Corner Canyon Conditions

I was all excited about getting a fat tire bike..... until I watched them up corner canyon and decided they are not all they are cracked up to be. They are currently unridable in CC. Yesterday I watched about 6 different riders give it a try and all turned around after riding 100-yards. The trails were last groomed 2 days ago but they were to soft to ride. Being forced to turn around is not a big deal if you live close like me, but it would really suck if you got ready, loaded your bike and gear, drove over and couldn't ride. A couple times of that happening and my interest would be gone. I also wonder how long the trail grooming in CC will last because without it the fat bikes are a big no go.

Yep, conditions have to be near ideal to have a good fatbike ride. Yesterday afternoon as I was x-country skiing up the Alpine Loop road, I passed 5 or 6 fatbikers who were walking/pushing their fatbikes up the road. Too much fresh snow and they get slogged down. I didn't see them going back down the road but, I'm guessing even that was a real struggle. That just doesn't look very fun to me. With that being said, when the trails are packed down (thank you snowshoers / groomers!) fatbiking is a hoot!

Stopped by the parking lot at Taters around 5:00. Thin Air had their sled out grooming. The snow was frozen up - could hardly see any shoe print indent from walkng up a ways. Tire tracks were all fat bikes... it felt like you could ride a regular tire on it.

I was right! Another riding bud of mine rode rom Equestrian Park to Potato Hill, Anne's to the top, then Canyon Hollow back down... all on his regular bike. Said the groomed trail is packed tight.

I've heard a few guys are putting 3" wide tires on their standard bike and doing reasonably well. I looked into it a little and a set of 3" tires cost about $120.

I just updated all my Corner Canyon maps. Both the printed map (JPG) and Google Earth KMZ file are current. That should give anyone interested in Corner Canyon hours of fun.

Corner Canyon Maps and Information
http://climb-utah.com/WM/cornercanyon.htm

Moo rented a fat bike and we tried it on Wednesday night. It was a blast! There were a few other fat bikes on the trails and quite a big circuit is groomed. We heard that the Thin Air shop grooms regularly with a small kid snowmobile.

We had Moo's standard bike, which was ridable in the groomed sections, which was 90% of it. Going uphill the fat tire bikes are much slower and take more effort to pedal. The standard bike was much quicker. However the fat tires just glide over the soft stuff on the side of the trails. On the downhill the fat bike is much nicer. With a standard bike you are fighting the front tire to make sure you don't get off into the soft stuff. The fat bike just glides along.

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Thin Air posts the trail conditions and which are groomed on their facebook page. They are really trying to improve the fat bike sport... and sales.

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Originally Posted by double moo

Thin Air posts the trail conditions and which are groomed on their facebook page. They are really trying to improve the fat bike sport... and sales.

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https://www.facebook.com/ThinAirCycles

I'm looking at taking my Fat Ass out on my Fat Bike Wednesday night if anyone else wants to join.

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Originally Posted by accadacca

Moo rented a fat bike and we tried it on Wednesday night.

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How much was the rental, by the way?

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Originally Posted by Sombeech

How much was the rental, by the way?

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I think it was $45 for half day.

Beautiful night on the mountain. Fresh snow and we ran into the groomer. We had a nice chat with him. It was a little soft going up Ann's, mostly because of the fresh powder. It should be perfect once the snow sets up a little. We are probably headed back up on Friday night.

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The trail was groomed yesterday and should be in good shape. We did get a little dusting of snow last night, but it wasn't much.

I am riding tonight and probably Mon/Thur next week. if you want to tag along give me a holla. Skinney tire bikes will be ridable with the trails being packed down.

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Originally Posted by accadacca

Skinney tire bikes will be ridable with the trails being packed down.

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NOT!

I rode CC today on skinney tires and it sucked. The trail needs to be packed a lot better for skinnies to be fun. You can ride parts of it, but it's a lot of work and not a lot of fun.

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The upper trails are better on a skinny because they stay hard packed for the most part. Today it was almost 40 degrees!

I rode at 4:00 and it was really soft everywhere. It's best when the temps stay lower. At night is great and much better. Ultimately though, that's why I bought a fat bike. Night and day difference on the snow.

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Trails were in great shape this morning. 28 degrees at the Tater Hill trail head when I started, 29 when I finished the loop. crossed paths with a dozen runner/hikers and 4 bikes - not too crowded.

I rode this morning. It was nice to get above the smog for a few minutes...

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I hiked to the old survey triangulation station on Traverse Ridge today. Started from the Maple Hollow Trailhead. It was great to be above the inversion in the bright blue sky.

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Yep, so bright and nice above the smog. The snow is a bright white color, instead of dark and flat light inside the gloom.