Zipper Apocalypse – 1

Some return business for the next couple of days, with Devin and Nick who were here last year. Oh, and also a couple more Albertan riders.  They seem stoked…

They should be with the weather like this.  We got our huck on early with some top to bottom action on the Kessel Run.

After lunch is was time to sort out some more State of Mine/Guitar Solo laps.

Yeah, that’s a helluva hike, but it’s worth it.

Some postcard alpine shots for ya…

It’s hard to keep the pace up when the view is so distracting.  We’re looking at a solid 4k’ descent from this point.

Guitar Solo was running great, so we had to do a little photo sesh on Arnold Burminator (or is this Robert Bermiro?).

Yeah, this is a photo heavy entry, but this is a pretty nice day to be in the mountains.  Gotta take advantage of it while you can, eh?

Another solid day out there with over 14k’ of descending.  Tomorrow I think we’ll have to make the assault on Reco Peak and get the full pull.  Can’t wait…

Retallack Solo – 2

Finally….alpine!   Four years in the making and we’re now above treeline at Retallack.  Well…Kia is, but the rest of us aren’t far behind.

Got a backup band for James today so he’s not so alone.  Glory and Kurtis from Rossland came out today, and since we were heading for the new trails up top, Kia, Amber, and Matt joined in.

Whoa…fullface makeout sesh.  Safe sex, Kootenay style.

Was it good for you?

The upper trail is called State of Mine, and should be complete from Hollywood Ridge within a few weeks.  Where we drop in through the sub-alpine is Guitar Solo (see what I did with the post title now?), and it’s already a classic.  Here’s a few berm riffs from the crew.

We banged out a bunch more laps after the morning, as it was James’ last day.  We weren’t stopping much though, as we broke through about 14k’ of vertical.  Just took a little break to session this hit on the Kessel Run.

Nice Present – 1

Training is over, let’s get down to business.

First Retallack crew of the year is up.   Former World Cup DH guy Ryan scored the ultimate birthday present from his girlfriend with a trip to the Kootenays.  Oh, and their pal Wylie came along too.   Looks like it might be a good little crew to kick off the season with.

They seem to know their way around the bike, at any rate.

Kinrade doesn’t count; he’s always doing this stuff.

Ryan showing us all how to whip.

Havoc has a different style.

Almost forgot to mention that there’s a lot of new trail going in around the lodge.  Looks like there will be a new top to bottom from Reco Peak.  The lower section of this new trail is now ready to ride.  The whole line is called Timber Terra, but this particular part we refer to as Pork Chop Sandwiches.

That’s Syd in the last pic, who not only shouted for the trip as birthday present, but is also just learning to ride.  Keep that in mind if you’re wondering if you can handle Retallack.  This girl is only 20 rides in and is having a blast here.

I think the boys had a good day too, don’t you?