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Ricochet Trail
(with Double Down and Insurgent)
The Ricochet Trail is a one-way (downhill-only) trail in The Canyons
Resort area. It begins on Holly's Trail 0.3 miles
from the top and extends 2.6 miles down to the gondola at the resort base.
Hikers and dogs are prohibited. The drop is 1300 vertical feet. Double
Down and Insurgent are more-technical alternatives to the upper mile of
Ricochet. They rejoin Holly's and Ricochet to offer continued descent
versus a climb on Holly's back to the top.
Heading into a high-speed steep turn on upper
Ricochet. Photos and ride description July 1, 2016 by Bruce.
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| To get there, most riders plunk down some cash to ride The
Canyons' lifts. So you'll encounter plenty of overdressed youngsters with
full-face helmets flying hell-bent downhill.
You can pedal to the top via Holly's Trail, starting directly from the
bottom of Ricochet. Or you can take Rosebud's Heaven to Ambush and circle
around via Mid Mountain to the top of Holly's.
Or Rosebud's to Robs to Mid Mountain. Lots of
good climbing for us workout junkies.
Earning my vertical. Little Rocky rests against the
trail sign where Holly's Trail leaves the lower ski slopes. |
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Ricochet starts on Holly's Trail,
0.3 miles down from the ridge doubletrack. This ridgeline gravel road is
where the gravity riders will be dropping in. (You'll cross that
doubletrack when riding the Mid Mountain trail.
From Mid Mountain, it's east about 100 yards on the gravel road on the
ridgeline.)
Looking downhill, as you'd see the trail fork when
descending Holly's from the ridgeline. Left to right are Double Down,
Insurgent, Ricochet, then Holly's. |
| From Holly's Trail, you'll see FOUR options, all branching
away at once. These routes get easier as you go left to right. Leftmost is
Double Down, a double black diamond. Next, Insurgent, black diamond. Then
Ricochet, intermediate (blue). Rightmost is Holly's, a blue-green (early
intermediate or advanced beginner).
First bit of Ricochet.
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Ricochet begins with a narrow boardwalk then a little drop
and hairpin. That's to scare the newbies away, who would simply be getting
in everyone's way.
There are some nice views to the east, if you ever
slow down enough to look. |
| Turns are bermed for fast riding. If you're on a XC bike,
there's no need to drop your seat post. Everything is smooth, fast and
flowy. You can rail on downhill without rock drops or root entanglements.
And it's one-way, so no worries about a climber around that blind turn.
Typical high-berm hairpin turn.
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If you're riding with a group that wants to stop and chat,
pick your spot carefully. And get everybody, and all the bikes, well off
the trail. Same goes for photos. Stay out of the trail, because riders are
going to be coming fast.
Dropping down a series of S-turns toward a ski slope. |
| The top section of Ricochet is 0.9 miles, with 500 vertical
feet of elevation loss. As you descend, you'll see bits of Holly's over to
the right, and of Double Down to your left. Do NOT shortcut between
trails! Ricochet drops onto Holly's shortly after crossing the creek.
Insurgent and Double Down will have already joined a bit uphill.
A stretch of flatter trail, with meandering turns and
a bit of up-and-down.
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Ricochet will briefly rejoin Holly's before re-crossing the
creek. At this spot, you have the option of taking Holly's uphill for
another track. From the Holly's-Ricochet junction, it's 1.2 miles and 550
vertical back to the 5-way at the top of Ricochet.
When you hit the bridges and cross the creek, you're
ready to rejoin Holly's -- for just a few feet if you're heading further
downhill. Note full-face helmet, knee and elbow protection. That's what
most of your fellow Ricochet riders will look like. |
| Ricochet continues downhill from here as a one-way trail.
The ride is 90% deep forest, so the downhill is pleasantly cool even at
mid day. Only occasionally will you need to give a little pedal-assist as
the slope reverses.
Just past the creek crossing, Ricochet reminds you
that this is NOT a route for hikers or for riding with pets.
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The downhill route runs parallel to, and uphill from,
Holly's Trail. (When you hit a doubletrack, you can -- if desired -- go
downhill a tad to find Holly's Trail.) While most of the trail is smooth
undulating dirt ribbon, there is the occasional root-squeeze and rock
outcrop.
A gravity rider hits the high line on a fast turn. |
| There will also be stutter bumps as high-speed riders brake
into a turn. These are usually found on dry hillsides where the trail
turns to the right around blind corners. Most of these were marked with
caution signs at the time of my ride (July 2016).
