Altura Trail, Whinlatter
Length: 26km (including Blue trail)
Climb: 677m
Time 2-3hr
Grade: Red (Altura) + Blue
Rating: 3/5
As locations go, the Lake District is hard to beat. Big mountain riding is a lure for many and I am no different. The dramatic and rugged terrain and sheer scale and impressive scenery on offer creates a very different experience to that which I am more familiar with back in the midlands.
I live on the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border and find my rides to be of the classic variety; stereotypically characteristic of England. Nice bits of deciduous woodland singletrack linked with open bridleways passing across farmland to open heathland and moorland. We have a few small hills here and there (250m tops) and, if I’m lucky, some rocky outcrops to challenge. All too often joined up with tarmac though.
When one spends much of their time riding this type of trail it can be important to taste something different every once in a while. Its partly why I set up the blog in the first place. A different technical challenge or something to really push the stamina.
The lake District offers a very different palette offering a range of challenging big mountain trails such as Borrowdale Bash, Sticks Pass and Walna Scar; their of remoteness equalled by their technical difficulty. Being up in the clouds can be very rewarding. Dipping a toe in these waters (so to speak) can do wonders to balance a troubled mind.
The ‘pureness’ of it seems to really invigorate the mind and soul and reignite a passion for mountain biking. I really get edited riding places like this. The Altura trail at Whinlatter was fun and yet, despite this, I came away feeling somewhat short changed.
Whilst the trail was fun to ride, and there are some genuinely fun sections - the south loop descent/jump line and north loop descent were highlights - i think the manicured trail surface and lack of natural technicality meant it fell short of my expectations for a Lakes trail. A hard tail would be quite sufficient.
In isolation, the Altura rolls well and was fun to ride. It has a good rhythm about it. It is split in to two loops; a north and south and there is also an interesting blue trail too. Combining the three trails made for a good day out despite some sketchy weather.
The trail is interesting from the off with a nice bit of weaving single track contouring around the hillside through the trees with a few false descents and sharp climbs thrown in. The trail then comes out from the tree line to begin the main climb.
Labelled the Slog, it suggests at a sustained upward journey but in all honesty any fit rider would find the climbs fairly straightforward. There are plenty of switchbacks to reduce the gradient and with the full trail split in to two halves, so is the elevation gained split fairly evenly.
This trail is located high up the hillside west of Keswick and the south loop, in particular, does verge on feeling remote at its southernmost tip. Rising up to the highest point along the north loop, views can be had looking north and eastwards across Bassenthwaite Lake towards Skiddaw whilst the southern loop provides views towards the equally bigger terrain of Eel Crag, giving the impression of being immersed in such big hills, whilst always remaining, just, within the safety net of the Beckstones and Hospital Plantations.
The main descent of the north loop is fast, flowing and superb fun. There’s no obvious ‘start’ but it rolls quickly, always working with camber to create a very flowing and roller-coster type affair with plenty of big berms. Its camberlitious. You can go as fast as you dare really, it was great fun.
A quick jump over the connecting link to the south loop leads to further climbing; again short and sharp with plenty of switchbacks to elevate you skywards. The trail is not particularly eventful, technically, in the middle, eventually arriving at the southernmost tip and the start of the south descent.
The south loop descent comes complete with ‘black’ grade jump line. It starts off by rolling a large rocky outcrop with quite a technical drop-in but speeds up quickly with a similar, gravelled, character to that of the north side. The line opens out on to a fire road crossing where the jumps, which are all rollable tabletops, begin. The jump run is particularly good fun and continues and otherwise enjoyable descent, again packed with berms galore. Worth the climb for this alone but the views were good too.
One could not characterise the Altura trail as being particularly natural, feeling very man-made throughout. Nevertheless, in isolation, it is a great trail and I would be quite happy if my local trail were it. Unfortunately it isn’t and, as I mentioned earlier, I did come away feeling a little.. …Meh!.
I think, being in the shadows of the more famous, natural trails such as Sticks pass and Borrowdale, trails that really do reach much higher echelons both literally and in the technical department, I left Whinlatter feeling a little underwhelmed. The Altura is simply not technical or long enough to fully justify a trip this far on its own. Nor is it really a big mountain (hills, we are in England after all) adventure.
Taken out of in context it is fine but if I were coming back, I wouldn’t go out of my way to have another go. That said, it would be a reasonable stocking filler for a longer biking trip to the Lakes. Providing a break from the more technical stuff - its a bit like trash telly, something you don’t really need to concentrate on.
I think for this place to truly compete with some of the more successful trail centres in Britain, it could really do with a black graded trail to compliment the existing network of Red and Blue trails; one that ventures further out in to the remote hillsides of Keswick with a greater degree of technicality and much longer. As it is, it is too much like my local trail centre to offer anything new and fresh.
