Squamish, BC – Recon

Squamish like riding…

My NYE resolution for 2017 was to spend two days riding each of 4 different local BC spots I had not made it to yet. One of those locations was Squamish. Last weekend I got away with some amigos for 3 days of exploring the trails of this well known riding destination. We managed to dodge rain clouds for most of the weekend only really getting wet once at the end of our second day of riding. Thank you Bike Gods for the fine spring weather.

The trails themselves did not disappoint. We tried a few modern flow trails like Half Nelson, but mostly stuck to our preferred rocky, rooty technical style of riding on trails like Rupert and Hoods in the Woods. The quality of the trails was very high and the obvious care that gets put into them given the large amount of traffic they see was impressive.

Weekday during the shoulder season we saw more riders on the trails than we would at the peak of the summer on a sunny weekend on Vancouver Island. I’m not sure I could handle the crowds here in the summer so I think I’ll stick to shoulder season visits when the vibe is more chill.

We stayed at the Squamish Adventure Inn, which is a nice hostel with a variety of private and dorm rooms at various prices. It was a fine place to stay and we’ll go back if the weather calls for significant rain like it did last weekend. Pro tip if you stay there bring your own pillow and towel.

We kept ending up at the Howe Sound Brewery for its excellent beer and tasty food. Mag99 impressed us with its Mexican fare. We tried to check out the Backcountry Brewery post-ride, but it was so popular we couldn’t get a table.

The folks at Corsa Cycles were very helpful taking care of a last minute mechanical and spending lots of time giving us trail recommendations. They definitely went above and beyond the call of duty for us.

In 3 days we only scratched the surface of this amazing riding town, but that was the point of my NYE resolution. I wanted to break out of my rut and get inspired by some other local BC trail networks that I can easily visit with a few days off. In that sense mission accomplished. Squamish thanks for the hospitality! I’ll be back! 🙂

Note: photo at top of post is not from Squamish. My P&S camera sucks and I didn’t get a single shot I would be happy to share on this blog so I grabbed a shot from my DSLR from Van Isle to illustrate this post. Sad I know. I’m going to take the first step in my camera rehabilitation program this week by getting a new smart phone that will take an acceptable P&S level shot.