God-Thrilla

Ollie Jones' Trail

Date: 2011-10-27

Well, its fall, the park is closed and the gondola is shut.  The autumn leaves have slowing been changing into their fall reds and oranges and it is pretty picturesque  in town at the moment.  It is officially Whistlers dead season. With the park shut most people have already cleaned and packed the bike away until next season, but while all those nuts and bolts have been taken out, I have been pounding them in, harder than ever.


I woke up this morning with a amazing view of massive snow flurries falling in the valley, but I am still keen to get out with bikes on my mind. I have been so  stoked and full of energy since those first leaves started falling, and all this excitement has led me to be super creative and build something new and funky. This would be my new trail “God-Thrilla.” My buddy Denis Courchesne and I have been putting a mass amount of time and effort into to making this trail work, and what a treat!

A few months ago I was doing a lot of hiking with the bike and came across this rad mossy area and went to scope it out. Instantly I new I found something good and had to start building at once.

Here are a few snaps from the trail.


Putting the last rung on the ladder bridge, and soon to put some grip tape on there too. you would'nt want to fall of these rocks.

The trail starts on a mound of loam taking you down to the only catcher berm on the trail which is a bit of a treat to slam into. The whole area is littered with moss, and the line that goes through it is like riding a giant loam pit.

The original plan was to build a cool trail that was easy to get to and catered to all riders. Well that soon changed when we found two giant gnarly rocks that seemed like they had dropped from space. They were too good not to use and the trail soon changed direction. We spent days trying to figure out what to do with them, and the only option was to get gnarly. This was the outcome. The whole line is damn steep and the rock feature seems the be the only place you can let off your brakes, but there's a reason...



The off camber loam line with the vibrant green. This part of the trail is like a DH pump track, and with all the loam it makes it the best times.

The trail it links up with is exactly the same and feels like the perfect ender to a awesome time. I have always been super stoked to build lines and features, but never ended up building a whole trail, this is my first. I still think there is a lot to learn, but the way things have been going I feel I am on the right path. I have lots  of plans for the future and trail building is a top priority.


The best corner on the whole trail and things get crazy. The line into it is perfect and it seems like you have rails locking you in.

So after a lot of building, the trail is almost ready, if you know where in Whistler I live then it wouldn't take a genius to work out where the trail is. Anyone is welcome to ride it just send me a message so I can replace the moss for the edit. I would love some feedback and to hear what people think of it too.

Episode 3 of SheGNARNigans will be coming and there will be a sweet edit heading your way so stay tuned.

