In August two friends from Germany, Christoph and Markus, came to visit in BC. There is nothing like having friends from foriegn countries to get you off your arse to go do all things you have wanted to do. In this instance it is the Seven Summits mountain bike trail in Rossland.
A few years old now, the trail links 30kms of epic single trail starting at Nancy Green Pass and coming out at the bottom of the Dewdney Trail. The trail gains 1000m of elevation throughout the day and has 2000m of descent. The remarkable thing about this trail is that it isn't just a buff hiking trail, it is a bonifided bike trail, made by bikers for bikers.
After an initial 600m climb winding up out of the forest and into the alpine, the trail follows ridge top after ridge top on flowing trail with barely a pedal stroke. Short climbs before more rolling downhills finally spew you out at a quite literally endless downhill into the Dewdney trail.
We brought big bikes, a Giant Reign X1, Kona Stinky Deluxe and some old double crown Giant and while the latter were a little heavy on the uphill, the extra bike made the descents so much more fun. The trail is quite rocky in sections and pinch flats on cross country bikes could get annoying. We seemed to catch up to all the cross country riders in front of us on the downhills.
The day we rode the trail started out fine and sunny, but by the end we had been through a hail storm, intermittent rain, and wind. People starting before and after us remained dry. Think unpredictable mountain weather.
An incredible trail through some gorgeous mountains.
For information on the trail check out RosslandTrails.ca.