mtnbiker62
06-18-2006, 04:49 PM
Odgmfg threw down the gauntlet, and I couldn't resist. It was my birthday last week, so I decided to treat myself and go to Deer Valley for opening day of lift serviced mountain biking on Saturday. The weather was perfect, and the trails were in decent shape. They did show some neglect from the long winter, and not all the stunts were up yet (not like that matters...I can't hit most of them anyway), but it was nice to ride the old familiar trails.
I met mroy in the parking lot, and we waited for odgmfg and co. for a while, then took off to ride the mountain. Good thing too...he didn't make it until much later. We finally caught up to them about 12:30, and rode up the lift together. They took off down Thieves' Forest...waaaaay over my head, so mroy and I went down another way. That was the last I saw of them...they're much better riders than I am! :hail2thechief: I got in 3 runs top to bottom on some of the intermediate trails, and one run on Aspen Slalom...on which I walked most of the top corners. I need a whole lot more courage and practice before I can ride that stuff!
For those of you who aren't aware, the Sterling lift has been removed, so access to the upper trails is now via the Wasatch lift. A new trail has been cut from Homestake over to Wasatch that continues past the McHenry practice loops. This is a decent trail now, but it's going to become a nightmare before the season is over. It's already loose and dusty, and that was on opening day. It will see a lot of traffic, and will become even more loose and dusty...I hope Deer Valley can maintain it!
Unfortunately, despite copious amounts of body armor and a great new freeride bike, I'm still too much of a pu$$y to hit most of the stunts or ride the double black diamond stuff up there. My 44 year old mind was screaming "STOP" most of the time! :eek2: After a few warmup runs down the mountain, I started down Thieves Forest, but immediately thought better of that, so I tried Aspen Slalom instead. I wasn't even able to ride most of the corners at the top of that...I suck. I did enjoy the stunts at the bottom of Homeward Bound and on Pedalers Run, so with a little more practice on the new bike, and a lot of courage, I might make a few of the stunts yet...hopefully! I refuse to give in, so I'll be practicing a lot this summer. Now, Snowbasin opens next weekend...hmm
:2thumbs:
I met mroy in the parking lot, and we waited for odgmfg and co. for a while, then took off to ride the mountain. Good thing too...he didn't make it until much later. We finally caught up to them about 12:30, and rode up the lift together. They took off down Thieves' Forest...waaaaay over my head, so mroy and I went down another way. That was the last I saw of them...they're much better riders than I am! :hail2thechief: I got in 3 runs top to bottom on some of the intermediate trails, and one run on Aspen Slalom...on which I walked most of the top corners. I need a whole lot more courage and practice before I can ride that stuff!
For those of you who aren't aware, the Sterling lift has been removed, so access to the upper trails is now via the Wasatch lift. A new trail has been cut from Homestake over to Wasatch that continues past the McHenry practice loops. This is a decent trail now, but it's going to become a nightmare before the season is over. It's already loose and dusty, and that was on opening day. It will see a lot of traffic, and will become even more loose and dusty...I hope Deer Valley can maintain it!
Unfortunately, despite copious amounts of body armor and a great new freeride bike, I'm still too much of a pu$$y to hit most of the stunts or ride the double black diamond stuff up there. My 44 year old mind was screaming "STOP" most of the time! :eek2: After a few warmup runs down the mountain, I started down Thieves Forest, but immediately thought better of that, so I tried Aspen Slalom instead. I wasn't even able to ride most of the corners at the top of that...I suck. I did enjoy the stunts at the bottom of Homeward Bound and on Pedalers Run, so with a little more practice on the new bike, and a lot of courage, I might make a few of the stunts yet...hopefully! I refuse to give in, so I'll be practicing a lot this summer. Now, Snowbasin opens next weekend...hmm
:2thumbs: