Fort Bill

aabilton

Hi. Just wanting some advice on how hard the Fort Bill DH is. I'm thinking of riding it on my Commencal Meta 5, and wondering how tough it is, and how big the drops are. Normally ride trails, so would be a step up, but would love to try it (slowly). Also, I hear they are building a red DH course. Anyone know anything about it?

actsolutions

I’ve never ridden it on anything else other than a Full DH rig as it’s pretty gnarly in the forest section and you can’t really hit the massive doubles at the end with a trail bike. However when i’ve been up i’ve seen nutters going down it on hard tails. You will just have to take it easy on the rock gardens at the top and on a dry day you can clean the sections in the forest just take it steady. However this course needs to be ridden hard and fast to get the most out of it I would hire a DHrig from the shop and thrash it then you can attempt the wall rides and doubles. My advice is to have a go even if you end up walking some of it. It’s not open to early May check out the Nevis range site for details. You need to have full safety gear if you don’t have it hire the a lot from the shop you won’t regret it. If you are going slow keep looking behind for Bigrigs they will pass you all the time.
There’s not much info on the new Red trail yet but as far as I know it’s opening the second week in May and is around 10km long. I’ve already got by B&B booked for May. Come and do 10 under Ben that’s a great weekend. Ride it Love it.

I love this vid of Greg at FortBill I only wish I had half his talent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9ARlglIUTE

actsolutions

I’ve never ridden it on anything else other than a Full DH rig as it’s pretty gnarly in the forest section and you can’t really hit the massive doubles at the end with a trail bike. However when i’ve been up i’ve seen nutters going down it on hard tails. You will just have to take it easy on the rock gardens at the top and on a dry day you can clean the sections in the forest just take it steady. However this course needs to be ridden hard and fast to get the most out of it I would hire a DHrig from the shop and thrash it then you can attempt the wall rides and doubles. My advice is to have a go even if you end up walking some of it. It’s not open to early May check out the Nevis range site for details. You need to have full safety gear if you don’t have it hire the a lot from the shop you won’t regret it. If you are going slow keep looking behind for Bigrigs they will pass you all the time.
There’s not much info on the new Red trail yet but as far as I know it’s opening the second week in May and is around 10km long. I’ve already got by B&B booked for May. Come and do 10 under Ben that’s a great weekend. Ride it Love it.

I love this vid of Greg at FortBill I only wish I had half his talent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9ARlglIUTE

passout

aabilton wrote:

Hi. Just wanting some advice on how hard the Fort Bill DH is. I'm thinking of riding it on my Commencal Meta 5, and wondering how tough it is, and how big the drops are. Normally ride trails, so would be a step up, but would love to try it (slowly). Also, I hear they are building a red DH course. Anyone know anything about it?

Funnily enough I'm planning to take my Meta 5 up there in the summer - was wondering the exact same thing. What is the 'next hardest' routes like? I want a challenge but I'm not a Down Hiller, don't wear any armour and was scared silly by this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9ARlglIUTE That guy is nuts!

actsolutions

So much to ride in that area if you like the XC stuff.

The The Witch's Trails goes straight out of the same car park. If you are going in the summer then the new Red trail might be open you just need to buy a uplift pass.
Otherwise go up to Laggan Wolftrax it's a new miles up the road (too far to cycle). plus there's loads of bridleways and cycle paths in the area. You can cycle for a week and not see the same trail twice.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6NLEYH

or http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-66BK4T
for Laggan

Ride On.

passout

Great...thanks for that.

nwallace

Have just spent 2 days at Laggan and a morning on the WC Circuit at Fort Bill.

All I can say about Fort Bill is I hope there is better on the other XC routes there.
Lots of climbing for a pretty poor descent though the flatter stuff in the woods at the bottom was a wee bit better.

Only thing I really gained from it was a run on easier Northshore than the "Wolf Run" at Laggan.


The "Lower" red at Laggan has been getting a bit of an upgrade recently with more rock pavements being put in, but they are a lot smoother than the "Rib Rattler".

The good thing at Laggan is with the trails relativley short you can get a few runs on them and can see where you are improving.

Think someone compared 3 runs on the Lower red to 1 Red at Glentress in terms of effort... I disagree, have never been as knackered at Laggan as I am after 1 red at Glentress

tlw1

Have to say agree with the nwallace after spending the last week there.

The advantage for me was I went with the family and the runs are that short I went out every day for an hour without any issues!

Enjoyed it and will go back as I want to do the full d/hill run. Only managed the woods down as it was our last day & needed to get going (walked up). It was good fun and a bit ropey on a hardtail. If it was summer & full of people racing past I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much.

AlasdairMc

I did Fort Bill DH in August on an 04 Enduro with Pikes and it was fine. It was my first time on a proper DH trail and it was amazing. Far beyond anything I've ever ridden, previously Laggan Black was my limit. Highly recommended, but get some armour just in case (you can hire armour only from the shop at the gondola station at the bottom).

The XC stuff was alright, there are a few unmarked trails in the forest that are more interesting than the rest of the Witches Trail. The 10 under the Ben trail was also OK, you can link both trails together easily enough.

Laggan is indeed along the road, if you're in the area do that as well. The red is pretty good, but the black is what makes the place special. It's far harder than any other trail I've ridden (other than the Fort Bill DH obviously). I did it last weekend in the wet, it was great fun and stupidly technical.