating wildflowers, intermittent stands of
whitebark pine and flourishing bunches of spruce, the smell of forest
burls up and explodes in my nose, an aromatic tincture. My unscientific
conclusion: Spruce settles the nerves. Buoyed by the perfumed blast, we
cover several more steep but less fall-and-be-crippled sections, before
coming around the bend of the mountain’s peak. The valley emerges, Whistler
Village and Lost Lake far below. We roll on, as the epic trail extends,
a blissful daytime dream. The alpine recedes as we bounce and bang on a
narrow road, the occasional pop through creeks of melting snow and
happy splatters of mud.
Right now, Top of the World consists of
half-finished, single-track sections connected by access road/ski trail,
with work ongoing to complete the trail as one long single track. As we
reach the bike park proper, Top of the World
has covered five wonderful kilometres and a vertical descent of 700
metres, roughly half of the total from the peak to the village. The
average grade was about 8 per cent.
It’s steep but not wildly savage, save for the earliest turns.
I guesstimate it would probably take a dedicated day or two in the
bike park navigating tricky and technical black runs in the woods before
I would feel comfortable in the saddle on the toughest turns off the
peak.
Still, at the end, there is elation. Words from higher up the trail
echo in my ears. After the first big pitch of steep switchbacks, where I
walked, several summer gravity campers confidently made their way, led
by a woman in her 20s, their guide. “Oh my God,” the young woman
exclaimed, her smile beyond megawatt, chugging deep lungfuls of air, and
exhaling: “This is amazing.”
The details
The Top of the World mountain-bike trail off the peak of Whistler Mountain opened to the public on July 28. It is open daily, as part of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park,
and the trail’s hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (5 p.m. on Friday and
Sunday). Daily capacity is limited to just 100 riders. The cost is $15,
on top of a $56 bike park pass, and space can be booked ahead of time.
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