SUMMER OF SCOUTING PART 1 - CROWSNEST PASS, ALBERTA
Summer of Scouting Episode 1 - View and Subscribe on YouTube!
For the McConnell family, our summers have followed a familiar pattern for many years now - with most of our time spent travelling to and supporting races across Western Canada and the US. Since TransRockies is, to some extent, a family business, it allows us to be together as a family and also have some adventures along the way. More than that, bike races and running races are a big part of our family identity. Our girls, now in their teens, have been working aid stations since a young age and have participated in several of the events as well. The endurance sports culture is already well ingrained in their psyches.
As the covid-19 lockdown took hold on the world, and events began to be cancelled and postponed one by one, we felt (like just about everyone) a bit lost and unsure about what the coming summer would look like. No bike club, no events to travel to, questions about where we could go and what would be safe. One thing was certain, we’d be doing lots of cycling this summer. At the same time, we wanted to make sure to make use of the summer to ride more of the routes for upcoming events and design routes for future events. With the girls now strong enough riders to tackle many of the scouting rides I had in mind, the “Family Scouting Season” concept was taking shape.
With uncertainty about the feasibility of extra-provincial travel still looming, we picked Crowsnest Pass as our first weekend destination. Just a few hours from our home in Calgary, Crowsnest Pass was part of the original TransRockies Challenge route starting in 2002. We have returned several times with the TransRockies Challenge and again with the TransRockies Classic last year. It has not yet been a part of the Singletrack 6. Given the expansion of singletrack trail networks in recent years in the community, we’re looking to change that.
For Day 1 of scouting the girls and I were joined by Dylan Bailey from Fernie and Keith Brodsky from Banff. The ride started with a lap of Pass Powderkeg ski area, climbing the Double Dirt-Spresso and Chainsaw Massacre trails to the summit of the ski area and descending on Buck 50. These trails are expert-built new school singletrack mountain bike trails with a perfectly graded climb that allows for a leg-friendly spin to the top of the mountain. Good views of town from the top of the mountain make way for perhaps one of the funnest intermediate descents in Western Canada - Buck 50. Fast and flowy, this trail has plenty of bermed corners and optional jumps. Warp speed is definitely an option! This ride was a real crowd pleaser. Cici (age 16) and Kyleigh (age 13) found the steady climb well within their comfort zone and they were able to really open the throttle on the descent.
After a break for lunch we set out for the second ride of the day - and it had a distinctly different flavour. Singletrack 6 stages ideally start with a road climb as that is the perfect way to allow the field to spread out and give riders a chance to warm up at their own pace. That’s how we started, heading south from Blairmore up the Sartoris road. After several kilometers my planned route took us onto a steep ATV trail, climbing toward Hastings Ridge. For us non-motorized folk, the grade was mostly too steep for us to ride, except for Dylan with his race-ready fitness. A few kilometers of climbing brought us to an alpine pass offering big views in all directions.
The girls had suffered on the climb but were looking forward to going downhill for a while. We descended on the Drum Creek trail - a rough double track that featured multiple creek crossings. We eventually crossed something like 8 creeks. I was imagining the feedback I would get from riders after sending them through that in a race and made a note to go back in July to see what it’s like when the creek is lower! Fortunately it was a warm day and the cool creeks were a refreshing distraction.
We eventually worked our way out to the town of Hillcrest (one of 5 towns that make up the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass) and started the road spin back to our starting point in Blairmore. As we pedalled through the impressive and solemn Frank Slide rockslide site, Cici started to fade and we realized that she was experiencing a serious bonk. We coaxed her back to the campground with the help of some Honey Stinger chews and the promise of a popsicle. It turned out to be a big day, perfectly divided between new-style flowy singletrack and good old-fashioned adventuring in the mountains. I was proud of the girls for completing their biggest ever day of riding and tackling the challenges with a sense of fun and adventure!
Back at the campsite we visited with Brian Gallant and his wife, Sarah. A resident of the Pass who also happens to own and run one of the biggest ultra running events in Canada (the Sinister 7), Brian has always been helpful and supportive when we have brought our events to the area, and we’ve been in more regular contact this year as event organizers have come together to deal with the impacts of the pandemic on endurance events. We discussed the current challenges of the event business and the fallout of the loss of event revenues. We also reflected on how the economy of Crowsnest Pass, along with many other mountain towns, has gradually shifted from being resource based to being more tourism based, and the impact that events and trails can have on the reputation of a community as a recreation destination.
The growing popularity of mountain biking in Crowsnest Pass was on full display the next morning as we geared up in Coleman to ride the signature trail for the area - Big Bear. Dozens of vehicles lined the residential streets near the trailhead, each one with at least four bikes and riders getting ready to set out on their adventures. Not all were heading for Big Bear - an expert trail both uphill and down.
My wife, Erin, joined us for this ride, along with Jen and Rob King from nearby Sparwood BC. Jen cut her teeth in the early days of the Whistler Mountain Biking scene and, after being away from the sport for a while, has jumped back in with enthusiasm in recent years - competing in the TransRockies Classic last year while Rob joined our crew. The couple recently opened a small bike repair business in Sparwood to support the burgeoning biking scene in that community. Also along for the ride were Mark and his 15 year old twins Aida and Corbett, our neighbors and good friends from Calgary. Keith also came for a second day of fun.
I knew that some of Big Bear was probably a little above the ability level of my family, but I also knew that they could make good choices about what to attempt and what to walk on the way down. The girls were definitely a little tired from the previous day’s efforts but battled their way up the steep switchbacking climb to the top of Big Bear, a peak which is lower than the surrounding mountains, but still quite impressive when viewed from town. The views from the top are really quite remarkable, especially on a perfect spring day like we had.
Jen, Rob, Mark, Aida and Corbett led the charge on the descent, having significant prior experience on the trail, and we followed a little more cautiously behind, getting off to walk and/or downclimb the steeper sections. As a trail being considered for a future stage of Singletrack 6, I like to see how intermediate riders handle advanced terrain. I wouldn’t want to leave out a signature trail and my observation is that most riders are pretty aware of their abilities and will be able to get down safely and in good spirits, as long as the crazy sections don’t go on too long. In the case of Big Bear, the steepness backs off as you descend into faster, flowier sections with optional features, and everyone had a great time as we descended lower Big Bear, Sooper Trouper and Whistling Post.
It was an excellent couple days of riding and generally a great start to the scouting season experiment. I learned that more frequent snack breaks are probably a good idea, but that the girls are able to enjoy big days on the bike. I also verified some of the routes that I have in mind for a future Singletrack 6, although additional trips and lots of work behind the scenes will be required to finalize the stages and permits. Crowsnest Pass is now a verified mountain biking hotspot and a “must-visit” for serious riders.
I’ll be posting more reports as we scout more routes this summer. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for all the reports and updates on future events. Support the trails by joining the United Riders of Crowsnest (UROC) .
Aaron McConnell is the President and Chief Cycling Officer of the TransRockies Race Series. Normally, you will find Aaron, along with his wife Erin and daughters Cici and Kyleigh at TransRockies events. This year they are spending the summer scouting routes for future TransRockies Events.