Boréale Mountain Biking - Blog

Mountain Heros everywhere!

2010-07-29T07:03:19+00:00

We’ve been riding with Dan all week, showing him some of our highlights for singletrack around here. I do find it amusing that we take him to spots that we, as riders, think are beautiful and picture worthy and he just rolls on by without a glance. Then, in the middle of apparent nothing-ness he stops and says “I can shoot here”. When we get back to the yurts and check out the pictures - they are amazing! As Tony said earlier today, that is why he is the professional and we are not. If you are ever searching for a photographer that has the eye for perfection, contact Dan. Great guy!

Today we shot on Montana Mountain on a trail called Mountain Hero. In the alpine for hours and then descended through various stages of the boreal forest ecosystem. It is an amazing trail, hard work greatly rewarded by fast downhill singletrack. Sylvain showed us a few new spots today on the downhill, including a 1910’s silver miner’s outhouse with a stunning view of endless mountains and lakes. Wow!!

I think we successfully capped the day with a maple syrup fondue and a glass of wine. Oh so civilized!

Yukon photo shoot!

2010-07-27T07:18:38+00:00

Well we are pretty lucky here at yurtville. We have pro mountain bike photographer Dan Barham up here for a week of shooting. Today was day 2 and it was long. We first touched the saddle at 10.30am and got off it at 10.30pm. Now, we did a have a few breaks (Dan sleeping on the couch, Marsha eating a burrito…) but we were definitely tired at the end of the day. Yukon Red beer never tasted so good!

Back on the blog

2010-07-18T22:06:56+00:00

It has been an incredibly active past three weeks at Boréale’s yurtville! We had an amazingly successful Ride and Reach mtb and yoga retreat led by pro rider and overall super person Ryan Leech. I will blog more details soon. Guests, now friends, came from Iowa, Utah and Saskatchewan to ride our Yukon singletrack and stretch in the midnight sun. Ryan and Sylvain kept the flow going all day and Chef Kate rocked the dinner atmosphere each evening with photo shoot worthy meals! We have posted some pictures on our facebook page.

Immediately following we had a locals weekend with Ryan. It was a lot of fun, I heard more laughter and cheering from the main yurt yoga session than I ever heard before! The group conquered track stands, skinnies, jumps, climbing and of course, wheelies! Saturday night was a great Arctic Charr bake where the Yukon Brewing products were flowing, instruments jamming and everyone was having a great time.

Since that time we have been meeting tonnes of people from around North America who all came up to sample the singletrack around Whitehorse and Carcross. Most are coming through our wicked deal called the Weekender, but others came through our all inclusive custom packages. $250 per person for all the delicious food, shuttling, guiding and accommodation. Pretty awesome!

I am about to hit the hammocks on the bluff with a cool Yukon Red beer in hand. Another busy week coming up!

Customer trip report!

2010-07-05T15:52:39+00:00

We had a great group up from Vancouver last week. Here is a great trip report from one of the riders! We still have a few spots available for this summer if you are interested in sampling the Yukon gold!
http://markcunningham.posterous.com/mountain-biking-yukon-style

Ride & Reach - Day 1

2010-07-04T20:17:33+00:00

Today is day one of our Ride & Reach retreat with Ryan Leech. Everyone arrived in Whitehorse yesterday in time to watch Ryan do a trials demo in front of one of our local bike shops, Icycle Sport. After all the bikes were assembled & Yukon Brewing beers were sampled, we sat down to share stories over a fantastic dinner.

Today started off with a few perfect Midnight Sun coffees and a morning yoga session led by Ryan. As a certified yoga instructor, he led the group through an energizing session that allowed both the beginners and more advanced practitioners to have a great start to their day. Sylvain is leading the group out on their first taste of Yukon singletrack. Today’s ride headed out from our Yurtville to the trails on Grey Mountain. We’ve got a great group here for the next week and are stoked to be sharing our part of the world with them!

Ryan Leech is in town!

