DIGGING TOWARD DETACHMENT

TOWERING FIRS CREAKED AND GROANED AS they swayed in the canopy of a moody Blackcomb forest, a once-peaceful sanctuary not far from Whistler’s din. As I stood there silently, I thought back to when this exact spot used to be eerily quiet. A wild place where animal eyes watched from shaded crevices, where I could dig for hours without seeing or hearing another human. But now, the sound of a new animal was ever-present; the buzzing of hubs and the hoots and hollers of riders.

I’m on Dark Crystal, now one of the Valley’s best-known traiIs—one I created with my trailbuilding partner Scott Veach. The year before, Veach and I had been drawn to the heavily wooded and gently sloping flflanks of Blackcomb Mountain like moths to a flflame. The grade was perfect, the forest immaculate and the evening light sublime as it fifiltered through the conifers.

We spent countless hours swooning over this forested wonderland, becoming intimately familiar with each ridge and creek, valley and cliffff and rolling rock slab as we wandered between towering fifir and hemlock. The character-rich hillside provided endless line choices—deciding which path to choose from the infifinite variations proved diffifficult. Finally, we flflagged our line, emblazoned with a character uniquely set apart from Whistler’s famous bike park next door.

Then we spent months turning our dream line into