Rossland: Canada's home of mountain biking?

Leaving Kelowna on the Sunday of a long weekend we were unsure of where we were going to find a place to park the RV that night. We drove SE through Grand Forks and contemplated camping at Christina Lake but decided it was too popular to bother trying to find a spot. Onwards and up a long way we pulled into a very busy Nancy Greene Lake Park with the Canadians making the most of the hot weather. Luckily there was a vacant camp spot for the night. We

No fun police here

spent the rest of the day swimming and building a sand castles. Before leaving the next morning Rob and Symi went to find a rope swing that was quite big. After a few swings each it was time to head towards Rossland. On the way we stopped off for a quick out and back ride on the Larch Ridge Trail. The trail was blue rated but quite technical in places, this would be easily a black rating in Bend. Symi and Fiona did a great job of negotiating the many rocky sections. At the end of Larch Ridge I descended the flowing 3km long Monticola Trail, great fun until the long and hot climb back to the RV.

Arriving in Rossland we pulled into the Lions Memorial Campground, a short walk from town, next to singletrack (Drakes) and only $20 a night for a full hook up. There was time for a quick ride up and back on the Drakes trail, a great link to rides south of town but not without some decent

Aussie, Symi and Briana

altitude change. That evening we met a family from Rocky Mountain House in Ontario. Ed the Dad had come to ride the 7 Summits so we arranged to ride together. Luckily for Symi he had a ten year old daughter.  Not that you would know by looking at her, she was a good head taller than Symi.

Next day was a ride south of town with Ed, trying to get the legs working again with some serious climbing, it had been about a month since I had done any. Luckily the fitness seemed ok. That afternoon it was off to Revolution Cycles,

Favourite new rear tyre, at least for five rides
until another tubeless puncture

say hello to Jared who I had met in Silver Star and buy another rear tyre. The Rossland locals use nothing but Maxxis DHF or DHR, so a new DHR it was. There were many copies of the movie Lifecycles in the shop, obvious when you realise that the movie was filmed around Rossland and used footage of the bike shop. I was also informed it is the best MTB movie of all time, no bias here of course.

Waking early the next day (Wednesday) Ed’s wife shuttled us to the beginning of the 7 Summits Trail, a renowned epic 30km alpine singletrack adventure. The trail starts with nice flow but very soon there is a 650m climb. The reward comes with amazing views and ground thick with wildflowers. The

first real descent is epic, flowing downhill gradually for 400m. Following this was three moderate climbs and descents. Finally at Record ridge the trail turns down for 10kms to the end of the 7 Summits. Luckily that’s not the end, it’s another 5.5km, 500m descent of the Dewdney Trail. It was fast and open in places. We shot out at the end to Ed’s pickup waiting with cold beer. Thanks to Fiona and Lisa for dropping the car off.

Thursday in Rossland is men's shuttle night, I can’t say no to not peddling up hills. It was off to the shop at 5.30pm, chat to a few locals and jump on the shuttle. The ride was a double Dewdney, backside and frontside. First was backside Dewdney, this goes down some fast and long singletrack in some remote forest, it would be a huge pedal back up

Bottom of Dewdney backside

without the shuttle. Luckily the shuttle bus was waiting at the bottom. Next was Dewdney frontside, this time with energy and fresh hands. Quickly back at the trailhead it was time for some cold beers. Then the tradition is pub and food with bikes parked inside the front door. What a great night. Chatting to people I only got to hear of all the places I didn't ride in BC and trails I must ride in Rossland. Eventually it was ride home in the dark watching for bears, one had wandered through the camp the previous evening.

Top of Tamarind Trail, Rossland in distance

 

The last two days in Rossland was spent riding some more technically challenging trails. First was the double black Whisky, there was plenty of stopping and checking out the many steep technical rock features. At the bottom I promptly turned back up the hill to ride it again, this time not having to stop, awesome. I also had to ride the interestingly named Super Megadeath (SMD) as I had been repeatedly told this was the ride to do. Again it's up the big climb south of town, then onto SMD. You know you are in the right place when you hit the Bob Marley sign. It's worth the effort, classic descending. Unfortunately I jumped a rock drop straight onto a sharp rock - another rear tyre with a sizable hole. Time to rethink rear tyres. The trails exits 10 km from town. It's either up the road or back over a pass on Doukhobor Draw. I choose the later and realised this is where the name comes from, ouch. It was time to head back to the USA, so many trails unridden....

Top of SMD, it's BC!

Silver Star and Kelowna

The day after the major thunderstorm in Kamloops we eventually left mid-afternoon to drive to Silver Star, another mountain bike resort with chairlift access. The rain continued but was quite light. We arrived at Vernon and started the slow (40-50kph) 20km drive up (all) to Silver Star, Simone wondered if we would end up in the clouds. Yes we would, about half way up. We arrived about 6.30pm and with poor visibility (50m) and poor sign posting to the campground. After a few wrong turns we found the campground, promptly plugged into the power and put the heater on. 

Walking with Silver Star in the distance

Next morning was much brighter. We were camped right next to the village and at lift opening Rob promptly set off to ride.

The Kettle Valley Rail Trail

My bike in the middle

Front seat at last

When we were in Kelowna we borrowed Hayley and Mark’s bright red ute and we drove up to the Kettle Valley Trail, it was good to sit in the front. It was easy to put the bikes on the ute because they sat in the back. My bike is the middle one between mum and dad’s bikes.

Glaciers, lakes and rainstorms

We left Whistler on a Saturday morning hoping that it would not be too difficult to find a campsite on a weekend in the middle of summer. We had no specific destination so wound our way through Pemberton which was not an option as it was hosting a music festival. We almost feel we can say we went (briefly) as it was right next to the road and being high up in the RV we could see as well as hear the music.