Comments

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Posted by ricci at 01:29 PM on 10-28-2011
Ollie is killing it with these blogs. Also really cool to see that he is giving back by building trails for everyone to ride!
Posted by pines at 01:48 PM on 10-28-2011
We been watching u building trails since u first went to pines so we know this is gonna be special. Just wish we could hop over there and test it out for you mate. Hope u will build us something special if u ever come back. Pines user
Posted by Whistler Boy at 02:21 PM on 10-28-2011
Trail looks epic in the pics Ollie, I'll message ya for a guided shred.
Posted by cam@nsmb.com at 04:52 PM on 10-28-2011
Looking forward to the spring so I can have a look for myself Ollie.
Posted by heckler at 08:08 PM on 10-28-2011
awesome to see the team building, but Jerry needs to teach that boy about cedar. :)
Posted by nortonwhis at 08:26 PM on 10-28-2011
is it the same spot as peas in a pod? thats a fun little trail. has one seriously gnar corner in it though
Posted by Guest at 01:44 AM on 10-29-2011
where is this beauty?
Posted by Ollie jones at 03:02 PM on 10-29-2011
Yeah Cam that would be sweet. I defiantly should of used cedar for the wood work :-) I just hope shes good to go next season.
Posted by kinky88 at 07:26 PM on 10-29-2011
lets wait for summer again
Posted by kinky88 at 07:27 PM on 10-29-2011
lets wait again for summer...
Posted by puntorpass at 09:27 PM on 10-29-2011
Your trail sounds so rad,it's the kind of trail i ride in my dreams,whats your Handle would love to ride this masterpiece! PIcs look good,the green moss,SHWING! Must ride,new prime directive!Must ride! must ride! must ride! must ride !must ride! must ride!must riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide! I think my brain broke! Love the valley trails,worth all the effort fo shizzle!
Posted by Barbie Ken at 10:47 AM on 10-30-2011
Gawd, I'm going to have to unpack the bike again! Well done mate you never seem to stop building, riding, filming, blogging and smiling.Love puntorpass edit and take on the new trial, ride on!!
Posted by wheeldrop at 11:57 AM on 10-30-2011
Brave of you to advertise about a new trail ,im sure there will be people looking for it .But you and everyone knows the rules , you have to help trail build or know the builder personaly to get privilaged info. Thank you for your hard efforts looks steep and deep.
Posted by Guest at 01:16 PM on 10-30-2011
Using milled wood on "secret trails" sucks a deeeeeeeee. It makes me think bad things about peoples work ethic and overall trailbuilding skills. Make the effort to do it right the first time.
Posted by notPuttingBikeAway at 07:25 PM on 10-30-2011
lol @ people putting their bikes away for the winter. How sad. Think I'll go ride some West Coast goodness again tomorrow...
Posted by cam@nsmb.com at 09:33 PM on 10-30-2011
Quote:
Originally Posted by notPuttingBikeAway (Post 2583348)
lol @ people putting their bikes away for the winter. How sad. Think I'll go ride some West Coast goodness again tomorrow...
Ollie lives in Whistler. In Whistler it snows and virtually all the trails are closed until late spring most winters.
Posted by builder at 10:02 PM on 10-30-2011
Gotta say with such an abundance of cedar in our forests, using milled wood (looks like fir) is pretty lame. I'll give that bridge 2 seasons before it rots and breaks.
Posted by FlipFantasia at 06:45 AM on 10-31-2011
Quote:
Originally Posted by cam@nsmb.com (Post 2583391)
Ollie lives in Whistler. In Whistler it snows and virtually all the trails are closed until late spring most winters.
yup, and people have already been skinning up from kadenwood to go skiing.....I love putting my bike away once it's ski season and not thinking about it till spring.
Posted by Guest at 10:04 AM on 10-31-2011
hope no one poaches its and spreads all the pics around the internet before you do. cause it would be terrible to see all that hard worked get poached submitted before you do!..... but you already know that?
Posted by Barbie Ken at 02:15 PM on 10-31-2011
Hey, please rememeber that this guy builds completley in his own time after working full time making ends meet. He lives to ride and has has everyone's best intentions close to his heart. He never stops riding, smilin' and making the best out of every trail he rides.... if I know Ollie, he 'll be back up there knockin' the cedar back in....
Posted by heckler at 02:24 PM on 10-31-2011
ollie, take a read through this thread.

http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=73697
Posted by puntorpass at 06:27 PM on 11-01-2011
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guest (Post 2583247)
Using milled wood on "secret trails" sucks a deeeeeeeee. It makes me think bad things about peoples work ethic and overall trailbuilding skills. Make the effort to do it right the first time.

This post was deleted by a mod (my name is Cam) because it crossed the line. And because it wasn't nice.

punto - clean it up please. If you disagree with someone maybe you can articulate that in a more pleasant and cheerful way. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top even.

Thanks for your support.
Posted by Guest at 02:58 AM on 11-02-2011
What this kid takes in one hand, he gives back with the other with a smile on his face,,,,reckon this kids a star in the making.......sweet work Ollie
Take it easy
Blind Melon
Posted by puntorpass at 04:23 PM on 11-02-2011
Quote:
Originally Posted by puntorpass (Post 2584072)

This post was deleted by a mod (my name is Cam) because it crossed the line. And because it wasn't nice.

punto - clean it up please. If you disagree with someone maybe you can articulate that in a more pleasant and cheerful way. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top even.

Thanks for your support.
Opps my bad,just pissed that some clown could talk smack on such a wicked looking trail,milled wood or not,i guess perhaps i was a wee bit harsh,but obviously "THE GUEST" was looking for that kind of reaction,or he would not have said something so disrespectful. Maybe next time i will sugar coat it for you Cam.