Just looks like Forest of Dean
Climb: 677m
Time 2-3hr
Grade: Red (Altura) + Blue
Rating: 3/5
As locations go, the Lake District is hard to beat. Big mountain riding is a lure for many and I am no different. The dramatic and rugged terrain and sheer scale and impressive scenery on offer creates a very different experience to that which I am more familiar with back in the midlands.
I live on the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border and find my rides to be of the classic variety; stereotypically characteristic of England. Nice bits of deciduous woodland singletrack linked with open bridleways passing across farmland to open heathland and moorland. We have a few small hills here and there (250m tops) and, if I’m lucky, some rocky outcrops to challenge. All too often joined up with tarmac though.
When one spends much of their time riding this type of trail it can be important to taste something different every once in a while. Its partly why I set up the blog in the first place. A different technical challenge or something to really push the stamina.
The lake District offers a very different palette offering a range of challenging big mountain trails such as Borrowdale Bash, Sticks Pass and Walna Scar; their of remoteness equalled by their technical difficulty. Being up in the clouds can be very rewarding. Dipping a toe in these waters (so to speak) can do wonders to balance a troubled mind.
The ‘pureness’ of it seems to really invigorate the mind and soul and reignite a passion for mountain biking. I really get edited riding places like this. The Altura trail at Whinlatter was fun and yet, despite this, I came away feeling somewhat short changed.
Whilst the trail was fun to ride, and there are some genuinely fun sections - the south loop descent/jump line and north loop descent were highlights - i think the manicured trail surface and lack of natural technicality meant it fell short of my expectations for a Lakes trail. A hard tail would be quite sufficient.
In isolation, the Altura rolls well and was fun to ride. It has a good rhythm about it. It is split in to two loops; a north and south and there is also an interesting blue trail too. Combining the three trails made for a good day out despite some sketchy weather.
The trail is interesting from the off with a nice bit of weaving single track contouring around the hillside through the trees with a few false descents and sharp climbs thrown in. The trail then comes out from the tree line to begin the main climb.
Labelled the Slog, it suggests at a sustained upward journey but in all honesty any fit rider would find the climbs fairly straightforward. There are plenty of switchbacks to reduce the gradient and with the full trail split in to two halves, so is the elevation gained split fairly evenly.
This trail is located high up the hillside west of Keswick and the south loop, in particular, does verge on feeling remote at its southernmost tip. Rising up to the highest point along the north loop, views can be had looking north and eastwards across Bassenthwaite Lake towards Skiddaw whilst the southern loop provides views towards the equally bigger terrain of Eel Crag, giving the impression of being immersed in such big hills, whilst always remaining, just, within the safety net of the Beckstones and Hospital Plantations.
The main descent of the north loop is fast, flowing and superb fun. There’s no obvious ‘start’ but it rolls quickly, always working with camber to create a very flowing and roller-coster type affair with plenty of big berms. Its camberlitious. You can go as fast as you dare really, it was great fun.A quick jump over the connecting link to the south loop leads to further climbing; again short and sharp with plenty of switchbacks to elevate you skywards. The trail is not particularly eventful, technically, in the middle, eventually arriving at the southernmost tip and the start of the south descent.
The south loop descent comes complete with ‘black’ grade jump line. It starts off by rolling a large rocky outcrop with quite a technical drop-in but speeds up quickly with a similar, gravelled, character to that of the north side. The line opens out on to a fire road crossing where the jumps, which are all rollable tabletops, begin. The jump run is particularly good fun and continues and otherwise enjoyable descent, again packed with berms galore. Worth the climb for this alone but the views were good too.
One could not characterise the Altura trail as being particularly natural, feeling very man-made throughout. Nevertheless, in isolation, it is a great trail and I would be quite happy if my local trail were it. Unfortunately it isn’t and, as I mentioned earlier, I did come away feeling a little.. …Meh!.
I think, being in the shadows of the more famous, natural trails such as Sticks pass and Borrowdale, trails that really do reach much higher echelons both literally and in the technical department, I left Whinlatter feeling a little underwhelmed. The Altura is simply not technical or long enough to fully justify a trip this far on its own. Nor is it really a big mountain (hills, we are in England after all) adventure.
Taken out of in context it is fine but if I were coming back, I wouldn’t go out of my way to have another go. That said, it would be a reasonable stocking filler for a longer biking trip to the Lakes. Providing a break from the more technical stuff - its a bit like trash telly, something you don’t really need to concentrate on.
I think for this place to truly compete with some of the more successful trail centres in Britain, it could really do with a black graded trail to compliment the existing network of Red and Blue trails; one that ventures further out in to the remote hillsides of Keswick with a greater degree of technicality and much longer. As it is, it is too much like my local trail centre to offer anything new and fresh.
Just looks like Forest of DeanHere's a link to the Strava route: https://www.strava.com/activities/1030022857
No comments:
Post a Comment