Waiting for Winter

Posted: 10.03.2019
Posted: 10.03.2019
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4FRNT Team Rider Luke Stevens was born in Calgary, Alberta and now resides in Revelstoke, British Columbia. Luke is a semi professional mountain biker and ACMG apprentice mountain guide. He loves sharing the big mountain experience with people and spends his winters working for different guiding operations throughout British Columbia. Luke hopes to one day combine his passion for mountain biking and skiing with his professional training in guiding in order to start his own guiding business. Give him a follow on Instagram and check out his bio on our Team Page.  

 

 

"The window for riding our bikes in these zones comes and goes quicker then a beer in the parking lot after a pow day."

All Photos: Jordan Boratynec

"The high alpine bike riding season in my neck of the woods is something to be appreciated and cherished. The window for riding our bikes in these zones comes and goes quicker then a beer in the parking lot after a pow day.  By the time the snow melts up high we typically only have about a month or so before the next round of snow begins return and blanket these zones with a fresh coat of white. Although fall comes and goes quickly here in British Columbia, it is the best season for bike riding. With cooler temps and excellent trail condition we milk everyday for all we can, riding from sun up until it becomes to dark to see the trail."

"As we rip down these ridges and open faces on our bikes, it is impossible not to daydream about the turns we will soon be making on our skis."

"The Purcell Mountains, located in southeastern British Columbia and the home of Kicking Horse Resort, are known for their fine scree deposits. Scree is a collection of broken rock that has fallen from surrounding cliffs and creates an extremely unique surface for riding bikes. Because it's so loose and slick you can carve lines down these faces much like you do when you're skiing. To me, this is the best kind of riding. Although mountain biking and skiing have many parallels, freeriding these scree feels is as close to shredding down big faces in the winter as I get in the offseason. These freeride zones create a sense of exploration, which is my favorite aspect of big mountain skiing and a feeling that is sometimes hard to replicate when riding trail networks on my bike."

"This ride is one of the last rides we snuck in before winter returned to the upper elevations. Working the ridge lines, we traversed our way across old roads and goat paths to find open faces to freeride. This ride is especially unique because this ridge borders the big glaciated mountains you see in the background. As we rip down these ridges and open faces on our bikes, it is impossible not to daydream about the turns we will soon be making on our skis. In fact in only a few months we will be skinning and skiing these same faces and ridges, soaking in our surroundings, and continuing the cycle of basking in the glory of the Purcell Mountains." -Luke Stevens  

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