After a good night sleep we left for the slopes again. The entire group dropped into Crank It Up. Half way through Dave’s previous day crash had not fully healed. Did I mention he crashed on his chest on a rock? Anyway way he did. He chose to sit the rest of the day out and headed up the mountain to try out the Peak 2 Peak (which is a recommended must if your in town).
The rest of us continued on. Today all of the lessons and experience were going to be exercised. Maybe it was just me, but I noticed the pace had picked up. Less breaks and more speed. The combo saw us shredding more runs than usual, but also tackling the big guns early. It was a really good start to the day. The upper mountain was in great shape and for once so were our hands.
Everyone was riding really strong, the progression was obvious but perhaps the fatigue set in. As we all knew it was our last day in Whistler we milked it for what we could. While tailing Shaums, Swiss Luc took one of Shaums’ lines over a small little side hit. Once you land you MUST hit a hard left. Well… how was Lucas supposed to know that?
Lucas missed the corner and went over the side of the trail, which happened to be a 15-foot near vertical bank to a ditch. He tried to ride it out but there was no chance. He was smacked up really good. He finished the run, but went straight for lunch and eventually retired from the Ultimate Road Trip (at least the riding part).
Andy suffered similar fate when on a famous ‘last run’ he went over the bars on an A-Line tabletop. While it wasn’t as bad as Luc’s show, it was bad enough that the party on hill was over. So it was just Nate and I left. We ran into Alex Conlon and did one final lap and called it a day.
The next time I saw the Swiss together I quickly noticed they had matching limps and bruised hips. It was pretty funny. We headed to Sushi Village for the final dinner where we had a few guests tag along. The Anthill crew was on hand as well as Kamloops freerider Matt Hunter. It was a great meal with great company and an even greater bill. Sushi Village never disappoints.
The URT crew limped over to Buffalo Bills night club, where it was time for rounds. You see at the start of the day we all agreed if you crashed you had to buy a round at the bar later. So our Swiss friends pretty much took care of us that evening.
Due to the 3 riders not being primed for a last day in Squamish and those same crashes resulting in too many rounds at Bill’s, our final day was a right-off. We took the morning easy and headed to Vancouver to drop our friends at the airport.
Another year in the books for the Ultimate Road Trip and once again BC's bike parks prove to be the best on earth. You really can’t beat a DH tour in BC. Every resort has its niche and is excelling at it. This year it was obvious that resorts are starting to understand what makes their resort special and are really focusing on keeping their experience a unique one. Try it for yourself, you won't regret it.
Until next year!
Ian
We broke though the clouds to find sunshine up top!
Alex cracks some style off the first set of jumps on Freight Train.
The light and mist was perfect for some photos.
Alex break in a brand new berm on an unnamed trail in Whistler.
Andy cutting through the fog on No Joke.
Shaums does the same but has to cut Andy’s dust too.
The culvert on Whistler makes for some good fun for Luc. It never stops here.
This is what happens when you miss your corner.
The Swiss are good friends, so good that when one gets hurt the other does too. Matching bruised heal limps and all. 
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