Originally Posted by
Zinn-X
my impression of whistler when i was there was that it's mostly hardcore DH for people with serious skillz.
That would be incorrect. We have an abundance of xc trails some of them world renowned in the right circles.
Lost Lake trails are mellow but fun.
Definitely, but for whatever reason some visitors consider them technical (there is bridge work to get over swamps) but it is good for the family. Within that section there is also a lot of double track in case the family isn't used to single track. And if you have little ones there is also fire roadish riding too...
As for other trails. I could go on for a day but here is a synopsis
1 - river runs through it, classic west coast trail, lots of wood work for skills ranging from beginner to intermediate. Some sections might be considered advanced. In and around here is a beach
...but also emerald forest, mels dilema, part of flank trail, and exit of cut yer bars. All link together in an off flow type ride that can last hours.
2 - Thrill Me kill me - good uphill with a great reward at the end, now links into (indirectly) Comfortable numb, a 26k single track trail that bring joy to those who like to climb. The downhill at the end was my first downhill ever (called foreplay) and it is AWESOME, pulls out into lost lake where, if you still have energy you can continue riding or just go to the beach
3 - in emerald you have a short but good network of multiple black diamonds. They all more or less lnk together and off of
flank...Emerald was used for the world cup 24 hour race 2 years in a row.
4 - Flank is a long...yes LONG double/single track which runs along the mid line of the mountains and gets you to the entrance of almost every single track. Its an "easy" ride technically, but is a grunt.
There are about 50 more, but they are all hidden, small or "linked" trails. All of these are whistlers xc trails. Excellent and all are fun.