BETTER than WHISTLER?! (Why Cumberland has World Class Mountain Biking Trails)

[@danielmarcoux8036]

Loved it there. While visiiting from Winnipeg at the end of Sept, I twice had the pleasure of hitting the hills with one of friends who lives in Courtenay with his wife. They've lived there for 12 years. My friend and I rode the trails before and after rain. Wow, what a difference.

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Ya it’s great!

[@jsgiroux]

Cumberland and Forbidden plateau are 2 awesome places. I lived in Comox 6 years and never felt the need to go to Whistler once. If I wanted to do lift rides there was always Mt Washington

[@hazza788]

rip forbidden plateau

[@outlandishmtb]

@@hazza788 There's plenty of great riding up there still!

[@dirtchurchmtb]

They are rebuilding some - but it’s definitely not what it was. It’d be nice to see more trails like Punisher and Red Rotors. Jake the Snake is still rideable from what I’ve heard, but pretty beat up.

[@augmented2nd666]

I rode cumberland my first time a few days ago, got up to Old Vanilla on my hardtail and had lots of fun getting muddy. I'm from Nanaimo and found Cumberland trail network to be enormous and somewhat overwhelming size wise and how many options of trails to choose from. I'm doing alright on the blue and the odd black considering my hometown trail in Qualicum Beach was a connector to cross a trestle bridge to get to the skatepark easier without climbing as my only bike was my BMX, so I havent even ridden Qualicum's few actual MTB trails, only recently rode some of Hammerfest. As for people leaving Whistler, I could see that, cost of living and rent and whatnot would be a factor, also you have a lift accessible bike park at Mt. Washington that I want to ride at some point not sure if its comparable to Whistler either but you combine that with the amount of trails in and around Cumberland, Vortex, Forbidden Plateau, and you've got pretty stiff competition. Only thing this island needs to stomp the mainland entirely would be a solid indoor bikepark that caters to both MTB and BMX similar to the North Shore bike park in North Van. However, we do have a special place in Nanoose called Send Air, in a very large building are some big wooden kickers with airbag landings to practice dirt jumping and or Big Air stuff in general, they are open to BMX riding there too. Great video, thanks for the Island coverage.

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Valid points! I would love an indoor park - but I also don’t mind riding in a little light rain.

[@Braydonborquez]

This is amazing work. You deserve way more. LETS GET HIS NAME OUT GUYS!!

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Thank you!

[@JamesRobertMTB]

Those huge rock rolls look so gnarly

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Gnarly = fun!

[@DeeOxsmall]

@@dirtchurchmtbI’ve ridden it and I’m 12 it’s so fun the trail is called bonestorm

[@DirtBagBikeclub]

The flip flops was crazy 😂

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Oh man… made me squirm just watching him.

[@TobiTactical]

High Quality MTB Videos and good riding! U deserve more subs man, keep goings! Cheers from Germany :)

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Thanks!

[@JGD444]

That island is magical

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Yes it is!

[@TMaddison]

I don't recognize that wood drop onto the rocks at 2:40, is that on Blockhead still?

[@david_onthetrail]

That's Rough Neck

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Exactly - the drop is on Roughneck.

[@SureshLock]

😮😮😮

[@KtunaxaMTB]

What kind of action cam you using?

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Osmo Action 4

[@Picklemedia]

I got in three fights in one day in Cumberland in the 90s, now they sell $8 ice cream cones. Times have changed

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Well said… ha ha

[@ZackaryTwiddles1]

Most Canadian MTB trails try and kill the rider, they pull lines as close to trees as possible, run over root sections at angles, have slabs that have sheer drops with little to no markings, build elevated platforms everywhere usually with skinnies at the midpoint. Any trail rating is likely at least a full level below its actual rating. Many trails have spectrum of trail ratings on a single run with no way to bypass stuff above your level without serious hike a bike. Seems like the goal is always to make the nastiest trail possible with mistakes easily driving broken bones etc. For a lot of riders MTB is about exploring trails. In Canada that can get you seriously fd up.

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Everything you say is exactly why I love mountain biking! 😂 Seriously though - to each their own. I think the key is “know before you go” and ask the locals about the trails and systems you’re thinking about exploring. Vancouver Island has plenty of trails more geared toward exploring nature.

[@budycelyn]

hit the like button if you like riding bikes??? shouldn't it be hit the like button if you enjoyed the video? "hits the like button because i like riding bikes anyway 🤣🤣 "

[@dirtchurchmtb]

Haha - you fell for my trap! Thanks for coming out. 😂

[@XyukonR]

The biking in Cumberland is pretty good, but lets not get confused about what we're comparing here. Cumberland doesn't even compare to what Whistler has to offer, inside and outside of the bike park. Everyone who comes here thinks Whistler IS the bike park, and miss some of the best trails in the world that aren't in the park.

[@dirtchurchmtb]

True, true, true… maybe that’s why I posed the idea as a “question”…? But also maybe the people who would prefer a place like Cumby are looking to get away from the busyness and traffic of Whistler. But I think mostly I’d have to 100% agree with what you say about what Whistler has to offer outside the park - there’s a lot more going on than the lift served trails.

[@gweflj]

They’re killer intermediate trails but let’s be honest, they’re nothing on the blacks in the Whistler valley.