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Paging SolVista Trail Crew

4K views 62 replies 25 participants last post by  Nickle 
#1 ·
I am sure I get a ton of flames on this one:

Please make gap jump 3 from top on Cougar save. This thing is dangerous in two ways:

1) :madman: It is deceptive. The danger of hitting it at the wrong speed is not easily recognizable for an intermediate rider. The booter looks tiny and the bowl is very shallow. Intermediate riders assume this is an easy stunt and hit it without realizing that landing on the exit of the bowl - front side of the landing - will very likely result in a serious crash.

(In contrast - jump one and two look scary with their big booters and deep ditches.:thumbsup: )

2) :madman: The bowl shaped gap leads riders coming in at medium speed into desaster. This weekend I saw several riders hitting the wrong side of the landing and go down. One is a broken clavicula.

I would like to see the bowl filled in.

(In contrast - the gap jump halfway down run 2 does not have a bowl. It can be landed anywhere. I saw several riders coming short and no damage done. :thumbsup: )

Please consider to increase the room for rider error on the trails.

Besides that: My wife, daughter and I had a blast. You guys did a fantastic job grooming the trails/stunts (besides the one) and the new trail with all the berms will be top notch.

Thank you!!!
 
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#4 ·
Why would an intermediate rider be riding the Cougar trail, which is (pretty clearly if I am not mistaken) marked as expert? Shouldn't ALL riders be checking ALL stunts, jumps, drops, and gaps before hitting them and assessing for themselves if they possess the necessary skill to clear them safely? Since when is it a trail crew's responsibility to save us all from our own lack of common sense?

I'm just asking, that's all...
 
#6 ·
Full Trucker said:
Why would an intermediate rider be riding the Cougar trail, which is (pretty clearly if I am not mistaken) marked as expert? Shouldn't ALL riders be checking ALL stunts, jumps, drops, and gaps before hitting them and assessing for themselves if they possess the necessary skill to clear them safely? Since when is it a trail crew's responsibility to save us all from our own lack of common sense?

I'm just asking, that's all...
That is a great point about checking jumps first before you hit them.
I know others have mentioned it but I will say also that it would be cool if the trails offered multiple hit options.
I can still haul ass and tear sh*t up on black diamond trails but I usually keep my jumps under 15'.
 
#7 ·
I like the two options on Cougar. The existing jump and the new "Edgar" gap.
On a perfect mountain that would be the case on every trail at every jump.;)
 
#8 · (Edited)
Klaus - I think maybe you've spent too much time here - you're starting to sound dangerously American.

No offense intended, but if a person makes the mistake of underestimating the third gap on Cougar - the one clearly visible from the lift up, they need a few sharp blows to the melon.
 
#9 ·
Full Trucker said:
Why would an intermediate rider be riding the Cougar trail, which is (pretty clearly if I am not mistaken) marked as expert? Shouldn't ALL riders be checking ALL stunts, jumps, drops, and gaps before hitting them and assessing for themselves if they possess the necessary skill to clear them safely? Since when is it a trail crew's responsibility to save us all from our own lack of common sense?

I'm just asking, that's all...
Intermediate and Expert are all relative terms. Based on the couple times I've ridden with him I'd rank Shawn's jumping ability above a good percentage of the riders on Drifter and Cougar. This particular jump is just a little wonky, especially compared to the beautifully designed jumps on the rest of the run.
 
#13 ·
my .02

I believe this is the gap KK is speaking of.

Nature Vegetation Grass Natural landscape Street light
photo credit Nickle

Darwin at work I guess. I had hit everything else on the mountain clean, sooo I decided at the last minute to charge this one. Definitely needed more speed! The picture was taken just before I splatted.
 
#16 ·
nomad rdr said:
I believe this is the gap KK is speaking of.

View attachment 371338 photo credit Nickle

Darwin at work I guess. I had hit everything else on the mountain clean, sooo I decided at the last minute to charge this one. Definitely needed more speed! The picture was taken just before I splatted.
Maybe I'm mistaken, I thought he was talking about the big double beneath the lift. The one that took you out (above) put the hurt on DWF last season - he shorted it on his hardtail.
 
#17 ·
For that jump pictured I have to agree with Klaus, why can't it just be like 2 with a huge landing option, I did buck myself on it once last year, and it looks bigger this year.
 
#18 ·
Ithnu said:
For that jump pictured I have to agree with Klaus, why can't it just be like 2 with a huge landing option, I did buck myself on it once last year, and it looks bigger this year.
I hit that jump every time last year and it was a pretty flat landing... nothing that would really buck you off or mess you up, you could ride it out... this year the take off is smaller and the landing is longer with a hump for a tranny at the end... not the best jump they have for sure... needs some sculpting...
 
#19 ·
Godzilla said:
Maybe I'm mistaken, I thought he was talking about the big double beneath the lift. The one that took you out (above) put the hurt on DWF last season - he shorted it on his hardtail.
... and thanks for thinking of me as an American. All my friends in Europe say the same. So maybe I am on a good trajectory ... :p
 
#20 ·
Godzilla said:
Maybe I'm mistaken, I thought he was talking about the big double beneath the lift. The one that took you out (above) put the hurt on DWF last season - he shorted it on his hardtail.
Yeah, that's the one. Looks totally doable from the trail, even for me on the HT, it's doesn't show its true colors until you short it that you notice how bad the consequences are. Or it could be that I just suck at jumping which is also true.
 
