Whistler Mountain Bike Park — Attraction in Whistler Resort Municipality

Trail Series, Part 33 After mountain biking in destinations such as Mammoth, Breckenridge, and Vail, I am honored to report that an independent panel of authorities within the mountain biking community have upgraded my skillset from “Worst Ever” to “Really Bad.” 😀

Although the patient coaching from younger family members is primarily to be credited (where you at Tim and Wesley! 📣), I’ve learned that trail selection is also really important. When presented with the opportunity to ride a technical trail, I’ve come to understand that flowing trails are much more to my liking. In fact, I enjoy them so much I briefly considered changing my social media handle to “Flo Rida” (but apparently that has already been claimed 🤦‍♂️).

While the Whistler Mountain Bike Park has established a formidable reputation amongst skilled riders on an international level, I was impressed with their forethought in also considering the needs of wobbly riders like myself. Not only is there an entire section of the mountain designed for less accomplished riders, but it is almost entirely separated from the numerous daredevils who are intent on disproving the laws of gravity. 😳🤯 That may seem like a trivial matter of mere convenience, but safety must also be considered when one rider is merely focused on remaining upright while a pack of bloodthirsty hyenas is rapidly descending upon them at speeds that seem to approach upwards of 60 kph.

While I have no embarrassment regarding my lack of downhill riding skills, I have to wonder…is there a reason why the symbol for the beginner’s course resembles a band-aid? I mean, is this intended to be foreshadowing of some kind? 🤔🤷‍♂️

Whether you are an accomplished rider or a burgeoning one, I have no doubt that this park will keep you interested and engaged until either your hands, knees, or butt become too sore to continue riding.

And that’s…Henry’s Take.

#floridahenry

Editor’s Note: Absolutely none of the action shots of riders are of me. If they were, all of the following photos would be of me in the...

Let me start by saying the trails are the best in the world... but what’s not the best in the world is the rental experience. Besides the website being unintuitive, it’s seems to direct you to the parent site when you try to actually book the rental. For my visit I opted to just drive up there from Seattle and hope they had some rental bikes available. If you’re going peak season, going without reservations is a mistake. I went on a Wednesday and got there about 90 min after the rental shop opened and I got one of the last bikes in my size. The process itself was fairly easy, but it felt very rushed and disjointed. The staff was all very helpful and friendly but the system and process itself is poorly designed. On the back of my rental form was a pre-ride checklist that the rental tech just checked off each box without even looking at the bike. The bike itself was their “premier” downhill bike, which was much too small for me, being 6’4” 220lbs. They only have S,M,L. Once I got on the bike, the components on the handlebars were loose, which I didn’t notice until I was at the top of the lift. During the rental process they didn’t offer to adjust the suspension, adjust the seat, or any other standard procedures that you would expect when renting a bike. Maybe because I had my own pads and helmet I gave the illusion that I was going to set it up myself? Either way the bike performed poorly. I went back to the rental shop and had them adjust a few things, but again they were understaffed and rushed. At other bike parks I typically spend 10 to 15 minutes with the tech while they adjust the bike to my specifications. Again none of this is specifically the fault of any one person, the space they have to work with is limited, and there just isn’t enough room to have multiple people getting their bikes set up all at the same time. Hence the reason I was rushed out the door. They need a larger space.

All in all, I might ride there again, but I will most likely bring my own bike, or seek bike...

What a beautiful place to visit. We we visiting relatives in Vancouver, BC but wanted to see Whistler BC. We booked the hotel for one night and took the bus from Vancouver Airport to Whistler. The day that we got there it was getting close to 3pm so we decided to explore the village after checking in. Since we didn't have a car to go exploring we just see what was available there. There were lots of reminders of the 2010 Olympics with the Olympic rings and plaques along the railing telling of the events that took place and who placed in those events. Even in summer it bustles with people. The air is so clean and fresh with blue skies above you. It was so nice to be surrounded with green evergreens. There's a lot of eateries to choose from and all different ethnicity. On this week there were a lot of bikers getting ready for the mountain terrain race. Kids of all ages were practicing their skills and tuning up their bikes for this race. I think in one day we walked 17,000 steps. I was wondering why my feet were starting to hurt. The next day we bought tickets for the gondola lifts going peak to peak and this day the ski lift was open. The day before the wind factor and weather prohibited the ski lift from running. On the ski lift run you had the suspension bridge to cross over. You could see miles of mountains surrounding Whistler.. at the top when you first get off the first gondola there is a café there to get drinks or something to eat. You can spend an entire day riding the different gondolas. You can also see the ski trails and the mountain bike trails. You can see kids maneuver their bikes on those tight trails. It was quite exciting to see the different areas of the mountain depending which gondola you took. The suspension bridge was a thrill so high up to see the sky and surrounding area. This was well worth the ticket price ...three different lifts especially the ski lift...what a memorable time. Would love to see it in the winter time with all the skiers...