Whinlatter Episode 2: Return of the Osprey

After spending a weekend last year hooning down mountain fire-tracks and dodging low-flying birds of prey (which you can read about here), public demand on the Surfing Dirt forum led to a repeat meet-up the weekend of 1^st July ’11.

Arriving early on Friday night, myself, Mark and Clayton pitched up and decided to hit up the infamous Osprey run that we got booted off last year…in the dark. Luckily, Mark and Clayton are regular nocturnal riders and were able to give loads of advice beforehand about getting the right lights to use for night riding. After a couple of runs we were joined by Roger, Grove and Adam.

Riding continued into the early hours and deteriorated into nonsensical rambling about what a true All Terrain Board should have (a keel and bubble tyres apparently…) and being questioned by Police as to why a group of grown men were loitering in a lay-by in the dark…

An early start on Saturday and after boards were tinkered with, we all set off to ride Whinlatter forest. Having already explored the forest last year, we had a good idea of where the decent runs were, but Roger and Grove managed to discover lots of singletracks hidden in the trees.

The highlight of the morning was bumping into the forest First Ranger, who not only took interest in what we were doing, but gave us an uplift miles up to the highest point in the forest and pointed us in the direction of a good run. And it was a beaut! Descending from about 1460ft to 1040ft and just over a mile in length, the fire-track swept down the mountain, through a pair of tight corners and into a long straight – all the time with an exposed edge overlooking the Lakes.

Roger sent Grove and Adam off on a special mission to investigate if a nearby bridleway was ridable and would actually end up in the nearby village as signposted. The rest of us went to the pub for beer and burgers.

Surf-the-Turf owner Markus joined us for a chilled Saturday evening riding back at Whinlatter, exploring more singletracks and the effects of an axle-nut coming off at 30 mph (the result is a battered and pissed-off Clayton). The fire-tracks were clear but the air was full of a ridiculous number of midges and we were forced into a tactical retreat back to the pub.

On a scorching Sunday morning we were faced with a choice: to find a local spot with lots of easily accessible runs – or try and bag one big run. With it being one of the hottest days of the year, and mountainboarders being renowned for liking a challenge…we started our climb of the fourth highest mountain in England; Skiddaw.

The route down Skiddaw is treacherously steep, covered in loose rock and chock-full of boulders just waiting for your front trucks.

Roger led the way having already bagged the route and after torturous hours of dragging the boards up in blistering the heat, Mark, Grove and Markus became the 5^th, 6^th and 7^th person to ride from the summit of Little Man down to the base in one go; closely followed by Clayton who was plagued by more issues with his board (I only managed the top third…maybe next year…).

Exhausted and sunburnt, we headed back home, but not before popping into Surf-the-Turf and getting a tour of the centre from Markus.

Yet another awesome Freeride weekend hosted by the Lakes.

Check out the chat on Surfing Dirt for more upcoming meets.

Find more trails on the Mountainboarding Map or Freeride NW map.

Pics taken by Markus and Adam.