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How serious are the stunts on these trails? "Duh, I thought Moab had the most technical riding anywhere."
Well, the North Shore takes skill and commitment (and stupidity) to new, unseen levels. Certain stunts are so serious that they themselves have been named. Ladies Only is one of the most easily accessed and most frequented trails on the Shore, and is a technical masterpiece. Built by Todd "the Digger" Fiander (the big daddy of trail building with 14 trails to his name) the entire trail can be flowed virtually top to bottom, stunts and all. However, one rock face in particular put Lady's on the map of severe: The Big Stupid. The Big Stupid actually contains three lines down its face: The Semi-Retarded is the most commonly done line: it is a paltry 13 foot long, 60 degree steep granite face, with a fast run out and quick left exit. The Big Stupid is the Semi's older brother: 16 feet long, a chundery 65 degrees steep and two collarbone crushing, jaw snapping immobile trees completing the line. And for those with rather large gonads, the Milky Wade (named after Rocky Mountain Frorider Wade Simmons) diagonally traverses the face and runs it out onto a fallen old growth tree. And you thought marriage meant commitment.
Lee Lau dropping fast
on Peer Gynt on Mt. Fromme
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Difficult, challenging, and intense riding is at the heart of the North Shore. Unfortunately, it may also be its undoing. Lately, landowners and land-managers have been getting wise to the goings on above the golf courses and below the ski hills and the word "liability" has been echoed more than a few times. Add the fact that many of the bike trails connect with still popular hiking trails, and while most hiker/biker interactions go off without a hitch, occasionally, there are problems. Whether it's cyclists blasting past retired couples out hiking with the pooch, or walking stick bearers smashing out stunts and dragging logs across drops on trails, there is friction and things are heating up.
Kira Cailes clearing a
log on Bogeyman.
Photo by
Dave Kishi
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Recently, however, many of the key riders in the area have banded together and formed an advocacy group to protect the challenging characteristics of the trails and keep them open, along with encouraging goodwill between different user groups on the mountains. The North Shore Mountain Biking Association was formed, and in its first eight months, quickly signed up over 300 hundred members. Trail maintenance days have focused on fixing up multi-use trails, and meetings are bringing cyclists closer to resolving conflicts with municipal governments and parks boards. Currently the opportunity has come for the NSMBA to prove itself
and officially work on an actual mountain bike trail. Land managers
are realizing that mountain biking is here to stay, so instead of
fighting the cyclists, they are cautiously attempting to work with
them on developing trail standards. The goal is to rebuild an
intermediate level bike trail and stop some of the erosion that has
been occurring on certain parts of the trail. This is the first time
that the NSMBA has been sanctioned to work on an actual mountain
bike trail - built by cyclists for cyclists - by a land manager.
Hopefully, this event will promote the further cooperation between
the various land users and managers and enable the North Shore to
remain the challenging environment that it is.
Noel
Buckley on Bogeyman at Mt. Seymour.
Photo by
Peter Kao
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What lies in the future for Vancouver's North Shore? Well, two
things are certain. One, the envelope of technical riding is
constantly being challenged. Trails such as The Circus (built this
past summer) push the limits of technique and sanity to the hairy
edge. Featured in two upcoming movie sequels (North Shore Extreme
II: Down and Dirtier, and Kranked II), The Circus contains extremely
difficult, committing moves, many feet off of the ground ? more so
than any other trail on the Shore. Even veteran Shore riders call it
absolutely sick. And two, a lot more work is needed with land
managers to ensure that the Shore is not legislated to death,
remains free access wise to all users and is it's own self
controlled entity. Once riders prove that they can both control and
maintain the trails, only then will the continuing development of
techniques and trails be ensured. With so much to loose, there is no
doubt that many Shore riders will aptly take on the new challenges
of tactful politician and learn to deal with the land managers just
as they learned to deal with the first big drops.
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