One Bike, Many Whistlers

No longer just a mecca for park rats, Whistler means something totally different with today's ultra-capable trail bikes.

Author:
BIKE
Jul 8, 2019

This article was produced in partnership with Tourism Whistler.

A decade ago, a trip to Whistler meant packing a DH bike, full-face helmet, full body armor and a healthy appetite for swooping berms, jump lines and rock drops—anything, really, as long as gravity was pulling you down the mountain. You bought lift tickets, guzzled Taurine-laden beverages to hydrate and spent long days lapping the park. You most certainly did not dare venture far from the lift lines because you only had a heavy, dual-crown, mega-travel downhill bike and you were not pedaling that hunk of metal anywhere farther than the GLC.

These days, going to Whistler looks entirely different—though, truly, it doesn't have to, thereby being the beauty of Whistler—thanks to both advancements in bike technology and trail development that have opened up endless possibilities both in and beyond the park. With today's 6-inch-travel bikes more capable than ever, the same bike you rally down Freight Train in the park can also pedal 3,000 feet up Into the Mystic on the other side of the Valley.

We left the big bike at home and knocked out three days at the classic B.C. destination that led us from the alpine of Top of the World to the new Creekside trails and over to Dark Crystal on Blackcomb side, traveling in both directions, quite happily.

The Tip Top

Top of the World is Whistler's piéce de résistance. Although it's technically part of the main bike park, it feels worlds away, starting above the alpine at the top of the Peak Chair, some 45-minutes from the Village. The 3.5-mile trail is raw and primitive feeling as it winds down the wide-open backside of Whistler Mountain, before dropping into the dark woods. When it ends, you can either dump into Garbo trails Freight Train and No Joke to get back to the main village, or keep things on the less-manicured side by connecting to the challenging Khyber Pass (technically outside of the park) and Kashmir before ending at the bottom of the Creekside Gondola, where a bevy of new trails awaits.

Creekside Come On

Whistler expanded the park into Creekside mountain two years ago, and has been developing and opening more trails ever since, particularly of the less-gnarly blue variety.

If you do connect into Creekside, you can finish out Top of the World on trails like the berm-tastic, machine-groomed Midgard and Elixir/Insomnia, or the newly opened, handbuilt singletrack of Miss Fire. Whistler local Trevor Burke leads the way.

Post-ride eats at Dusty's Bar & BBQ in Creekside.

Then more loamy goodness for dessert.

Dark Side of the Mountain

Two years ago, Dark Crystal was a dark secret. It wasn't legalized yet, and riding it meant risking a ticket, but its tacky goodness, rock rolls and beautiful use of the natural terrain made the draw too alluring for riders to resist. Now legally part of the Blackcomb trail system, the 1.7-mile, 1,800-foot elevation drop trail is no longer a secret, but still very much a must-ride, as shown here by Whistler local Katrina Strand.

You can't access the trail by lift, though, which is where that pedal-able bike really comes in handy. Climb up from the Blackcomb base on the Blackcomb Access Road and Out of the Dust for 2 miles to reach the Micro Climate trail, then keep going for another mile. It's worth it.