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I miss Lourdes. Raw, brutal, techy, scary... it ticks all the boxes... except that the funicular shuttle service is awful.
They replaced the cable this spring when they should've replaced the whole thing for something more efficient.
This is where the planned track will be at Whiteface (from the planning last fall). There might be slight changes based on what we saw on AG's stories from a few weeks ago, but otherwise it should be pretty close to what we get. Somebody I know was able to ride it recently before all the clearing was done and supposedly it looks like they basically found all the biggest rocks on the mountain and drew lines between them which should be sick. We will see how wide everything is cut though. There is also a really cool waterfall along the course which should make for some sick pictures. Aaron said that the ski slope section towards the last half might be some of the fastest speeds for the entire season but they might try to reroute through the woods islands to slow it down.
I love Angelfire, but I still find it hard to believe they hosted a World Cup there. There are like two restaurants there. Did people stay in Taos and drive over or was there more infrastructure nack then? We go to AF several times a year and always find it weird how a mountain that big has so little scene whereas a town like nearby Red River supports a decent downtown.
Plattekill!
@BetterRide.net Rennie was pissed b/c he was a 220+ guy on paper thin IRC 2.3" tires.
Kovarik was the fastest human 03/04/05 but his rear wheel exploded all 3 years. Third year he limped it in on a wobble.
Don't remember Sam winning there. What year was that?
Did my best to make Mt. Snow every year. Strapped on the Michelin 2.8's.
Mt. Snow Mystery Rock...rip wide open through a peaceful, highway wide, grassy, mossy, moist meadow and then BOOM....you're bucked, slammed, shattered, fork split, wheel disintegrated, shock spewing, bars snapped, shifter off the side, helmet cracked cartwheeling in your soaking wet full body Dainese armour & poppping back up to do it again like a rolly polly bug flicked down a set of stairs.
The 1199 track in Whistler is fantastic. Hopefully it's on the schedule for a World Cup or World Champs eventually.
The Lake Placid track has a ton of potential. I've seen parts of it, and there's no shortage of steep and rocky to choose from. The timeline for the construction is crazy tight. Hopefully they can pull it off
Perfect description, Butch! I remember getting on the lift after crashing off the big ledge up top, and my vision starting to go blurry from a concussion. Not sure how I got back down. Also remember crashing out of both my shoes in the yardsale! Mt Snow was rugged! The camping scene for the event, down the road at Haystack, was pretty wild as well…
I believe Sam won the year the Sunday debuted? Maybe a year or two before, 2002 or 2003. I've had a lot of concussions and all of this was 22 years ago so my memory is definitely questionable.
Rennie was mad because Kovack (and possibly Sam Hill?) told him they were gapping the last two rock slabs near the top of the track (they weren't, they were just messing with him). He went for it, came up short, destroyed both wheels, ovalized his head tube and bent his boxxer's steerer tube! At least that's what he told me after the race. He was/is a massive guy, that didn't help!
2003 might have been the year Cedric won. He crossed the finish line, Rennie (who was in the hot seat) said, "fucking Cedric" and then Cedric pulled his jersey off and he had written, "who's your daddy now, bitch!" on his Dainese back protector! Seems like a lifetime ago.
Does reuse any old trails, or is all new? The very bottom seems to use that flow trail you can see from face lift.
I don't have any insider info, just know people in the area, but tbh it doesn't really matter if they reuse a trail. They're going to have to widen it enough for modern world cup speeds that using any overgrown trails that were last ridden 5 years ago probably won't help them that much, and the original trail won't be recognizable.
Replacing the cable is the minimum to be done but doesn't change the system. They actually can't replace the whole system by another (cost, faisability, context etc...) I love this place to ride but the shuttling is still primitive.
Haystack. Weagle, Pentecost, Seth & the rest of the punk core dudes at E13 & probably even Todd Seplavy all out there wrecking the world & living to tell the tale.
@Chris Kovarik remind me which year you got kicked out for fighting? Or was it plural? Year(s)?
