Snowshoe First-timers

[Dirt Merchant]

I'm going there next weekend with some friends for the first time.
Can anyone give me some pointers? (For starters, I'll be coming down 81:
ffrom Binghamton, what's the best route West to Snowshoe...in the dark?)
Thanks in advance! :help:

[ridetoofast]

I'm going there next weekend with some friends for the first time.
Can anyone give me some pointers? (For starters, I'll be coming down 81:
ffrom Binghamton, what's the best route West to Snowshoe...in the dark?)
Thanks in advance! :help:

i go 250 west, 92/28 south, 66 west

but you'll be coming in from further north than me...

[Jayridesacove]

bring extra parts, tools, first aid kit, food, clothes

make sure to lock your bikes up

[escapeartist]

bring extra parts, tools, first aid kit, food, clothes

make sure to lock your bikes up
Jay is obviously a Snowshoe veteran. The bike shop there is cool and all but when i was there they had no 26in DH tubes, 2 headsets (one of which i bought) and no shimano rear derailers, so bring any parts you have. And definetly lock up cause your stuff will get stolen.

[stubby]

THe bike shop is prolly stocked back up on shimao derailiures, headsets, tubes tires and junk, they get drained during big events like monstor park, and the crime goes up at big events. But everything should be sort of settled now untill the norba.

[spacemanspiff06]

unless you NEED the stunts, stick to the west side, it's so much better. but stay off hair ball unless your a mastacistic freak. lube your chain dayly. ummm.... spare der. hanger is always good. rent chest and elbow/forarm gaurds if you don't own them. i even carry a spare der in my C-pack. on regular weekends the MAC center is always stocked, but like everything else @ SS, it ain't cheep. keep everything in your C-pack, load it down, it's worth the weight when sh*t goes wrong. umm..... live it up!

[Superdeft]

if you don't have 8" brakes, prepare for pain.

[super95awd]

I agree that the Western side is much more fun, no doubt. I really like Quick Draw and Sweet Dreams. Hareball's sketch-tastic rock gardens can be interesting, but just carry as much speed as possible and you should be golden. Have a blast man.

[Dirt Merchant]

unless you NEED the stunts, stick to the west side, it's so much better.

So, like, explain to me the two sides.....

[neanderthal]

Snowshoe is somewhat different from other ski slopes because all of the lodges and restauarant are on the top of the mountain. For biking, the ski slope is divided into 2
sides. One side is serviced by lifts and the other side is serviced by a shuttle. When you get to the top of the mountain, park in the parking lot that says "guest services" Walk up into the village and find the bike shop. I think the bike shop is called Adventure Sports. The bike shop is next to the slopes. You can get you lift tickets at the bikes shop.

The lifts side leads to the bike park where the shuttle side puts you on the side with trails slightly longer. If you time your ride properly on the shuttle side, you can get
dropped off at the top of the mountain, ride the trail, and cruise right onto the shuttle.
Shuttles run about every hour during the week and sometime every 1/2 hour on
weekends. I'm partial to the shuttle side because it gives you an oppurtunity to shoot the sheet with other people.

[Dirt Merchant]

"I'm partial to the shuttle side because it gives you an oppurtunity to shoot the..."

Why, because it's a big flatbed truck?
Or because it has areas where it's possible to hang out on the way down?
Can you switch back and forth during the day?
Is the only difference that the trails are a little longer?
I know, I know....slow down...I can't wait to go,
and I wanna eliminate all the first timer BS!

[manhattanprjkt83]

if you don't have 8" brakes, prepare for pain.

rode it two weeks ago on a DOC hardtail with 6" brakes :dead:

[neanderthal]

Oops, Sorry for the post with broken english, I hit "post" instead of "preview". One thing I wanted to add is that everyone I meet at Snowshoe is really friendly and helpful. The guys at the bike shop are awesome. The first time I was at Snowshoe, one of the guys from the shop was riding that day. He rode with me for about an hour and pointed out many of the trails. Support the bike shop, these guys want to see mountain biking suceed at Snowshoe.
Like someone mentioned previously, bring a chest protector and be prepared to get beat up since there are lots of rocks and roots. You need lots of upper body strength as well as leg strength. Having a bike with lots of travel would be a plus. I rode my Heckler when I was at Snowshoe and regretted for not bring my Bullit. Have fun, I can guarentee that you'll return.

