Mountain Biking - NorthShore question

I have been reading about how the people up on the North Shore want the guys to stop building. I can't really figure out why they have been getting in trouble but it seems Digger has gotten in the most trouble for building trails. My question is, if he is so great at building trails (and we know he is, just look at some of the stuff he and friends built) why doesn't he leave and go somewhere where someone WANTS his trails. I know we would KILL for some trails like that down here in texas.

Its not just the trails. The north shore offers completely unique terrain. I have shore trails near me but they can never be real shore trails. North shore due to the rain forest, steep terrain and deadwood etc offer a very unique ride that can't really be duplicated (maybe spots in oregon and other rainforest areas)

Digger gets into trouble due to the extreme of his trails. They are a site to behold as 99% of the riders would crap their pants standing on top of one of his stunts let alone riding it. Crist (the main guy against the shore) is a knob and has a thing against ANYONE beyond the elderly being in those trails. The problem is two fold

1 - crist - knob - claims many many problems with the trails but in the end has a personal vendeta fueled by an unknown hatred for all things bicycle. He has some real valid issues however, the new builders instead of working with the environment are working against it, there is also a serious problem with old trails becoming old and broken hence dengerous. Also...trails are freaking dangerous. Many injuries occur and it is very difficult to get injured riders out, let alone really expensive.
2 - the people who own houses. Fromme (the mountain most people know of the shore) has a high elevation residential area. With no parking or other ameneties at the base of the trails (most trails come from and pour into a certain RICH RICH RICH residential area) kids are changing and being general nuisances in the neighbourhood. With the shores popularity increasing and traffic going beyond the core riders to people from all over the world. The ignorance level increase expodentially (go to any tourist town and ask locals how people visiting act) However this is not a tourist town, its a simple residential area stuck at the base of the most famous mountain bike site in the world. Several options have been offered to fix this (pour trails our elsewhere and remove lower trails that are literally in peoples back yards, also create a parking lot that is semi private etc)

In the end things don't look good on fromme, but this could also be why Cypress is opening a lift assisted shore mountain (cypress is another 'north shore' mountain) and digger I believe is building most of the trails there. Remember, the north shore riders are very active and fighting tooth and nail against one nut AND against the bad riders who give a bad name. Its gonna be tough but really the shore has gotten tooooo popular for its own good.

Your right about tourist areas. I live in a big vacation area here in N.C. and it seems that people check in there brain at the entrance to Pisgah.You would not believe the stupid crap I have seen people do.As far as the Shore,my friend was there 2 yrs ago and said the parking problem was out of control.He was with a group testing the Demo 9 and Cam kinda gave them the heads up that something like this was going to happen.

Is there a website just dedicated to the trails themselves? I have been to nsmb.com and they have lots of good write ups but no trail write up's specifically. I would like to read more about freeriding as a cultural standpoint, being that I have to write a paper on culture and I would like to do it on freeriding/northshore/whistler and that life-style. Hook me up! :D

www.gutsploder.com is a website for maps. Other than that look through nsmb. Lots of advocate sites etc. Have you looked for nsmba?

Yeah, I found nsmba but only scrolled through it a short bit, didn't go much into detail on it. It's too bad no one has written a book on this subject. I mean, the way I see it it's like you have the biking community and inside that you have the mountain biking community and both of those things are interelated but inside the mountain biking community is this vast underground following of freeride. These freeride guys seem to have there own set of rules and take things to the extreme. I see it as a mix between MX and BMX and they have there own flavor.

That is a great intro to my paper!

Its not just the trails. The north shore offers completely unique terrain. I have shore trails near me but they can never be real shore trails. North shore due to the rain forest, steep terrain and deadwood etc offer a very unique ride that can't really be duplicated (maybe spots in oregon and other rainforest areas)

Digger gets into trouble due to the extreme of his trails. They are a site to behold as 99% of the riders would crap their pants standing on top of one of his stunts let alone riding it. Crist (the main guy against the shore) is a knob and has a thing against ANYONE beyond the elderly being in those trails. The problem is two fold

1 - crist - knob - claims many many problems with the trails but in the end has a personal vendeta fueled by an unknown hatred for all things bicycle. He has some real valid issues however, the new builders instead of working with the environment are working against it, there is also a serious problem with old trails becoming old and broken hence dengerous. Also...trails are freaking dangerous. Many injuries occur and it is very difficult to get injured riders out, let alone really expensive.
2 - the people who own houses. Fromme (the mountain most people know of the shore) has a high elevation residential area. With no parking or other ameneties at the base of the trails (most trails come from and pour into a certain RICH RICH RICH residential area) kids are changing and being general nuisances in the neighbourhood. With the shores popularity increasing and traffic going beyond the core riders to people from all over the world. The ignorance level increase expodentially (go to any tourist town and ask locals how people visiting act) However this is not a tourist town, its a simple residential area stuck at the base of the most famous mountain bike site in the world. Several options have been offered to fix this (pour trails our elsewhere and remove lower trails that are literally in peoples back yards, also create a parking lot that is semi private etc)

In the end things don't look good on fromme, but this could also be why Cypress is opening a lift assisted shore mountain (cypress is another 'north shore' mountain) and digger I believe is building most of the trails there. Remember, the north shore riders are very active and fighting tooth and nail against one nut AND against the bad riders who give a bad name. Its gonna be tough but really the shore has gotten tooooo popular for its own good.

only a guess, but you feel pretty strongly about this. Leave it to the local to write us an essay.

Yeah, I found nsmba but only scrolled through it a short bit, didn't go much into detail on it. It's too bad no one has written a book on this subject. I mean, the way I see it it's like you have the biking community and inside that you have the mountain biking community and both of those things are interelated but inside the mountain biking community is this vast underground following of freeride. These freeride guys seem to have there own set of rules and take things to the extreme. I see it as a mix between MX and BMX and they have there own flavor.

That is a great intro to my paper!

Buy a movie called the Emergence. It really goes into the REAL history of shore and freeriding. And even touches on the origins of mountain biking. Shore riding, timeline wise, isn't that far off Marin county. Great movie but very documentary oriented.



only a guess, but you feel pretty strongly about this. Leave it to the local to write us an essay.


I could have said more. Its unfortunate, but really, what it boils down to, the north shores popularity is actually its demise. If it never became popular it wouldn't be having these issues.

yeah, i couldnt agree more... that sucks huge, i just comprehend it, because the spots around here are in no way flocked to by bikers

Some good news

http://www.nsmb.com/shore_news/crist2_02_05.php

Wohoo democracy at work

Awesome awesome. Looks to be making progress.