 |
The NSMB PodcastAuthor: NSMB / North Shore Mountain Biking
From the team behind NSMB.com, The NSMB podcast will go behind the scenes with the makers, breakers, and risk-takers of our favourite sport. Interviews, news, and other important topics will all be on the menu. Language: en Genres: Sports, Wilderness Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
From Flag Tape To Finish Line: Building Whistler's World Cup Track with Marty Gautrey
Tuesday, 15 September, 2026
A World Cup downhill track looks like pure speed on race day, but the real story is the years of scouting, digging, carrying rock, and second-guessing every corner so the world’s fastest riders can push the pace and the sport forward. I connected with Marty Gautry, Whistler Blackcomb’s bike park trail crew manager, to unpack how Whistler’s trails evolved from early, make-it-work machine builds into the modern “science” of jump shaping, landings, and high-traffic maintenance. Along the way, we get into what riders rarely see: how often A-Line gets rebuilt, why irrigation both helps and hurts, and what it takes to keep iconic lines running from spring through late fall. Then we go deep on Creekside and the long build toward the 1199 World Cup downhill track. Marty explains why the line was so hard to “connect,” how the rock garden demanded thousands of hours of armouring, and shares that access roads for patrol and emergency response can cost as much as the trail itself. We also talk about the pressure of building for the speed of elite racers, where top riders may take sections with no brakes, forcing late changes to corners, landings, and compressions to keep things fast but safe. We close with the big questions: should the 1199 World Cup track be open to the public, how do you manage that without destroying it, and what does it mean to showcase a race line that cuts through one of the most beautiful forests in British Columbia? If you care about trail building, downhill mountain bike racing, Whistler Bike Park history, or the behind-the-scenes work that makes progression possible, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a mate, and leave a review along with your thoughts on whether anyone else should get to ride it.
