Photo Story: Jurassic Five - Matt Bolton's Short-But-Savage Creation
The first time I walked through this forest I knew the line was going to be rad. Massive old cedar stumps, oceans of green ferns, wide open tree spacing, great sightlines and piles of gold dirt. Robin started building this line with a wooden step down that jumped over a precariously balanced chunk of old cedar. Due to the drop being right at the start, an omen of things to come, the move was dubbed The Gatekeeper.
It should work, but what's the speed?
First Hits on the GK.
Dropping in.
Land the GK, rip some fast single track and right into the Jungle Drop. Although this feature isn't a huge gap the technical aspect of hitting the sniper landing and going right into a fast turn makes it extra spicy.
Look before you leap.
Into the jungle.
Coming out of the drop you fly down the high speed single track smashing turns and roosting ferns.
Flick.
Jurassic vibes.
A quick right hand turn and you're into the log step-down - "The OG". It's not every day you find a massive Old Growth log and we knew we couldn't pass up the opportunity to make it into a feature. Although it's been lying on the ground for close to 100 years the cedar inside is still solid.
Log ride to step down.
The first hit.
Adding some style.
We found an awesome rock line lower down but didn't know if it was possible to link it up with The OG. I made the decision to bench cut across the side hill across a few small drainages (which we bridged). The result was a fast flow single track with some fun turns and fast jumps.
Who says bench cut can't be fun?
I didn't know how all the rock we found would link together but after removing some moss and building the transitions I knew we made the right call. The first roll is a nice wide open straight-shot but the rain and mud on my tires made it extra slippery. The second roll is on the edge of the rock bluff and features a slight left turn. If you get offline, the drop to the ravine bellow is about 8 metres.
Rock roll number one.
Number two, don't go right.
The last move goes straight down the face. I had hoped the rock would be smooth under the moss but when I removed it there was a large step close to the bottom. This forces you to thread the needle on the right side just squeezing around the rock onto the runout.
Big shoutout to everyone who helped throw dirt and make this trail happen! Jordan, Ross, Honza, Anton, Chloe, Robin and Max - you guys rock!
The final move.
Special thanks to OneUp for making this possible, Margus for the great photos and Robin (Wildland Media) for all his help on and off the camera.
OneUp Components, Squamish, BC.
WORK LESS RIDE MORE
WORK LESS RIDE MORE
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Sum Of Us would ride a Thin Line to What's Golden and have a Freedom (A) Day At The Races at this (opposite of )a Concrete Schoolyard.
And good job on the photos @margus, esp like the framing of the "Flick" shot.
Drop: flat takeoff, landing lower than takeoff