Shred the Best Lines in Whistler's Westside Zone

Explore some of Whistler's most famous trail rides in the Westside Zone.

Mountain Biking Moderate, Difficult, Severe, Extreme

Description

The Whistler Valley is riddled with hundreds of kilometers of singletrack mountain bike trails. This complex and expansive trail system contains some of the best—and most challenging—pedal-accessed mountain bike trails in the world. With such an extensive system, the trails naturally sift themselves out into several sub-networks that each offer a distinct ride quality and geographic location. But out of all of these sub-networks, if one can claim to be the core of Whistler trail riding, it's the Westside Trail System.

The Whistler Westside is home to some of the oldest mountain bike trails in the Whistler Valley, many of which are individually famous and iconic mountain bike rides known worldwide. This complex and intricate network boasts seemingly endless singletrack running along the flanks of the mountainside, snaking between the towering trees, rolling down near-veritcal rock slabs, blasting through chundery root webs and gnarly rock gardens, and skidding over manmade wooden features. In short, you'll find all manner of gnar and challenge on the Westside!

This IS Whistler, after all, so yes, you should definitely expect your ride on the Westside to be brutal, challenging, and potentially inducing a trip to the local emergency room. These gnarly trails pull no punches and take no prisoners. Iconic double black diamond test pieces include Wizard Burial Ground, Cheap Thrills, High Society, and more.

However, in recent years, a few flowier trails have been added to the Westside, and as you can imagine, they're now some of the most popular trails in the network. Chipmunk Rebellion,m in particular, is now a fan-favorite, either as a stand-alone ride or as a flowy finish to an Into the Mystic -> Lord of the Squirrels lap.

While all of the OG trails on the Westside were built on the lower flanks of the mountain and easily accessible from town, an ambitious trail building project has extended the trail network here to the very top of the mountain and into true alpine terrain. Into the Mystic is the climbing trail used to reach the high alpine, and Lord of the Squirrels is the fast, flowy romp back down. Once in the alpine, there's a whole cornucopia of incredibly-scenic trails, including On the Rocks, Happy Hour, Pot of Gold, and more.

This guidebook rounds up a whole slew of the very best rides on the Westside, yet it's hardly comprehensive. There are some lesser-ridden trails that aren't included here, and there's no end to the ways that you can combine the many, many trail segments on the Westside. Use these routes to get started, but when you get more familiar with the zone, then it's time to start hand-crafting your own custom routes. That's where true creativity comes in!