North Shore pics

[Gordo]

About 70 pics I took whilst on holiday in BC in 2003 (loaned a duallie from those cool blokes at Deep Cove bike shop)

No action pics just detail shots of some the back diamond runs, Upper Oil can, Flying Circus, Walk in the clouds, etc.

+ a cool 15ft high teetertotter !

Enjoy :)

look in the 2003 Nth Shore -1 and -2 folders..

http://community.webshots.com/user/tjgordo4

[north_shore]

hey awsome pictures, did you have a good time, what was it like?
do you reckon you could burn them onto a disc and send them to me?

[Gordo]

Hey NS,

Yeah had a ball. Was a bit pressed for time and was riding solo so just had my gps and a mud map off the nsmba site to go on. REALLY well marked around there it's like an ewok village will various graded tracks leading off everywhere.

A very small percentage of the construction was <ahem> a bit questionable but I think the dampness of the area could account for that - moss and funghi on everything rotting the dead wood - no wonder they built the tracks above ground level ! Really thick forest in there eh !

Wet n dry and squared off chicken wire for grip on most of the shaved log beams. One *really* cool triple teeter joined with car tyre sections. Any dead stump was fair game to get a track over or through it :) Plenty of works in progress there too - very active track mole community.

Most taller suspended tracks were about 6ft up with that mad 15ft teeter drop the biggest I saw.

Nice open firetrail winding up to the top for bike ferries to drop off too.

Hope to hell the govt track fascists never hit this place - it should be heritage listed !

Can send u pics no probs - just PM me your postal addy :)

[RaID]

just exactly what im doing right now
Cove Bike Shop have a pretty good deal on the stinkys
for $65 you get virtually 2 days riding

doesnt look like that much has changed up there in 2 years
definately sweet trail

what was your favourite trail?

havent checked out Flying Circus yet but have seen some crazy stuff already

[RaID]

hey awsome pictures, did you have a good time, what was it like?



think the most technical track section you can find in adelaide (for me id say Tank track of beaumont hill)
then multiply that by about 5 and its non stop like that down down without any rest sections for about an hour
wet roots, rock gardens, rock rolldowns, bridges high and low skinny wide, mud
very slow and tight corners

its very stressful and hard ride since you have to always concentrate 100% if you dont in an instant youll end up arse over tit

[mazzer]

great pics i wat to go there

[Ozza]

That looks very technical (if thats how you spell it) and hard in some parts, Nice Snaps by the way.

[sharpie]

a very successful post.......i think i've just creamed myself.
why don't we (read: why aren't we ALLOWED to) have this sort of stuff in Australia????, Perth especially.
f##k knows, we have the terrain and the demand

[Gordo]

doesnt look like that much has changed up there in 2 years
definately sweet trail

what was your favourite trail?

havent checked out Flying Circus yet but have seen some crazy stuff already

Hey RaID,

Def Walk in The Clouds was my fave for sheer WTF ?!?!? factor. 6ft platforms up to 15ft, a teeter (!) then a flat drop...

Wish like hell I had some buds to go with (was over with the GF visiting non-mtbing relos :( ) to get some action shots and try more of them than I was game to (no mobile/epirb in case of an r-sover).

Ta for the comments on the pics - taken with with a Nikon Coolpix 995 digi on monkey setting. Used a little bendy tripod for self WTF portrait. And as usual - they don't do the place justice - and the smell of all those fir trees - sweet !

IMHO the answer to 'y not build them here ?' is that fked up 'I' word that anyone who has an outdoors sport interest these days has to endure.

In Canberra you see cool NS style platforms and ramps spring up at Majura and others on a weekend by next weekend ACT Forests have dozed it.

Sore point with some mates that trackmole at Sparrow Hill (new singletrack just outside Queanbeyan, NSW) who after building 15km of *well made* singletrack loop had to take down the concreted seesaw and balance ramps. These obstacles got HEAPS of use by all types of riders with the blessing of ACT Forests without incident.