[neanderthal]

"Why, because it's a big flatbed truck?
Or because it has areas where it's possible to hang out on the way down?"
-The shuttle is an old school bus with a trailer.


"Can you switch back and forth during the day?"
-Yes


"Is the only difference that the trails are a little longer?"
-I have not rode all of the trails, but from what I've seen, the bike park
has elevated rides, wall rides and jumps. The shuttle side seem to flow
a little bit better. Both sides are great! Really, neither side is better than
the other. Ride them all. We expect a trip report when you return.

[Dirt Merchant]

We expect a trip report when you return.

I'll SEND it.........!

[Dirt Merchant]

"Can you switch back and forth during the day?"

Is it far from one place to the other?
I'm having a hard time grasping this mountain....

[haromtnbiker]

Its about a 5 minute bike ride from the bike shop to the western side trails.
The shop is at the begining (top) of the eastern side (bike park) trails.

Hope that helped more than it confused. :)

Craig

[Jayridesacove]

"Can you switch back and forth during the day?"

Is it far from one place to the other?
I'm having a hard time grasping this mountain....Yes, you will need to get the all access pass which is $35. That gets you the freeride side w/ lift and the western territory w/ shuttle.

When you drive up there, you will pass the entrance to the western territory(DH side). It will be on your left, about 1/4 mile away is village central. Large parking lot will be on your right and the village will be on the left, Hotel rimfire will be right next to the road.

Park, then head up to village central. Keep going east till you see the MAC, it won't be hard to miss. From the MAC, you can see the Freeride park side lift, aka the Ballhooter lift. The freeride park/basin side also has the mountain x course and the lake. You'll see the lake at the bottom of the lift.

The western side, where the DH trails and courses are will be on the left side, riding there from the MAC. I'm pretty sure the lift won't be running till nationals, but there are 2 shuttles the pickup about every 30minutes. If you don't want to be dropped off at the western lift again, ask the driver to drop u off at village central if you want to ride the freeride side again. Leave them a tip in the jar.

[dru]

watch the f out for birdland, flat spots if you like cc its good. if your on a dh bike avoid it like the plague. Bad signing in that area. :blah:

[Dirt Merchant]

Cool. Thanks for the advice. How cool is the village?
Good places to eat? Good places to drink?

[Jayridesacove]

yes, but be prepared to pay resort prices for food and drink

foxfire has good burgers and burrito's.

decent beer choices, but if you have a cooler, byob or get some from the general store at the bottom of the mountain.

[Dirt Merchant]

Well, we got back last night. Too long of a drive to ever go back. We were thinking like 9 hrs. It took twelve. Those mountains are a bear! Anyway, it was very wet, but
most enjoyable! It was HOG week there, and it was cool to be called "F'in sickos" by Hells Angels all day long: they gathered at those first four drops and watched us go off with glee. The stunts were awesome; I wish ours never got torn down:( and the West side was slicker than greased owl-poop. I had two good crashes. One at high-speed in a rockgarden, (plenty o' bruises to show for it) and one when my drivetrain ghost-shifted off a big rock drop. OTB, and hard! Stayed in a beautiful suite, hope I don't get a big bill for clean-up! Snowshoe is definitely awesome, though twelve hours in the truck is a bit far for me these days to travel!

[denjen]

Glad t here you had a good time. I was up there this weekend also. I was on a blue tomac what where you riding? Sorry I didnt pay more attention to this post on when you where ging to be there I could have shown you around a little

Dennis

[Dirt Merchant]

Thanks Dennis,

We didn't see too many people, there were three of us: Me and my Bullitt,
and my friend with his Trek Session77, and another dude from SUNY Binghamton on his Cannondale Gemini. A bunch of riders did direct us to some XC trail, down "6000 steps" or something like that, during a "red alert";
which means no riding until the threat of lightning is gone. THAT was a wickedly brutal slogfest in the mud. :) Anyway, I skipped out
on the last hour Saturday, and Sunday was a drive day! Six intense hours
was enough for me. Snowshoe has something cool going on up there in the mountains....where were all the riders?