Dirty Feckers

Well.... That's it. Another Whistler trip done and (we're all) dusted. After a day's rest and a fistful of Advil my poorly finger and thumb did me proud and managed to hold it together for two more days of riding. After warming up on Crank It Up a couple of times I started to get into the rhythm again. Still shy from the crash, I eased off the jumps, but a couple of runs down Freight Train had me enjoying the technical riding and feeling good again.

The last day and me and Chris took to the Top of the World trail. An extra 1000ft or so of descent and staggering views promised to be a treat. I'm certainly glad I had my nice new camera to soak up the mountain panoramas, but I wasn't stoked on the trail. Tight and technical, it felt like a potentially fun XC trail but on the burly bikes with all the gladiator gear it felt awkward and frustrating. I was quite glad to leave it behind and hit the regular downhill goodies.

After the Top of the World, we hit Freight Train then veered off to explore some of Whistler's techy black runs. I don't recall all of them - we did bits of Duffman at some point. But they were all a hell of a challenge and great fun. A couple of near spills kept me on my toes, but we picked our way through and emerged at Lower A-Line unscathed and grinning! We then decided to try Dirt Merchant. Supposedly Whistler's best trail, Dirt' is groomed, flowey and lovely. A few steep drops here and there add spice, whilst big, gapped jumps test the mettle of the expert riders (me and Chris took the chicken lines on these features.) But Dirt' certainly lived up to it's reputation.

This trip has been awesome. I was lucky to escape with minor injuries and keep on riding. A necessary slap on the wrist, but it did kill my confidence on the jumps. I never felt the same sense of flow I had last year where jumps were objects to hit hard and enjoy. Instead I felt trepidation each time I tried to face down a black run tabletop. A shame, but something to work on next season. I definitely felt strong on the technical stuff. Trail sections that felt scary last year were fun and smoothed out this year. I love the challenge of seeing something steep and sketchy and picking a clean(ish) loose line through and popping out in one piece, ready to hit the next section. We also did more exploring this year. This place is huge and full of awesome treats. Next year I'll hopefully be coming back with my own steed and a little more confidence on the jumps.... I can't wait!