Wow...I'm a pu$$y (Deer Valley TR)

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:

How much of Deer Valley is ridable for true intermediate riders? Is it mostly advanced downhiller stuff? I havent ridden there yet, but I have some friends coming to visit that want to try it.

most of the stuff at dv is intermediate.should be fine :mrgreen:

I had a hoot. I actually went back and rode most of Thieves Forest for my last run. I really wanted to know what I was missing. I say most of it cause there's just some stuff on that trail I'd be stupid to try without a full helmet, body armor, and the benefit of full suspension, you know, like that triple drop. It'd take a little more mojo building to ride that feature too, but I think the full suspension would take some of the edge off. Since I'm mainly a cross country rider and not a downhiller though, my hardtail still suits me too well to fork over the dough for a new bike.

I'd say it's about 60%, intermediate 35% advanced. There really isn't much beginner stuff; just the McHenry's practice loops, but most of the trails are rideable for anyone with some singletrack skill.

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Originally Posted by TreeHugger

How much of Deer Valley is ridable for true intermediate riders? Is it mostly advanced downhiller stuff? I havent ridden there yet, but I have some friends coming to visit that want to try it.

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Here's a video I found showing the trails up at DV

http://www.kidinthecorner.com/video/view_deervalley.php

I've been checking out their other videos too, they're pretty sweet.

That video looks sweet!! I cant wait to ride there - I cant believe I havent yet!

Thanks!

Karen

SWEET! I can't wait to get back up there! Fourtycal & I & a friend rode the last week of the season last year - Theives was'nt open but Fireswamp was awesome & the NCS course was insane! We did a couple dozen runs and was wasted by the time we ended up at the big three drop down by the lifts. GOT to do it again soon this summer! :2thumbs: :ride:

I went up again this past Saturday, and had a blast. The dust is getting bad already, though. The connector from Homestake over to Wasatch is like riding through moon dust. I tried a few of the wooden stunts this week, and survived with only one bruise, and we rode Pedaler's Run and Twist and Shout (including the new part) with no disasters, so I'm declaring the ride a success. I had one encounter with a tree, and learned an immutable truth: no matter how hard you hit the tree, it will not move! :ride: