This is a guide to Whistler and the bike park for a weekend sans enfant (without kids). Fifty percent of our audience is 25-45 year old MTB dads and dudes…go figure. Realizing this, we are creating some content around getting the green light to go out with a couple buddies, devoid of responsibility, time commitments and kids. Weather its just a couple of hours or a full week, ripping the trails UNCHAINED gives us balance in our lives and keeps our stoke level up to share mountain biking with our little ones upon returning home.
First up, the Whistler Bike Park for a weekend. Taking a break from the park in the last 6 years, we are back: learning new lines, finding new eats, searching for IPA’s, and getting the balls up to hit up the new Dirt Merchant! Here was our weekend.
Friday
4:00 pm. Arrive at YVR and grabbed car. Just so happened we both managed to get into YVR at the same time (I was coming home from a work trip an Jack flew in from Calgary) so the decision made was to pack up car and head straight to Whistler.
5:30 PM. Quick pit stop for some grub at Mag’s 99 Fried Chicken and Mexican Cantina (a mouthful for sure) in Squamish. Tempting, yes, to stop and ride one of the best trail systems in the world that is Squamish. But it would have to wait, it turns out we were on a lift access mission this weekend.
6:30 PM. Roll into the Aava Hotel Parking lot. Check in, park car, change in car, build bike (Aava has all the tools you need) and headed straight to the lifts. Bought a cheaper 3 run sampler pass and proceeded to knock off some great runs. We were blown away by the size and perfection of the new jumps on A-line. Dirt Merchant would have to wait.
8:00 PM. Lifts are closed but one last opportunity for some more shredding. Grabbed a sweep card for last man down which made us two happy guys, all smiles with 4 runs on the first night.
8:30 PM. Valet parked the bikes at Hotel for the night, quick shower and off to Hunter Gather for a platter of ribs, brisket, BBQ chicken and pulled pork. Washed that down with some IPA’s with one particular standout, Backcountry Brewing’s Widowmaker IPA, such a good refreshing summer IPA.
10:30 PM. Beat, Buzzed and Happy, its time for bed.
Saturday
8:00 AM. That’s sleeping in for us Dads…and why the hell not. Park Riding again on the agenda and it doesn’t open until 10 am. Coffee on our mind, we head to breakfast at Mount Currie Coffee Company for a damn good esspresso and an egg/cheese/ham thingy.
9:00 AM. Head to Coastal Culture to rent a couple Rocky Mountain Slayers for the day. Our own bikes are smaller on the travel side and saving the bike beating seemed like a good idea. Located in Creekside, Coastal Culture offers Enduro and DH bikes rentals for just over a $100.
10:00 AM. Meet our buddy Travis from rideNF. He shows up with our logo on a couple of Jerseys! We are now really pumped and its time to hit the Garbo and Creekside Zones of the Park. Travis took us down the bermiest of berm trails that ever bermed, South Park to Earth Circus in Creekside. BTW, when did Enduro Bikes start feeling like DH Bikes? The Slayer devoured everything the park dished out.
2:00 PM. Late lunch at Dusty’s in Creekside and fan out on Jared Graves who rolled up at the table next to ours. Up Creekside gondola and down Freight Train, its time to get back to the Village for a nap! Having a hotel with a 1 minute pedal to lift absolutely rules.
5:00 PM. Back to the park after a few hours rest. Our game up a bit, we decide to take on Dirt Merchant…things have changed a bit in the last 6 years on this trail!
8:00 PM. Too beat for a sweep lap, we drop the bikes off at Creekside and head to the HandleBar in the upper village to meet a local whistler buddy. He mentioned this is where the cool kids go. A good craft beer menu and German style entres, its very easy to spend some time drinking down some suds and shooting the sh$t on the patio. Cash only so stop by a bank machine on the walk up.
10:30 PM. What do you know…beat, buzzed and happy again, its times for bed.
Sunday
8:00 AM. This time we hit Mogul’s cafe in the village for our coffee and ham/cheese/egg thingy. Downhill Bikes are on the agenda so its straight to the rental shop for a big squishy bike.
10:00 AM. With DH Bikes dialed in, it was time to hit the gnar. Straight to In Deep, Schleyer and Whister WC…just like the good old days. Apparently DH bikes got a lot better in the last 6 years as well!
1:30 PM. Lunch at the GLC where we plan the afternoon and watch 10 year-olds send the showcase bottom step-up. We decide to return the DH bikes and head to top of the world. Trail Bike friendly, we grab our own bikes for the flagship alpine trail. A $20 add on to the regular park ticket, the trail is very unique and worth it for the ride up peak chair and the views alone.
4:00PM. Finishing the epic top to bottom that is top of the world, we are dumbfounded by how well our trail bikes did in the park. We proceed to lap the jump trails on our little bikes…giggling the whole time.
6:00 PM. A quick bite was in order before the drive back to YVR to drop Jack off. Mexican on our mind, we hit up La Cantina in Whistler for a Burrito and IPA. A perfect Cap to a killer weekend.
Four kids, one broken back and a few belly pounds later, I thought this trip would see us mellow out on the bike park trails, perhaps see us seek out some of the new epic Alpine trail rides like lord of the squirrels in the Whistler. Nope, as it happened for this weekend, “We only ride Park.”
Stay tuned as more UNCHAINED to come….
Colin and Jack
