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I've still not ridden a place that has "skimmable" whoops that are made like going down a set of actual urban stairs. Not a timing/pumping/hopping section...just a set that makes your tires go "brrrrrrrrrrrr" for like 30 feet.
People try to make DH features point up like a set of capital A's A A A A A. I'd rather hit flat steps after back cut drops. For a DH bike, it feels awesome to find a staircase where the stair platforms are wheel to bike length spaced apart & just haul!
Please Cliffy, children can access this website.
Lots of sick racing outside worldcups this weekend it seems. In Europe IXS EDC is at Les Orres this weekend on a mental track. Speaking of elevation, it's got some... Maybe worth a look, as they tried to get a worldcup fot some years. And it seems the whole commencal Les Orres team will race there.
I'm not sure if its a desktop vs mobile thing but every now and then I get an 'empty post' from somebody. I don't see anything there. Not sure what's up. I never use a phone.
Love the whoops at mt creek. Made that section so much more fun.
I agree to feel like a moto you need a lot of gravity. But just trying to take a mtb over repeated fuck you compressions and trying to keep speed at race pace is pretty dang fun to do and to watch. Big separator too especially for the non pro classes.
Pretty reasonable looking course, plenty of line choices. 👍
Pro DH Series official track walk video below. Practice was rad today. SO DUSTY but the course turned out to be really solid. I was skeptical at first walking it, but it's getting all rutted out, speed is carried well, it has some rad, hateful compressions and off-cambers. working on Vital RAW now, should be a couple hours, but definitely turned out to be a good course considering minimal vert and some flatter sections. i'm sure there are insta clips of riders trying to huck the mid-course gap. mitch ropelato made it look way too easy. kyle strait is riding and have heard MX mike metzger is on track, too (so, you know, whoops
)
Metzger is all over the place lately. SkyPark, Summit, etc. But he was always a MTBer wasn't he?
ari in diapers today
hmmm, just to go high pivot? its clearly not a gearbox/belt.
or maybe they took all the bikes to taco bell before the race cuz otherwise that looks like the current bike.
Vital RAW from Solitude today.
Loving all the off-camber corners. That track looks amazing for their first big DH race.
Flat turns, whoops, lucky!!! The lonely small ski area shot makes me think of Sol Vista. Anyone else have fond memories of the whoops into the right berm at the bottom of Sol Vista? If you do, remember the breaking bumps became just as big going into the whoops and added like 2 or 3 more? I wish there was someone taking bottom out pictures in that berm. Good times!
Did a bit of Instagram investigation and it looks like Francesco Pardal is currently in South Korea, at Yongpyong Resort (or around that area) the same place that hosted the Winter Olympic Games. He’s there with a few other guys, and from the looks of it, they might be scouting for a new downhill trail. Could this be a new venue on the 2026 race calendar?
Solitude track looks great. Stoked to see some racing action.
Wyn hinted at a South Korea race in 2026 in a recent WynTV and that it would be a great swan song to his career.
rumor is south korea is a night race too. pro race results and some photos from Solitude Pro Downhill Series.
https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/results-and-photo-blast-pro-downhill-series-solitude-utah
RACE REPLAY - Monster Pro DH Solitude. Boosh!
Where'd that kid come from? From? From nowhere???
If I'm reading the info on Roots & Rain correctly, Kailey Skelton now has 2 firsts and a third in the 3 Monster Energy Pro DH races this season. Very impressive!
Ya. I'd like to know why no further attempts to do WCs. Maybe petition for Placid this year? As good a time as any to privateer a WC since Snowshoe was removed.
Probably too expensive to get to Europe. But she has at least one entry to a world cup from her 3rd at the Continental series round at Rock Creek. Her ranking is 129th from UCI points so that alone isn't enough to get in. She may also get the national champs sleeve this coming weekend, considering Anna Newkirk isn't racing due to her broken metacarpal. That win would get Kailey into any remaining races for the year. (LP, MSA, and any of the others left in Europe).
I imagine with her results she’d be a shoo in for a national jersey if lp and msa are in her plans.
True, I didn't think of that. Although building great results in the ProDH series is probably a better career move in the long run, rather than spending thousands of dollars to get to Europe just to not make it to finals. She's fast, but probably not "make it to most world cup finals" fast. Although who knows. Andorra had 2 or 3 national jersey riders make it to finals in the Mens' field.
Vital RAW rowdiness from NW Cup at Silver this past weekend. Lots of speed without a lot of room between the trees!
You have some fast juniors who could take the sleeve as well
South Korean DH and XC round in 2026 just got confirmed
Hold on, how do I turn this into a negative somehow.....?😅 Can't let WBD have a W surely
Interesting to know if there maybe a DH World Cup in Solitude? Seen as they just had the Monster Cup and it's only 30 mins up the road from Soldier Hollow.
edit - sarcasm clearly not appreciated in here
Solitude would need to extend quite a bit up the mountain, imo, to host a WC, which I think would require riders catching a second lift. The track was barely over 2 minutes for our pros. That being said... the proximity to a major metropolitan area really ramps up the number of spectators. The Solitude crowd was fantastic.
Would be sick if purgatory put together an event. Asa in his hometown would be a spectacle.
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