Words by Kona Ambassador Jacob Mullen. Photos by Mullen and Richard Hulton.
Rolling into the quiet town of McBride BC time just seemed to stand still. No hustle and bustle here, just a few people enjoying a cup of coffee at the local train station coffee shop. We fueled up as we prepared to make our way up to McBride Mountain.
Driving towards our destination, the road was getting steeper and steeper the further we went up. Once we reached the trailhead we continued driving another 20 min up until the road ended. Unable to drive any higher the adventure began there. We loaded up onto our bikes and started the steep climb to the top, which ended in us pushing the last section before reaching base camp, an old fire lookout perched atop of Mcbride Mountain.
Big smiles when we finally made it to the hut to unload all are gear!
Keen to check out the skiing conditions for the next morning, we swiftly hiked up the ridge with our bikes to view our ski line for the next day. After enjoying the view for a short while, we rode back down to base camp as the sun tucked itself behind the mountains of the stunning Robson Valley.
Over beers and dinner we outlined the plan for the next day. The sunrise woke us bright and early. We were eager to get up on the mountain to get some turns in on our skis so we packed up and headed out.
After hiking to the top we finally got to ski down on what felt like the perfect snow. It felt so good to get some good turns in. Although it didn’t last long, as some stormy clouds started to roll in and the mountains were telling us it was time to go.
Tired legs, we got back to base camp and started loading the bikes and gear to head back down the rest of the mountain to the truck. A fair bit of hootin’ and hollerin’ was happening as we blasted through snow and sharp rocks with 70lbs of gear strapped to our backs which didn’t help with the fairly tech decent.
Since we had some time and weren’t wet enough to be convinced to leave, we snagged a quick lap of the lower trail network on our way back down to town. The Robson Valley Mountain Bike Association has done a great job of building trail on the lower half of McBride Peak.
