Lord of the Squirrels 

Across the valley from the bike park, lies Mount Sproatt and the start of the renowned trail Lord of the Squirrels. With a casual 1400m or so climb over 20km to get there, the main loop isn’t for the faint-hearted and you should allow around five to eight hours for the ride depending on your fitness. The big climb up Into the Mystic and Over the Rocks will reward you with 900m of flowy alpine trail, rock slab and ladder bridges. Although rated a blue trail, be wary that this is a blue by Whistler’s standards, and still includes many tricky and more technical features. That said, big backcountry alpine riding doesn’t come better than this.

 Comfortably Numb

Sounds uncomfortable? Well, it depends on your outlook. If you’re into a bit of type two fun, this XC epic will provide you with all the roots, rock slabs, big climbs and fun descents your heart desires. With around 1000m ascent and 1000m descent, lock yourself in for a long day in the saddle. Most people take the route North-South (although you can ride it in both directions), allowing you a little warm-up ride from Whistler to the start at Wedgemount Lake trailhead. 

Cheap Thrills

Known as Whistler’s roughest and gnarliest trails outside of the bike park, the Westside Trails provide a mixture of sweet flow with big features (as well as some downright counter-intuitive and awkward riding). Whatever your ‘vibe’ though, there’s something for every advanced rider here. Cheap Thrills trail serves up a lot of flow, and some of the burliest features around to keep you on your toes. A double black diamond trail (hardest grade), the start of the trail drops you into long, relatively low angle, slabs before spitting you out onto roots and plenty of chop. All that, before hitting some big features. These features include a steep north shore bridge, narrow crossings of roaring mountain streams and finally a steep, ‘chokey’ chute not much wider than your bars. Plenty of thrills to be found here.

Howler

Does a long, loose, rocky descent sound like a bit of you? Then you’ll like Howler. Beginning in the alpine in the Whistler-North zone, you’ll start with a nice slog up Ricks Roost and Flank Connector. The final push up the climb trail might require a bit of pushing your bike because of the steepness, but we promise the views and the descent are worth it. It’s a long climb, but the super fun black trail will make you forget about the pain of the uphill as soon as you drop in.

Danimal (Middle & North)

As some of Whistler’s oldest trails, you’d think the Westside trail network might have lost it’s punch by now. But no, this continues to be one of the best zones in the valley. Like most of the trails in the area, there’s a good amount of climbing and descending to be found here. Danimal, split into Danimal Middle and North, is accessed by a challenging climb up Flank Trail. Boasting some of the best views of both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, its well worth the effort. And of course, there’s a sick descent to be had here too.

Kill Me Thrill Me

A classic Whistler XC ride, this trail has it all; a bit of up, a bit of down, and some big features and technical descents. There’s a couple of punchy steep climbs straight up the mountain side interspersed with flowy bench cut trail, and techy drops and rock rolls. If the features are too much, there’s usually an accompanying single black line to take it down a notch. The final descent will take you riding over lengthy rock slab. It’s all a bit ‘choose your own mentality’ with plenty of options when it comes to testing your riding ability.

Microclimate Loop

We couldn’t talk about the top 10 trails in this part of the world without giving you a little flavour of what’s over on the “other” side of the valley of Blackcomb mountain. Away from the bustle of the bike park on Whistler mountain, Blackcomb might be a favourite with the locals but the Microclimate Loop is anything but chill. After a good lung and leg-busting on the climb, you’ll want to recover before dropping into the steep fall-line singletrack full of all kinds of tech. Root webs, rocks, drops, steep slabs, bomb holes, tight catch berms – you name it, this ride’s got it.

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