The crew was back from a ripping weekend at Snowshoe and after a bit of rest they were ready to get back into some downhill action. I had to take a pass on the Snowshoe trip this time around so you know I was going through some serious bike park withdrawals. To ease my pain OG worked out a weekend for us to raid his cabin and session some new trails along with some old favorites.
OG, Steve-O and me broke out of work early on Friday to get in a few evening runs around the Wilson’s area. After unloading gear at the cabin we set up the shuttle to ride a new downhill rip that had been stumbled upon while checking out a map of the area. It’s a north facing slope with plenty of dark and damp coves full of ferns and mossy rocks. It has a great loamy west coast feel to it and a flow that works well for long travel bikes. After a couple of quick runs it was back to the cabin for post ride brews and grilling out.
What were once bright and sunny skies the day before had turned into dark, overcast and grey skies by the next morning. As we loaded bikes and headed toward Banner Elk for breakfast we all had the sinking feeling that we were in for a dose of classic east coast slop. We arrived at Sugar Mountain around 10.30am and were greeted with temperatures in the low 60’s coupled with mist and fog. As we rode the lift up the fog got thicker and the skies got darker. About halfway down the first run some light rain began to fall and by the time we made it back up for our second run the bottom fell out. Lucky for us there was no thunder or lightning, just solid rain and fog, so the lift kept running all day. As temperatures fell into the upper 50’s the mountain turned into a ghost town. For better or for worse it looked like we were going to have our own private downhill park for the afternoon.
Some folks think of Sugar as a “light downhill” run because of the lack of trail options and the relatively short trail lengths. What most folks don’t realize is that things get super technical super fast in the pouring rain and fog. Some of the steeper lines can get downright dangerous in spots when traction becomes optional. At times things got so slick and sloppy I felt like I was all over the place just trying to control the bike in mellow sections of trail. Slow and tech was the way things went down and by 4:00pm I had enough rain, wash-outs and slams to last me the rest of the summer.
OG forgot his rain gear again so he gets the true survivor award for riding the whole day in a t-shirt while rocking a borrowed umbrella on the lift. Steve-O gets the most dedicated award for inspiring us to buy a full day lift ticket and holding out until the last run of the day. Just a couple of shots from this trip…the camera gear had to stay in the pack most of the day due to the rain and slop.