In the end (about 3 months after they were completed)....they were told to pull them out - too dangerous - 'I' word again.

The fkers...no wonder trackmoles have such a hard time keeping things underground. If it's good it gets ridden for a while and then bulldozed. My other personality - a 4wder - flkares up with fave 4wd tracks getting the same treatment. One day they're there (& have been for years) next they're dozed and gated.

Guess we'll get like the US even more with MTB parks being the only places to ride good man-made trails....or the sleeper, car tyre and palette praccy track I just slung together in the backyard ;)

sorry for the ramble - guess it's a sore point 4 me as many on this forum,

Back on topic - 4 anyone thinking of going to BC to check out the NS all I can say is DO IT !

Really nice people (beer-chugging hockey-lovin canucks), nice place and not too exxy to have a good time. If u time it right u can get up to Whistler too for some more kickass trails - I missed that one but heard plenty of stories.

+ good tax advantages for any <ahem> new bike gear u bring back - u get a refund cheque in the mail !

cheers :)

[RaID]

Where exactly is Walk In the Clouds
I cant find it on the maps that i have

Fromme or Seymour?
definately wanna check it out

[Gordo]

It's Fromme and is on this map along with all the others http://www.nsmba.bc.ca/maps/MapOfFromme.pdf

Some other writeups - this one from a UK site..

If Ladies Only is a natural technical marvel, A Walk in the Clouds is it's antithesis. The stunts on Ladies emphasize nature: rock faces, old growth logs, steep rooty patches and a few cedar planks make up the majority of the fun. Ladder bridges ending in space are a reoccurring nightmare on A Walk in the Clouds. Barely a hundred feet of single track warms you up before forcing you onto a ladder bridge ending in a solid five-foot wheelie drop.

Fifty feet past the first drop, the rider is offered a choice on a Y shaped ladder bridge: right for a 70 degree steep ramp, or left for the Abyss - a solid eight foot wheelie drop and the cause of some seriously swollen ankles. After surviving the first two stunts, A Walk in the Clouds churns out elevated stunts in rapid succession, delivering plenty of adrenaline and demanding some intense mental concentration. The price for picking a bad line? A resounding THUD as bike and body drop five feet to the ground below.

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/North_shore_text_only.html

nsmb mag mentions the track too :

Watching Cowan and Vanderham attack a trail-appropriately named Walk in the Clouds for its plethora of ladder bridges-a mere 45 minutes later, quickly changed my mind. These guys are nuts for sure, I thought to myself as the two riders dropped six feet off the first stunt, The Abyss, then conquered (after several tries) a gnarly teeter-totter-like stunt named the Skookumizer (it swivelled side to side and up and down) before cruising out of sight down the trail.

Around a bend in Walk in the Clouds, I finally caught up to the trio. (I was trying to negotiate the slippery rocks, fallen logs, and other forest debris that littered the trail on foot while Vigurs was riding around the really tough obstacles. They were all stopping to wait for me before tackling each new stunt). I arrived just in time to watch Vanderham and Cowan descend a narrow plank called the Needle Drop. One stunt soon flowed into the next, and before long we had descended the full length of the trail and made it to the road.

http://www.nsmb.com/trail_tales/ridiculator_my_eye_01_02.php

also found a broken vid link on here : http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/news/?op=articleview&id=311

[RaID]

cheers mate

weird its not on my official paper map
looks like ill have to climb an extra switch back to get there

ill probably check it out this weekend if im not going to whistler or kamloops

[Gordo]

no probs.

damn u got it good - "think I'll just pop down the shore for a ride"

ba$tard ;)

[Wake Jake]

Yeh nice pics you must have had a good time hitting that

[mattc]

Cool Taht Looks Heaps Fun
Cheers

[Gordo]

Yeh nice pics you must have had a good time hitting that

Not too much hitting going on unfort. as I was solo on a weekday with no phone - not many other ppl about. Wouldn't have been a fun last 2 weeks holiday with a busted c/b...nice place to do it though ;)

Mattc- Hey y11-boy - how goes it dude ?