McDougall Rim

Kate and Hamish – Day 2

Posted on by Smoke

Yesterday was a bit more about Kate, so today we’re gonna throw down on some freeride for Hamish.

He seems to be excited by the Powers Creek zone.

Kate is a pretty decent amateur photographer (she’s even managed to sell a few shots), so she’s pretty happy to tag along and take shots. 


Kate Jackson Photo

Which is nice for me, as I don’t get too many pics of myself.  There’s a nice one of my bum, and here’s a great one of Hamish railing the wallride on Powers.


Kate Jackson Photo

And another sick one of Shenanigans.  He hit this up a couple of times.  With another couple of days, I think I would have taken him over to Postill for a session on the big stuff.  He really likes this kind of thing.

Another shot for scale…”We’re not worthy!”

Of course, no Powers Creek sesh is complete without a few runs on Crazy Train.

We also did a fast run on Builders Only.


Kate Jackson Photo

Hey!  I know that dude…


Kate Jackson Photo

Loads of bangers on this run, but I think Kate may be getting bored soon.


Kate Jackson Photo

Hamish got his Builders Only ticket stamped by carrying this load of lumber up to a new stunt for Diddler. 

Another good bum shot from Kate.  Do I look fat in those pants?


Kate Jackson Photo


Kate Jackson Photo

OK, enough of this freeride stuff, lets get Kate out for some trail riding.


Kate Jackson Photo

Say “Hi” to a few locals (California Bighorn Sheep, and they are wild if you’re wondering).

McDougall Rim on a sunny afternoon.  So romantic…

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Lets throw rocks.

Unfortunately, McDougall has been pretty much wrecked at this point by quads.  it’s still fun, but it’s disappointing to see it change from singletrack to dirt road in a couple of seasons.  Pretty selfish of the 2 or 3 quadders who have decided to destroy it for everyone else, but that’s how quadders are I guess.  Here’s one of the few sections that hasn’t been totally hacked on yet, but by the time you read this it should be full on double-tracked out.

Dynomite – Day 1

Posted on by Smoke

What happened?  Good way to start a trip, now jump in the lake and sober up.  Who knew that this was gong to be the warmest water we’d see all week?

Here’s the guys that caused all the trouble.  Some Legends in there if you know your North Shore history.

It would appear that the boys brought some Pennsylvania weather with them.  It was wet and cool today.  Luckily, it’s been like that all spring back east, so they were fired up and ready to hit Big Ed.

OK, so that’s how it’s gonna be.  To think that I was a bit worried about starting out on one of the harder trails in the Okanagan.  These guys lapped it up like it was cream.

Actually, it was pretty good.  Will this do for day one, John?

We took some time to session a few of the smaller booters to get into the flow. Jim was charging everything pretty hard, a theme that was to be repeated throughout the week.

John also had a theme.  He keeps nailing great shots, but if you were there…..yikes.  This wasn’t just a cased landing; he actually hit the lip with his FRONT wheel.

Joe just quietly rode it all.

John is a much better skinny rider than a hucker.  although for a technician, his bike maintenance skills are a bit…curious.

Just ignore the dab and pretend he rode it.

We were in the presence of one of the Whistler legends for today too.  Binty rode this lap with us, but for some strange reason I have no pics of him.  If you think you’re a good XC rider, head on out to Binty’s Highline in Whistler and see how you feel.   That guy has been riding Whistler on a little bike for something like 25 years.

He had no reservations about this rock line, and we got a full house on it.  That’s Jim in the pic.

Another angle with John, and we’re out for lap one.

We had plenty of time to kill for day one, so I thought we’d go over to McDougall for an All Mountain run.

Yeah, it’s a bit pedally, but when you get views like these coupled with a solid 45 minute downhill, what’s to complain about?

Evening Shuttle (Around the Lake-ish)

Posted on by Smoke

This is sort of part of the Around the Lake route.  An evening shuttle up McDougall.  Nice having this sort of thing available for after work.

We also did a bit of exploring in the truck on the way up.  It’s a pretty long shuttle, so it’s debateable on whether or not to ride up.  If you’re in good shape (we’re not, check the pics), then it’s about 2 and a hlaf hours round trip. 

You get the fresh legs for the descent if you shuttle though.  We’re talking about 40 minutes of sustained downhill riding here, except when you do a little walking up for the camera.

Nothing really radical about the descent, but you do get some nice views of the valley and the lake.

Oh, and the occasional sweaty downhiller.