The year I finally was able to stick around to spectate the Naked Crit was WILD!!!! Those videos are still out there. Dudes ripping gravel laps w/ their junk on the top tube just disgusting. Everyone talking about that one specific very SHINY piercing. 🤣
Definitely some awesome memories from that place. Haystack... haha
I saw Kovarik jump that entire woods section in practice after the yardsale and I swear half the spokes were missing on his rear wheel. His mechanic at the time was calling his sunn single tracks... single runs. (after yardsale, the track hooked left, went across a ski slope then went through this tiny clump of trees with a big rock in it)
I forgot/blocked out th naked crit🤣 Sausage fest!
Yep. It's a bit of an antique alright. Isn't it listed as a historic monument?
Kircaldie was doing a really impressive send in that section one year too. I made it through the yardsale successfully once in my race run and proceeded to crash in that following woods section. Pretty typical for my time racing😂 good memories!
mount snow was the shit ...I recall bringing my roached ( knobs ripped of instantly ) intense edge dh tire to the Intense Factory Pit and Stieber gave me a freshy on the spot. it was so cool. that intense intruder tire was a bad larry too. That was in 2002 for thte cat 2 / 3 track
VIGO
When I was watching Earthed 4 and 5 on repeat years ago (hundreds of times!), I always thought Vigo looked really freaking fun to ride!! That would be a great racetrack to bring back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlyV4WqEgfM (Earthed 3 Vigo Segment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmszTZqTk7Q&t=3977s (Earthed 4 Vigo Segment at 4:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7mX8I_0Nzw (Earthed 5 Vigo Segment)
MTBUK just dropped a video where they go and ride the old DH track.
Fill run starts https://youtu.be/fxKiPIkcfBE?si=uvrY0n21jzqZOw3S&t=928
Where is 1199?
There is a way to make a WC-level track at Keystone. Milky Way to High Speed Dirt to Jam-Rock. But that's only about halfway down the mountain. The top-bottom blacks from Cowboy up to Sanitarium are very fun, but not steep enough. It could be done, but then, I've always heard that the Vail track (another hour west), was top!
Could there be a steep-enough option from Windmill-down at Windrock?! I vote "YES".
1199 is at Whistler. They've used it for Crankworx for the past couple years
SInce it would be a World Cup & not a local race (i.e. fewer total racers), they could start up where WindMill crosses the gravel at the big camel hump rock drop.
That would be fully shuttleable for the pros, add elevation and gnar. My brain has long forgotten if it WindMill can funnel into Middle Finger or Cave Man/SnakeRock.
I think there are even old gas well pumps in a flat area there to put event tents for warm ups. But not much else.
Best thing for WindRock is to push harder toward an old NORBA National format & keep working with Clay Harper to monetarily fortify the US prize purse & bring in a bigger & bigger cash purse for the event.
Paying top prize money in the US would do more for progressing elite level DH in our home country. No sense begging the World Cup & Discovery to come take all the money & put all the burden on WindRock.
Just keep the funds at home, build a US based audience for our own product. That entices US based venues to get involved. Jackson Hole, Lake Placid, Tahoe, Mammoth, SnowShoe. Big money payouts to racers who will travel a single continent for an entire summer. There is a ton of money out there to be brought into the sport. I'm sure tons of people told Clay it couldn't be done when the US Open fired up, moved, fizzled and resurrected. Dude's seen big ebbs & flows and yet is growning.
Hafjell, Norway was a sick track. That huge gap up top some riders would pull for, the high speed rocks, open sections mixed with woods, and more. I thought that track had it all to be honest. And Norway is just cool overall, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNJZGrfv-I (Vital Raw 2011)
2012 UCI DH World Cup Finals - Hafjell (Specialized Team video 2012)
"Tracks like this are the reason I got into the sport. This is more of a true mountain bike track than a lot of the stuff we've been riding this year. Few nice corners that remind me of Schladming, some fun little rock sections that seem pretty tricky to get through" - Sam Hill
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