One of the most technical and high-commitment lines on Montana Mountain.

Statistics

0 - 1

hrs

341

m

341

m

13

max°

Difficulty

FATMAP difficulty grade

Extreme

Description

The Goats Trail is another classic technical downhill trail in the Montana Mountain Trail System.

It's one of the higher trails on the mountain, and you can connect from Goats into several different trail options via the connecting trails at mid-mountain. In comparison to Wolverine, the riding on Goats is a bit more committing.

A lot of the technical features on the trail will funnel into just one line option, which may or may not have a ride around.

There are some fairly big slabs, rock rolls, and rock gardens, and some fantastic steep shots.

One of the final rock slabs is a massive feature that rolls through a downhill righthander, dropping through a channel in the rock. Also, you'll encounter some very narrow mandatory skinnies on this trail, a few of which get a bit far off the ground—you don't want to mess these up! There aren't really any ride-around options for these skinnies.

You could potentially walk around them if you want to, but these features function as "squirrel catchers" (as the Canucks like to say), meaning that if you can't ride these skinnies, then maybe you shouldn't be on this trail in the first place. In classic Montana Mountain style, you'll soon find plenty of places where the skinnies and rocks combine.

There are skinnies spanning gaps ending in rock rolls, rock rolls that run out on skinnies...

the trail building here is simply superb! It's no wonder Carcross has become such a famous mountain bike destination! The Grizzly Bear trail is one of the furthest trails to descender's right on the mountain.

Because you'll have to take a right and climb after popping out of Goats to reach Grizzly Bear (instead of just dropping straight into Wolf), few people will head to this trail.

However, Grizzly Bear is potentially the hardest trail on the mountain, and it's definitely the *steepest* trail on the mountain.

Advanced mountain bikers consider this line to be a true gem! Grizzly Bear starts off steep, loamy, and rooty, and soon reaches some steep slab rides funneling into a cascading drop series.

Expect all manner of gnar on Grizzly Bear, including steep chundery rock gardens into small catch berms at the bottom.

It's very committing, and you might be very gripped...

and it's damn good! The crux feature on the trail does have a ride around, but if you have the gumption for it, it's an absolutely fantastic and highly aesthetic line! As you turn a corner, you'll be confronted by a series of steep connected rock slabs that jut out from the mountainside, creating some serious exposure to the lefthand side.

The slabs can be slippery, wet, and a bit dirty, but if you take the proper line, you can definitely roll them clean.

There's a catch berm at the bottom to slow you down, but you still want to go in very slow at the top, as the bottom is a long way away! Also, bear in mind that you'll need to link the slabs together, and you don't want to hit those transitions at speed. Grizzly Bear might only get a single black diamond on the map, but it definitely toes the line for a double black diamond rating.

I've given it an "Extreme" FATMAP rating here to help differentiate the difficulty between the other trails on Montana Mountain. Finally, this ride wraps up on AK DNR, which is simply a mellow flow trail finish that rolls down to the trailhead.

Be careful not to overcook these features, as they're pretty small, and the berms aren't very big!