5-22-07 // Online Exclusive: Man the Shuttle Plane!

The Ticket2Ride chalet

Crossing Gun Creek was an ever present challenge, luckily bridges are common.

Dale, a veteran rider, easily directed the plane through the valley we would soon descend. We flew over the swollen Gun Creek and the singletrack that weaves around it. The trail arced across a meadow before twisting through a forest of aspens. Steep, rocky peaks hovered over the early-season greenery hugging the trail. The plane ride came to a graceful end on Spruce Lake. Later in the season, Dale drops riders and guides off at Warner Lake, about 20 miles further up-valley from Spruce—that’s where The Collective filmed their wide-open alpine singletrack segment.

With Erin leading the way through damp, dark woods, we traversed hillsides and dipped into aspen groves. We crossed the meadow we’d seen from the plane and skirted the still-powerful Gun Creek. Bridges cross the water in most places but when it came time to cross a final time, we were met with the aftermath of the last week’s flood. With no trail to lead us, Erin shouldered her bike and climbed over downed trees and jumbled rocks to find the few spindly logs that were placed over the river. After 3 hours of riding, concentrating on one footstep at a time seemed impossible as powerful whitewater ran beneath the narrow, slick, and unstable logs.

The following day in Whistler’s Bike Park, the nerves required to hit the GLC drop would seem minute compared to those summoned to cross Gun Creek safely. The group made it across dry, intact, and euphoric. We were rewarded with several more miles of bomber undulating singletrack that dissolved all thoughts of bears and class V rapids. Later, shelled from the trip and half-asleep in the van as we bounced back toward Pemberton, my thoughts drifted to what flavor cake was waiting for us at the Ticket2Ride chalet.

For more information, check out ticket2ridebc.com, or whistlerbike.com