Revelstoke Cycling Association opens The Rooster, a new gravity jump trail on Boulder Mountain

The RCA’s newest trail on Boulder Mountain is now officially open. Take a look up at Boulder Mountain from downtown Revelstoke, and you’ll be able to see the new, two-kilometre snaking run carved into a clearcut on the southern side of the mountain.

It’s a fast, intermediate/advanced jump trail with good visibility, good sight lines, and optional really big features.

Photo: Bruno Long/Revelstoke Cycling Association

Revelstoke Cycling Association Downhill Director Danielle Backman said the Rooster brings something new to the scene.

“There are a lot of [RCA] members who wanted a sustained gravity trail,” Backman said.

“It’s pretty exciting. To our knowledge, there’s nothing like it in B.C.,” Backman said. “It’s a bit of a bike-parkesque trail but it’s in a recreation site.”

The RCA has been working on the trail for the past two years. Nelson-area trail builder Rick Schneider worked as an employee and then contractor on the project, bringing in heavy equipment to sculpt the trail. There were lots of helping hands on the project.

The trail was built in a clearcut to prevent conflict with ongoing logging in the area, and Backman hopes it will last for many decades without logging disturbance. She also said the trail should become less visible from town as the undergrowth builds up in the next couple of years.

The Rooster. Photo: Bruno Long/Revelstoke Cycling Association

Boulder Mountain hosts many of the Revelstoke area’s downhill and shuttle trails. “Boulder is getting exponentially busier every year,” Backman said. “The amount of people that are riding at Boulder is increasing and a trail like this will be wildly popular.”

The new Rooster trail. Photo: Bruno Long/Revelstoke Cycling Association

Why’s it called The Rooster? “The dirt in Revelstoke is really nice, you have a chance to roost some turns so that’s where the name came from,” she said.

The trail was funded through a City of Revelstoke Tourism Infrastructure Fund, and a Columbia Basin Trust Community Development Fund.

Tips: The RCA highly recommends a pre-ride before you ride the trail. If you hike back up, be aware of etiquette and watch out for riders charging down.