2010-07-02T15:34:43+00:00

Pro rider Ryan Leech has arrived in the Yukon! He is here to lead a yoga and mountain bike retreat called Ride and Reach with Ryan Leech that runs July 3 - 9, 2010 in Whitehorse, Yukon. We are all pretty excited about this retreat. It is only offered in the Yukon and it is going to be fantastic. We have a great group from around the US and Canada, making their way up North as we speak. Bon voyage!

If you are in town this weekend, please stop by Icycle Sport on Quartz Road. Ryan will be doing a trials demonstration at 3pm on Saturday. Drop by and say hi to Ryan!

Yukon summers

2010-07-01T15:32:44+00:00

Well, the summers are long in the Yukon, at least if you are counting the hours of daylight. We Yukoners manage to cram as much activity into the daylight as we can. One of our guests here just wrote home saying how in the Yukon it seems you get two days for every one. On his last day we pushed it so it felt like 3 days in one! Just to make sure he remembered his Yukon trip fondly.

There is a large amount of fun, interesting and unique sporting events here in the Yukon. Over solstice weekend there is the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay http://www.kcibr.org. Starting in Kluane National Park, up and over the stunning Haines pass and ending in the quaint mountain flanked fishing village called Haines, Alaska. It is about a 230 kms and can be done in solo, duo, 4 & 8 person teams. This year’s race saw 1200 competitors! The next weekend is the 24 Hours of Light Mountain Bike Race http://www.24hoursoflight.ca. Solos and teams race around a 14 km loop of double and singletrack all guided by the midnight sun. No lights allowed or required! Great party, emphasis is on having a good time on bikes!

The Yukon River Quest http://www.yukonriverquest.com is hailed as the world’s longest annual marathon canoe and kayak race. Paddlers put in at Whitehorse and race 740km/460mi down river to historic Dawson City on the famed Yukon River. There are two mandatory stops of 5 hours, but after that the race is on. It doesn’t get dark, you are paddling into the sun - it is quite a trip! Here is a video made by an Australian journalist on the 2009 race! http://www.youtube.com/user/OuterEdgeMag#p/u/16/tLuRKEyCJAA

Then it is the Dri-Tri, a triathlon without swimming! A fun, local event with a great vibe!

Just announced is a Super D/Mass Start DH race called Montana Mountain Madness July 30 & 31 in Carcross. We are super excited about this one! Should be awesome!

24 Hours of Light Mountain Bike Race

2010-06-23T16:15:46+00:00

Each year Whitehorse hosts a 24 Hours of Light Mountain Bike race. This year the race is June 26-27, 2010. One of the only rules is no lights allowed or required! The course is about 14 kilometres and a mix of single and double track. We usually get about 150-200 riders from around North America. If you are in the area, you should think of signing up! Great door prizes, our chief of fun knows how to keep the energy high for the entire 24 hours!

http://www.24hoursoflight.ca

See you there!

Summer solstice midnight ride!

2010-06-21T22:45:38+00:00

Today is the longest day of the year. What better way to celebrate than by riding bikes under the midnight sun? Meet at the parking lot across from El Camino trail head, beside the biathlon range. We will leave our black van at the bottom of Grey Mountain to shuttle back up to the cars when we are done. Meet at 11:45pm and we start riding at midnight!

See you there!

Weekend with Ryan Leech in Whitehorse

2010-06-09T18:41:58+00:00

We have 10 spots available for a weekend skills clinic with Ryan Leech July 10-11, 2010! Cost is $350 per person. Please send us an email or phone at 867-332-1722 to register.

Dial that wheelie, own that log ride and climb ”The Bitch” with ease. All this is within reach under the personalized instruction of one of the greatest technical riders in the sport, Norco Factory Team rider Ryan Leech. Ryan is also a certified yoga instructor and is stoked to be combining his two passions in one weekend.

Expect to learn yoga techniques that will amplify your future riding experiences.

Included: 2 full days of in depth skill analysis with Ryan. Lunches, snacks, dinner on Saturday and Sunday brunch.