We are super excited to announce our 2023 trip calendar, including a few brand new destinations as well as the time-tested mainstays that have been around for years!  With the addition of Arizona, Durango, and the Sea to Sky, we feel that this is the most all-encompassing, amazing lineup of trips we’ve ever offered!  From the Rocky Mountain high country, to coastal British Columbia, to the southwest high-desert, to the classic East Coast, we’ve worked long and hard to bring you the best slate of North American riding in the industry today: we truly feel there’s a trip for every experienced mountain biker looking for what’s next.

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed with the choices, we get it: that’s why we decided to break down the calendar and give you a trip-by-trip explanation of what to expect in terms of rides, fitness and technical ability required, and much more.  To book your spot on a trip, we only require a $500 deposit now- the remaining balance isn’t due until early 2023!

 

Arizona Winter Ride Camp

 

We’ve been hearing feedback from our customers for years about adding trips in the winter, and we’re stoked to finally add a brand new Tucson-based trip for you!  Brand new for 2023, this trip will be slightly shorter than our normal 5-day, 4-night adventures… mostly because we know that you’re probably not in mid-season riding shape, and four days of hard riding would wipe us all out!  For this trip, we’ll hit the Arizona Trail on the first day in order to shake out the cobwebs; a fairly mellow 20’ish mile ride with some shorter climbs and relatively easy riding to get you ready for the next couple days.  Days two and three are going to be full-on, just like a regular Chasing Epic trip, with huge shuttles and descents off Mt. Lemmon that seem to go on forever.  Between Red Ridge and the Lemmon Drop, you’re going to get enough chunk to hold you over until Spring!

 

Fitness Level: Intermediate +

Technical Difficulty: Advanced

Closest Airports: Tucson (20 minutes), Phoenix (2 hours)

Expected Weather: Highs in the 70’s (50’s up top) during the day, chilly at night and very little chance of rain

 

Fruita / Moab

 

Our Fruita/Moab combination trip was new for 2021, but these two destinations need no introduction to mountain bikers.  Moab is the unofficial “Mecca” of mountain biking, and Fruita is the kick-ass neighbor that’s right up there in terms of quality and quantity; between the two, we’ll serve up more high-desert tech than you can shake a stick at. If you’ve done some of our high-country trips and are looking to step up your technical game, this is a great choice!

For this trip we’ll base the group in Fruita for the duration of the trip, and we’ll spend three of the ride days there.  Expect to hit the Kokopelli Loops (trails like Moore Fun, Horsethief Bench and Mack Ridge), the Lunch Loops (the Ribbon, Holy Cross and maybe Eagle’s Wing), and we always like to end the trip with a flow-down on the 18 Road trails.  Day 3 is typically when we head over to Moab to hit the Whole Enchilada, which in the Spring is usually rideable from either Kokopelli or Hazzard down.  Three days of super-rowdy tech and one day of flow sounds just about right to us!

 

Fitness Level: Intermediate +

Technical Ability: Intermediate-Advanced

Closest Airports: Grand Junction (15 minutes), Montrose (90 minutes), Denver (4 hours), Salt Lake (4 hours)

Expected Weather: Highs in the 70’s, chilly at night, very little chance for rain or storms

 

Sea to Sky, BC

 

Another new trip for 2023, the Sea to Sky location was born from a love of a trip we started in 2022, Squamish BC.  Ever since we scouted Squamish in the fall of 2021, we’ve been pining to explore the area even more, and we were lucky enough to do that this year.  So… now we’ve got one of the best combinations of BC-based riding on earth, combining Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton into one 6-day adventure packed with tech riding, slabs, and steeps!  This trip features five days of riding between the three locations, all of which will challenge even the best riders.

Tech is the name of the game on this trip, although you still have to earn your vertical in the Sea to Sky corridor, so be ready for some big days of climbing as well.  Squamish features lots of classic slabs along with some amazingly built flow to mix things up, and you can always find steep, raw trails as well.  Whistler features similar terrain, albeit slightly more raw and rugged, and it typically gives you a little more vertical in one shot.  Pemberton is the lower-elevation sibling down valley, where the terrain tends to be a little drier and looser, but can also give you huge, fast descents that are absolutely mind-blowing.  Please note: This is BY FAR our most technical, advanced trip… please be sure your skills are up for the challenge.

 

Fitness Level: Intermediate +

Technical Ability: Advanced – Expert

Closest Airports: Vancouver (2 hours)

Expected Weather: Highs in the 60-70’s, moderate chance of rain (higher in spring than fall)

 

Sun Valley, ID

 

Sun Valley has been a Chasing Epic destination for four years now, and it’s become one of our favorite places to ride in early summer… the temps are perfect, there’s always a storm around to keep the trails tacky, and the wildflowers are off the hook.  Sun Valley is the quintessential high-country destination, but without the uber-high elevation you’ll experience in Colorado on our summer and fall trips.  With the town of Sun Valley sitting around 6,000′ and most rides topping out below 9,000′, the elevation is still a factor but it’s a bit more manageable here.

