Granite Peak
Photo: Pinkbike
Overview:
Granite Peak is the middle summit at Mountain Creek. It is to the right of Vernon Peak which is home to the famous bike park, however this mountain is home to about five descents. These trails are only in use during enduro races. However, you can still access them from the bike park if you pedal straight up the fire road at the start of Lower Dominion and the middle of Ego Trip and Deviant. Each year the name of each trail on Granite Peak changes as they become different numbered stages during the enduro races, so for this review I’ll refer to them by the color shown on the trail map.
Pros:
These trails are challenging. You’ll find everything from classic Mountain Creek gnar which includes tightly packed big boulders. Also, there are a few steep and tight trails that are unique to Granite Peak. As I said earlier, the trail names are a bit confusing and since you won’t find them on trail forks, here is a description for each of the trails I rode:
Dark Blue (black diamond)
This trail offers almost complete lift access, aside from a minor climb to access it, and a short climb back to the lift. For an enduro run, there is little to no pedaling and the trail is pretty fast. It starts out on a cool rock garden before going into some serious jank and after popping out on the ski slope, it becomes fairly fast and smooth. There are also a few side hits so be on the lookout. I would have to call the Dark Blue trail Mountain Creek’s version of Top of the World at Whistler. It’s a nearly lift access descent that I think is longer than anything within the park, making for a cool adventure to add on to you’re day.
Turquoise (black diamond)
The Turquoise trail starts off wide and fast with a few optional rocks to hit. It seems like an easy blue trail at first. However, once you go up a short climb to the left of the fire road, you’ll find a cool rock chute into a catch berm. After that, the trail gets very pedaly and there are two hill sprints that will leave you gasping for air. The trail ends with a rock line into a ravine and an upslope out of it.
Red (double black diamond)
When I heard these trails were used for enduro races, I didn’t think anything would be that gnarly. I kept this mindset as I zoomed down the wide and mellow opening of the Red Trail, but soon the trail got wicked steep and tight with berms that were very hard to ride because of how close together they are. The trail finished off with a rock chute that could’ve gone very badly for me had I not been blessed with good luck. This one is also almost all downhill and one of the hardest trails I’ve ridden. The Red trail is unique in that it’s extremely challenging no matter what bike you’re riding. You can’t just plow down it on a downhill bike with its extremely tight berms. Shorter, higher cross country bikes will get rattled on the rocks and be tough to manage on the steeps. This is what an enduro-style double black looks like.
Green (black diamond)
This is definitely one of my favorites. First of all, it’s one of the longer stages on the mountain, and it’s very well built. You’ll find everything from steep chutes, to rock drops, rock work, and some brutal punchy climbs that you can walk up if you’re not feeling it. While there were some pretty gnarly bits such as the start. Overall, this is one of the easier stages on Granite Peak.
The orange trail is actually called Bluephoria. It’s a trail at the bike park. But as you can see, these trails pack a serious punch and make quite a fun challenge.
Cons:
Remember when I said these trails are only used for enduro races? Well that means they’re only maintained once or twice a year. Another issue is that because they’re on a ski mountain, you can’t ride these trails in the winter. Lastly, there isn’t very much variety here aside from gnarly descents with some pedaling mixed in. If you’re looking for airtime or a safe place to learn, Granite Peak is not for you. However, the bike park is right next door if steep gnar isn’t exactly your thing.
Rating: 6.5/10
As long as you come at the right time of year and are into gnarly downhill, I think you’ll have fun here. Imagine a version of Glen Park where every root is replaced by a boulder. However, there’s always the navigational aspect so make sure you know where you’re going.