Top of the World is the first lift-accessed high alpine trail in North America. It truly is a must-do ride for anyone who is comfortable riding black diamond downhill trails. You can expect to see stunning views on a clear day! This trail is a staggering 5km long and takes around 30 minutes to ride!

The views from Top of the World are to die for. Throughout the entire ride, you're surrounded by the jagged glacier-covered peaks of the Coast Range. On a clear day, you can see for miles in all directions, picking out famous landmarks like the Black Tusk.

While most riders talk about the views off the trail, this isn't a meager tourist ride designed for any intermediate mountain biker that wants to pay the extra $$ for a lift ticket to the top of the alpine zone. No—this is a technical black-diamond trail that requires competent bike handling.

The upper alpine section of trail rips through all manner of rock gardens, with bouldery, chundery sections; steep rocky chutes; exposed rock rolls; ledge drops; and even some optional double black diamond lines. As you work your way around the side of the mountain and approach treeline, the grade and technicality mellow out a little bit, but this just means that the trail speed picks up!

Keep your eyes peeled for the left turn onto Khyber Pass.

Since you're leaving the bike park to ride Khyber Pass, Middle of Nowhere, Kashmir, and Kush, expect that the trails are going to get narrower, gnarlier, and less forgiving. While it's mostly a descent, there are also a few up-and-down sections that make it better to tackle this epic ride combination on an enduro bike instead of a downhill bike.

This epic ride is even gnarlier than the classic Top of the World and has gained renown as one of the most demanding double black diamond trails outside of the Whistler Bike Park. You'll be punished on big rock gardens, loose chutes, root webs, ledge drops, and generally all manner of Whistler gnar. Bring your bike handling skills—you're gonna need them!

Note 1: To access Top of the World, you'll have to purchase an additional lift ticket on top of the standard bike park ticket. This Top of the World ticket only gets you one ride up the chair to the top and one ride down Top of the World, so make it count! At the time of this writing, the additional ticket costs $23, but prices may go up over time.

Note 2: The bike park only sells a certain number of Top of the World tickets per day, so be sure to snag yours early if you want to go!

Note 3: Top of the World may not open on a given day due to inclement weather, trail maintenance, or any number of reasons. You need to be flexible with your schedule if you want to try to bag this trail. If you have more than one day to ride the bike park, it's a good idea to try to get to Top of the World early on in your trip, in case it's closed. That way, you'll have multiple opportunities to attempt to get a ticket.

Sources: Sean Haran MTB WhistlerBlackcomb.com