Glenshee Uplift - Report
namastebuzz
Posts: 41
Went up Tuesday for a look.
First things first - it's NOT Fort William. Secondly, there's a blooming great UPHILL near the start and another wee one a bit further along.
If you're still reading..... it was actually good fun.
Turned up, got our day tickets from the Cafe - £15 each. Went over to the Cairnwell chairlift and got going. They hook little racks onto the side of your chair then the staff put your bike on once your in the chair. They don't quite seem to have sorted out a system for doing it but we generally managed to get the bikes on ok. At least it doesn't stop like the Lecht.
I think the chairlift was built in the sixties as it's a little ropey but you get to the top ok and then off you go. There are a few little tight berms and a straight downhill run.
Then you get a steep uphill ahead which is a pain if you've set the bike up for going down.
At least there's a good view at the top of the climb.
Next there's a decent straight fast descent, some little jumps, a tabletop and a water splash which is all fun.....
.... until you hit ANOTHER uphill which isn't as bad as the first one. Pictured here:
At last it's downhill all the way with some decent swoopy bits down round some ski huts and the Cairnwell Cafe.
Note Rambler on the trail
Then some singletrack down the gully.
Stan fixes puncture number three.
Pleasant day in terms of weather.
All in all not a bad day. Did about a dozen runs. We also went off piste and hiked up some other bits and made our own runs down for a laugh. If you treat it like a ride in the mountains with a lot of downhill and a couple of uphill gradients but with the bulk of the climbing done by chairlift then it's satisfactory. Plus you can mess around on the mountain top going your own way. As we learned the run it became more fun as the speed increased with each run. If you're crap at jumping (like me) the confidence inspiring jumps are good for learning on.
Another negative was walkers on the trail. We were the only bikers there but there was still scope for hitting some, especially the muppet in green in one of the photos who had headphones on and was oblivious to anything despite being informed there were bikes coming down.
The Glenshee people seem keen to improve it but need to get their publicity in order for sure. They also mentioned that the SDA are looking to build a downhill course down the Tiger - which would be interesting.
For £15 - well worth it
I KNOW it's not a real downhill course but mere mortals on XC bikes can have a laugh and it's a good day out in great scenery so WTF.
First things first - it's NOT Fort William. Secondly, there's a blooming great UPHILL near the start and another wee one a bit further along.
If you're still reading..... it was actually good fun.
Turned up, got our day tickets from the Cafe - £15 each. Went over to the Cairnwell chairlift and got going. They hook little racks onto the side of your chair then the staff put your bike on once your in the chair. They don't quite seem to have sorted out a system for doing it but we generally managed to get the bikes on ok. At least it doesn't stop like the Lecht.
I think the chairlift was built in the sixties as it's a little ropey but you get to the top ok and then off you go. There are a few little tight berms and a straight downhill run.
Then you get a steep uphill ahead which is a pain if you've set the bike up for going down.
At least there's a good view at the top of the climb.
Next there's a decent straight fast descent, some little jumps, a tabletop and a water splash which is all fun.....
.... until you hit ANOTHER uphill which isn't as bad as the first one. Pictured here:
At last it's downhill all the way with some decent swoopy bits down round some ski huts and the Cairnwell Cafe.
Note Rambler on the trail
Then some singletrack down the gully.
Stan fixes puncture number three.
Pleasant day in terms of weather.
All in all not a bad day. Did about a dozen runs. We also went off piste and hiked up some other bits and made our own runs down for a laugh. If you treat it like a ride in the mountains with a lot of downhill and a couple of uphill gradients but with the bulk of the climbing done by chairlift then it's satisfactory. Plus you can mess around on the mountain top going your own way. As we learned the run it became more fun as the speed increased with each run. If you're crap at jumping (like me) the confidence inspiring jumps are good for learning on.
Another negative was walkers on the trail. We were the only bikers there but there was still scope for hitting some, especially the muppet in green in one of the photos who had headphones on and was oblivious to anything despite being informed there were bikes coming down.
The Glenshee people seem keen to improve it but need to get their publicity in order for sure. They also mentioned that the SDA are looking to build a downhill course down the Tiger - which would be interesting.
For £15 - well worth it
I KNOW it's not a real downhill course but mere mortals on XC bikes can have a laugh and it's a good day out in great scenery so WTF.
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Comments
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looks like fun.0
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does look good, i'm gonna have to get a trip to scotland sorted soon
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Thanks for the informative post. I'll have to check it out one of these days.
After uphill there's downhill0