Flatter trail, where I remember that my bike has
pedals.
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When Ricochet breaks out of forest onto the lower ski slope,
you'll have a few speed turns in the grass for the final descent. The
trail will deliver you to the paved walkway, where a right turn takes you
to the gondola.
Heading into the hairpins on the ski slope at the
bottom.
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Alternate lines on the upper trail |
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I'll mention three alternates: Double Down, Insurgent,
and Redcoat.
Double Down is the most technical. Although left-most at the
top, it crosses over Insurgent to take a path just to the north of
Ricochet.
Double down is twistier than Ricochet, and is often significantly steep
for short sections. This trail drops the same 500 vertical in only 0.6
miles (compared to 0.9 for Ricochet). There were a couple of root-infested
plunges that made me glad I had my dropper seat-post.
Double Down has a bit of man-made structure. Couldn't
cross the ski slope without a challenge. |
| Double Down has a lot of man-made structure. They're not
ride-well-or-die deathtraps -- at least, I didn't think so. But they
require expert-level skills and a bit of courage.
And every single one had a ride-around.
Approaching a drop. Note that it's "merely
steep" and does not require "going vertical and taking
air."
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The twisty-rolling nature of Ricochet is exaggerated
dramatically on Double Down. These humps can send you airborne into a tree
if you get out of control. But if you ride sensibly, even modestly-skilled
riders can get survive to rejoin Holly's.
Roller coaster through fir forest on Double Down. |
| Insurgent is mid-way between Ricochet and Double Down
-- both at the top where you enter the trail, and in terms of riding
technicality. It's 0.8 miles long. It traverses a bit north at first,
allowing Double Down to cross over. Then when Redcoat joins in 0.2 miles,
it begins a winding downhill.
It joins Holly's just west of the lodge. To reach Ricochet downhill (or
Holly's uphill to climb back), continue southeast downhill to the creek.
Swooping banked turn.
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Redcoat offers an alternate that begins on Mid
Mountain, one mile north of the ridgeline doubletrack where Holly's
begins/ends. There will be a bit of climbing (just over 150 vertical feet)
to get there from Holly's top.
Redcoat drops 300 vertical feet over 0.8 miles, then joins
Insurgent. Now you continue downhill another 0.5 miles before hitting
Holly's.
Rolling downhill through aspen and fir. |
| From the bottom of any of these alternate routes, keep to
the right as you join Holly's. Continue downhill until you hit the creek.
Just after crossing, veer left to enter the downhill section of Ricochet.
Or go straight and uphill to climb Holly's for another go.
Absolutely tame wooden ramp over a little ravine --
with a wood-o-phobic alternate line. There are bypasses to everything.
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Riding notes, quick loop via Holly's:
0.0 North from gondola, down and left
N40 41.182 W111 33.413
0.2 L uphill on Holly's
N40 41.222 W111 33.579
0.9 Cross DT to ST N40 41.183 W111 33.902
1.6 Cross DT to ST N40 41.280 W111 34.541
1.7 Keep L (R = to Rosebud's Heaven)
N40 41.327 W111 34.498
2.0 Hard L uphill (R = Ambush)
N40 41.481 W111 34.574
2.5 Join DT uphill N40 41.259 W111 34.822
Rapid L toward lodge
Climb uphill of lodge N40 41.226 W111 34.762
Straight and downhill
(Insurgent, DDown, Ricochet
join on R) |
2.6 Cross creek, keep L (R = Ricochet DH)
N40 41.203 W111 34.693
3.8 DH-trails entry: take Ricochet
N40 41.022 W111 34.989
4.9 Veer R onto Holly's
Cross creek, then L to Ricochet
N40 41.201 W111 34.688
5.8 Canyons DH joins on R
N40 41.182 W111 33.702
6.4 Navigate around lifts and DTs
6.5 Back at pavement |
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Getting there:
Exit I-80 on 224 southbound toward Park City. Pass
Bear Hollow drive, then turn R into The Canyons at mile 2.8 from the
freeway. Follow the main resort drive uphill. Go straight at the
roundabout. As the road splits in front of the big hotel, veer left (south).
Now turn R uphill just past the big buildings. Look for a gravel parking area
on your right, just before the road turns north again. Park here. Exit the
far end of the parking lot to a paved path that goes north between
commercial buildings. Keep going until you pass the gondola. Ignore the
smaller trails crossing the lawn (those are downhill routes). Drop
slightly to the left onto a broad path in the canyon bottom and begin
going uphill to reach Holly's and Rosebud's Heaven. |
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