Hmm where Simon rightly sates that "Note that the obstacles on an intermediate track should be avoidable" I think that what people might call an obstacle should be on the alternate line where possible, rather than the line peole would chose naturally, to minizie the possibility of riders accidently chosing the wrong line.

The skills area at the moment has no particular advice at all so we need to look at this..

Thanks Robbie. Great thread by the way, interesting stuff coming up.

That bridge you speak of on Sally Alley with the tree fern at the end does seem to interupt the flow for me.

A few months ago I went out down Leaping Lizard for the first time and found the route finding to be a little tricky. We had no problems but we bumped into a couple of tourists who'd turned back at the start of the possum line and decided to ride through the sheep field in an attempt to get onto the road. They'd failed and were heading back up to the track. They'd turned right to stay on Leaping Lizard instead of the PBL but soon decided they'd gone wrong because it didn't feel like a mountain bike track.

The signage around that decision point isn't in line with signage around the rest of the park - I seem to remember the possum bait sign was scrawled on an ice cream tub lid or something along those lines and there was no sign pointing right to remain on LL. Further along Leaping Lizard from that point there are a couple of moments when you wonder whether you're actually on the track or whether you'd gone wrong and are trespassing on private land. I think this could be fixed with a bit of gorse trimming and some new signs.

Robbie wrote:...Simon states that "Note that the obstacles on an intermediate track should be avoidable" I think that what people might call an obstacle should be on the alternate line ...

The skills area at the moment has no particular advice at all so we need to look at this..

Thanks Simon and Robbie, that's all been very helpful for me to understand. This is obviously a complicated and subjective issue, and probably you get lots of criticism from everyone who thinks you've made things too easy or too hard, but not much thanks from people who are happy.

I agree the skills area is pretty dangerous. We use the switchbacks from the top of Magic carpet to try to improve our descending, and nearly every time we are there we see people or bikes that have come off second best. On Friday evening there was a big patch of what looked like blood (just like in the Marco photo) at the end of the log that separates the 4WD track from the big jumps. Maybe a part of the problem is that a lot of promotion of the Park's facilities seems to be encouraging beginners to try out their skills there?

I think a couple of spots on ridgeline have eroded away a bit much. There's a few deepass ruts that I'm sure didn't used to be there But then it is a difficult track, so I imagine a few people might not want to touch it too much.

My call is take some of the gnar out of ridgeline and install a bit more on ridgeline extention

Had my first run down Ridgeline in yonks on Saturday. Seemed a little more worn than normal, or maybe I just didn't have my flow on.

Possibly Ridgeline is being left to um... evolve a little as North Face becomes closer to being an alternatve more Intermediate trail down from the top.

happybaboon wrote:My call is take some of the gnar out of ridgeline and install a bit more on ridgeline extention

Given that Ridgeline is currently the main route down from the summit, I would agree with a bit of de-gnaring. However, the soon-to-be-completed North Face track will provide an intermediate level route down from the summit, so I no longer see a need to make Ridgeline easier.

Meanwhile I'd suggest that the top half of Ridgeline Extension only just makes an Intermediate rating - some of the rocky bits are borderline Advanced. Below the picnic tables Ridgeline Extension has quite a different character and is, IMHO, just fine the way it is.

iodi wrote:

happybaboon wrote:My call is take some of the gnar out of ridgeline and install a bit more on ridgeline extention

Given that Ridgeline is currently the main route down from the summit, I would agree with a bit of de-gnaring. However, the soon-to-be-completed North Face track will provide an intermediate level route down from the summit, so I no longer see a need to make Ridgeline easier.

Meanwhile I'd suggest that the top half of Ridgeline Extension only just makes an Intermediate rating - some of the rocky bits are borderline Advanced. Below the picnic tables Ridgeline Extension has quite a different character and is, IMHO, just fine the way it is.

Hmm, I guess it's different strokes for differnt folks. I find ridgeline extention to be fairly straightforward, and I'd call myself a definite "intermediate" rider. I guess knowing all of the lines down it so well makes it much easier...

I understand the ridgeline thing... Once Northface is there, if it's of a similar level to Extention/Swigg/Starfish then that'll be sweet, ridgeline would be all good then. It's just a shame that I couldn't be bothered heading to the summit much over summer 'cos ridgeline was a little too sketchy when I had smaller tyres on or when I was feeling like a skillless muppet.

happybaboon wrote:It's just a shame that I couldn't be bothered heading to the summit much over summer 'cos ridgeline was a little too sketchy when I had smaller tyres on or when I was feeling like a skillless muppet.

That right there is the case for building North Face. Many people don't go to the summit because they don't want to go down Ridgeline. Fair enough, too. Hence the need for an intermediate route - ie. North Face.

iodi wrote:Meanwhile I'd suggest that the top half of Ridgeline Extension only just makes an Intermediate rating - some of the rocky bits are borderline Advanced. Below the picnic tables Ridgeline Extension has quite a different character and is, IMHO, just fine the way it is.

Interesting...

as a 'less than intermediate' rider (being polite!!) - the section on RE that I tend to muppet about on is one of the rocky pinches towards the end.

Ridgeline is at its best when it has been left to erode, i know many people that agree with me. The track is a lot more challenging and fun rather than after it has been groomed.
(this is an opinion)

It would be awesome if the track was left like this, but im not sure if the the track is intended to have this difficulty level?
I remember in the old days ridgeline was ranked as an extreme track but years later had noted its difficulty level was downgraded.

Ridgeline will be maintained at approximately its current level: if it gets much gnarlier it will be cleaned up, just as it has been for the last few years.

North Face ( 95% ridable already) is no more difficult to ride than Sally Alley, and should in fact get a little easier/more fun when we have finished fettling it.

This will mostly entail berming switchbacks, clearing pointed stumps on the downhill side, and the outer edge starting to pack down. :-)

Rimu Trail and AMP Connector could do with some refinement. I'm particularly thinking about the narrow, off-camber bit of Rimu Trail at the Allington Road end, and the exposed stumps on AMP Connector.

damselfly wrote: A friend relatively new to mtb'ing came to grief after getting a bit excited and wrote off her helmet on a concrete block poking out after her face plant. It looks like the block was used as in-fill and a corner has now become exposed with wear and tear, so will need to be either dug out or smashed up a bit.

Not sure what that block was doing there, it was at the start of the downhill slope.
I unearthed it with the skill and patience of an anthropologist, using a toothbrush and toothpick. It was revealed as a stone and cement 'tile" about 20mm thick with blunt edges.
Actually I lied, I hit it lightly with a sledgehammer and it broke into smithereens, and I threw it away. Job done :-)

A couple of specific spots that I've noted recently:
- Missing Link, about 20m on the Aratihi side of the Nikau intersection, there's a right-hand kink in the track followed by a very short rise. The left edge is crumbling away, narrowing the track.
- The end of Zac's right by the 4wd track is really overgrown.