We’ve been putting together some great new point-to-points in Sun Valley exploring new areas each time, and we’re always looking to link up our favorites.  Sun Valley has a unique backcountry feel, where we can be out on trail all day for 20+ miles and we don’t see another soul; it’s quite nice.  Each day expect a 20’ish mile ride with around 3,000′ (or more) of climbing, and we’ll do our best to include shuttle drops where we can in order to maximize the vertical!  Sun Valley is likely our easiest trip from a technical perspective, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s an “easy” trip overall…

 

Fitness Level: Intermediate-Advanced

Technical Ability: Intermediate

Closest Airports: Hailey / Sun Valley (25 minutes), Boise (2.5 hours), SLC (4 hours)

Expected Weather: Highs in the 70s/80s, cool at night, slight chance of rain in early summer

 

Durango, CO

 

Another new trip for 2023, Durango has been on our radar for several years.  If you’ve ridden with us in Crested Butte, Sun Valley, or on the Monarch Crest Enduro and you’re looking for the next high-country trip… then Durango is definitely for you.  The climbing is similar to Crested Butte (typically shorter/punchier climbs, but similar in nature), but the downhills are a notch tougher (but not quite as tough as the epics on our Monarch Crest trip).  The altitude will slow you down a bit, but the better shape you’re in, the better you’re going to feel over the four days of riding in the San Juan high country!

Durango sits in the southwest corner of Colorado, smack-dab in the middle of the famous San Juan mountains, and offers some of the best high-country riding in the US.  We’ll mix and match trails north of town and off the Colorado Trail to create a 4-day itinerary that will push you to your limits.  To us, this trip is the ultimate “overall” combination of riding skills and ability with tough climbs, long days, and rowdy descents: definitely bring your A-game, and most definitely put the training miles in for this one.

 

Fitness Level: Advanced

Technical Ability: Intermediate +

Closest Airports: Durango (45 minutes), Montrose (2 hours), Albuquerque (4 hours)

Expected Weather: Highs in the 70s with monsoon storms in the summer

 

Monarch Crest Enduro

 

The Monarch Crest Enduro was our Wildcard trip back in 2020, and due to popular demand we’ve made it a mainstay on our annual trip calendar; in all honesty, it’s SO much fun, and it’s the perfect Big Mountain Enduro trip that pushes our clients in all the right ways.  For our US-based trips, this one is as burly as it gets.

For this trip, you better bring your A-game… advanced riders only here.  This trip is quintessential “enduro”, as it’s all about the long, rowdy descents as we explore some of the best downhills in the state of Colorado.  We’ll be based in Salida with most of our rides focused on the world-famous Monarch Crest area, plus a “pedal day” at Canyon Creek that will push even the fittest of mountain bikers.  The technical terrain here is a step up from our regular trips, so please come prepared.  Expect steep, rocky, rowdy, technical descents that last for miles, along with lots of riding above 10,000 feet.

 

Fitness Level: Intermediate + (but the altitude is a real factor here!)

Technical Ability: Advanced

Closest Airports: CO Springs (2.5 hours), Denver (3+ hours), Gunnison (90 minutes)

Expected Weather: Highs in the 60s/70s with a decent chance of monsoon storms in the summer

 

Crested Butte, CO

 

Ahhh…. Crested Butte in the fall.  If you’re looking for the perfect “epic” mountain bike trip, this one is it: dynamic weather, huge rides, long descents, and a little bit of suffering thrown in for good measure.  Nothing about Crested Butte is easy, but it’s all totally worth it in the end: this is some of the best high country riding available in the world, hands down.  Most of the rides on this trip will be pedal days, but we do always build in a shuttle or two in order to maximize the fun.  Expect long days in the saddle, but those days will be so damn good.

Like we mentioned above, this trip will push most riders to their limits: the climbs are long and tough, there’s enough technical terrain to keep you on your toes, the altitude is very real (we’ll get above 11,000 feet), and the weather can be “interesting”.  All that said, if you train and put in the miles before your trip, you’ll absolutely love it.  In fact, Crested Butte sees the most repeat clients of any trip we run, as our riders want to come back again and again.

 

Fitness Level: Advanced

Technical Ability: Intermediate +

Closest Airports: Gunnison (35 minutes), Montrose (2 hours), Grand Junction (3 hours), Denver (5 hours)

Expected Weather: Highs in the 50s/60s and very cool at night, with a slight chance of rain/snow depending on elevation

 

Brevard, NC

 

Brevard is currently our only east coast destination, and we absolutely love making the trip every fall!  The riding in Pisgah is as rowdy as it gets, and is very different from what we have out west.  On this trip, expect three days of our riding in Pisgah National Forest on steep, rooty, loamy trails that can push our best riders to the limit.  Most of the climbs here are on fire/logging roads so they tend to be pretty mellow, but once the singletrack makes an appearance it gets steep and tough!

The last day will either be over in Dupont State Park, where it’s a super fun combination of flow and rocky tech, or at Kanuga Bike Park, which is a “self-powered” bike park with a little bit of everything.  Like always, we’ll build in a shuttle or two, but make sure you’ve put in the miles over the spring and summer because the riding in Brevard is sneaky tough.  Fall weather in Brevard can be interesting, but we’ve found that it adds to the mystique of riding here… leafy descents, wet roots, and a little bit of mud are part of the charm.  Bring it on!

 

Fitness Level: Intermediate +

Technical Ability: Intermediate – Advanced

Closest Airports: Asheville (30 minutes), Charlotte (2+ hours)

Expected Weather: Highs in the 70s, chilly at night, always a chance of rain!