#21 ·
I gotta agree, could be the angle but it sure looks bigger. Anyone know for sure? I paced it off last year at 28 feet.

I cased it several times last year when riding my Brooklyn (DWF's bike now), which would just suck up that tiny lip. My son could clear it at 27 mph on his DHR and I hit it at 35mph and still cased slightly. Switched to a DHR and cleared it easy. Guys with plow bikes gotta hit it with extraordinary speed or great technique.

I'm kinda torn. Technically filling it in a little wouldn't harm the guys who go big. But at the same time, I would have never attempted what it takes to actually clear it without that gap. I would have always hit it much slower. It FORCED me to step out of my comfort zone and make me a better rider.

On a side note, I cased it at least 3 times before I mastered it and never crashed. However, I did slightly injure both ankles on one case, but that was due to poor foot placement on my flats.

As others have said, I can assure you that you cannot hit it with to much speed. Come out of the trees with everything you got, then peddle like hell through the big left hand sweeper and keep pedaling until your at the actual upsweep of the jump and prepare for launch:thumbsup: Be prepared to case, but don't assume you will, because if you assume you'll case, you almost certainly will.

If I had my druthers, I think I would leave it as is. Maybe taper off the front part of the tranny a little to soften the blow if you do case. But personally, I would rather see them add about 2 feet to the tranny of the first jump and about 5' to the big one under the lift. Still leave the gaps, but shorten up just enough for people sizing them up the first time or two. Both those jumps are much better design then the one in question and probably TECHNICALLY easier to clear, especially #1, but they have a BIG psychological barrier to overcome that tends to cause you to want to scrub speed when you need it most. ,
 
#22 ·
dhpimp said:
... needs some sculpting...
That is probably the best way to put it. All I am asking is to shape that landing hill a little less steep on the front. Intermediate riders would be safe, pros still would fly like eagles. And it would not even change the optics or the thrill of the jump.
 
#23 ·
DWF said:
Yeah, that's the one. Looks totally doable from the trail, even for me on the HT, it's doesn't show its true colors until you short it that you notice how bad the consequences are. Or it could be that I just suck at jumping which is also true.
Hey old man, what happened at Crested Butte? I didn't see you in the results, but saw you were registered.

Hope your ok. There's to few of our kind out there already.:D

I myself got stuck working all weekend:madmax:
 
#24 ·
Kaba Klaus said:
That is probably the best way to put it. All I am asking is to shape that landing hill a little less steep on the front. Intermediate riders would be safe, pros still would fly like eagles. And it would not even change the optics or the thrill of the jump.
It all makes sense now - I was trying to figure out who in their right mind would hit the double beneath the lift with too little speed, when it's clear that the right speed is "as fast as you can possibly go" :)
 
#25 ·
thump said:
Intermediate and Expert are all relative terms. Based on the couple times I've ridden with him I'd rank Shawn's jumping ability above a good percentage of the riders on Drifter and Cougar. This particular jump is just a little wonky, especially compared to the beautifully designed jumps on the rest of the run.
Please understand that my mention of "intermediate riders" was not directed at anyone specifically, but was rather a rebuttal to the original posters first point. Shawn's jumping ability is not in question as far as I am concerned, I simply feel that ALL riders should scope the features they are going to ride, and not just from the lift. Some features will have consequence, case points, etc. If you misjudge the speed and skill necessary to jump a 40' gap is it the jump's fault you get broken off, or yours?

Again, not singling anyone out, just throwing it out there for everyone to ponder.

Here's something else to ponder: there are plenty of jumps on plenty of other downhill trails that are NOT maintained by a dedicated trail crew, and the price of admission is a little knowledge and a tank of gas. As such there are plenty of people that have straight WRECKED themselves on said trails, yet I never hear about how a particular feature was unsafe or deceptive or whatever. It just seems the minute a lift ticket is paid for the common sense, as well as the perception of who or what is at fault, gets tossed aside. Also understand that I don't disclude myself from this attitude, probably on more occasions than I would like to admit - to myself or anyone else for that matter! But I can tell anyone willing to listen from a LOAD of experience that if you are laying on a couch somewhere with a fistful of Vicodin in one hand and the remote in the other with some sort of plaster molding holding you together that it's a 97% probability it's your own damn fault.
 
#26 ·
Full Trucker said:
But I can tell anyone willing to listen from a LOAD of experience that if you are laying on a couch somewhere with a fistful of Vicodin in one hand and the remote in the other with some sort of plaster molding holding you together that it's a 97% probability it's your own damn fault.
Actually it's percocet;) and yes, like I stated earlier, Darwin at work.

When I was at the small ER at the mountain they asked "What could you have done to have prevented this?"

My answer, "Went faster!"

I'm definitely to blame for my predicament. I had cleaned everything else and was a bit too cocky heading into this one. Now back to the couch and percocets.......
 
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