One of the locals' favorite Westside double black diamond tech trails.

Statistics

0 - 1

hrs

289

m

289

m

7

max°

Difficulty

FATMAP difficulty grade

Extreme

Description

Whistler’s Westside Trails are renowned as the roughest, gnarliest trails outside of the bike park.

Some of the Westside Trails are simply awkward and unintuitive to ride, while others provide superb flow despite having massive features.

Cheap Thrills is one of the latter.

Despite sporting some of the largest and most formidable features in Whistler, overall the trail provides an intuitive, engaging flow. This double black diamond descent drops you straight into long, relatively low angle rock rolls.

While the lines may not be immediately evident, the first few rock rolls provide a delightful warm up to your tech skills after the long, arduous climb to reach the top of the trail.

After some root webs and chunder, the trail plunges down a steep north shore bridge that requires absolute commitment.

At the bottom, a short traverse leads to a narrow ladder bridge that spans a roaring mountain stream.

In the middle, the bridge is at least 20 feet above the water below, so you must be fully committed to staying on the bridge, crossing successfully, and nailing the righthand turn in the bridge at the end.

Failure to do so will mean a long fall into a boulder-filled mountain stream, which could mean serious injury (or worse). One of the final features on Cheap Thrills offers two primary line options, with a third bailout chicken line.

Of the two main lines, one drops straight down a dirt-filled chute with rocks in the bottom, with rock walls so close that pegging a handlebar on the wall can send you flying over the bars.

The line to the right looks like higher commitment, with a short bridge leading to a short—but near-vertical—rock roll.

However, the roll down the vertical rock is a bit smoother and more manageable even than the chute. Cheap Thrills dumps straight into 99er for a rooty, chunky, mellower finish to your wild ride down the mountainside. Once at the bottom, pat yourself on the back for successfully navigating one of Whistler’s most renowned tech trails without dying!