Routes and Stages
TransRockies was the first to bring the epic format to North America. In 2012 TransRockies continues to improve it’s route quality, further refining the major route overhaul introduced in 2010. With 3 stages of mostly new riding, the 2011 route represents a significant change over the 2010 route, and will further increase the amount of rideable high quality single track. All route details below are subject to change and permitting, but this is what we’re working on.
For our 10th anniversary, TransRockies opens in the iconic mountain biking destination of Fernie BC. The town surrounded with legendary single track trail serves as a stunning backdrop to our opening stages. Riders starting at timed intervals will get to ride some of the worlds best singletrack and spend our first three nights enjoying the comforts of this exciting mountain community.
The morning of the fourth stage we will transport riders north into the heart of Kananaskis Country, bypassing many of the low-lying areas that have been subject to heavy mud in the past. Stage four starts with a short but challenging stretch on dirt road, yielding to closed road, and quickly meeting the trails, including Link Creek and Volcano Ridge. Stage 4 finishes with the classic Wildhorse trail, one of the favourite trails of last year’s race.
Stage 5 is all about great trails. After a stretch of dirt road to spread out the field, you’ll start with a descent of the Prairie Creek trail. From there, it’s a short stretch on Elbow Valley Trail to link up with Sulphur Springs. Then it’s the region’s premiere purpose built mountain bike ascent – Pnuema. It just keeps going with more great singletrack including Moose Packers Trail, Ridgeback, and back to Sulphur Springs. Elbow Valley trail and a quick section on pavement will bring you back to Little Elbow Campground.
Stage 6. A few of our past TransRockies riders know about this stage and will tell you it’s the greatest ever stage of TransRockies, with epic climbs, unbelievable ridge-line views (weather permitting) and long rewarding descents. After a tough and rewarding day your finish is the Rafter Six Ranch east of Canmore. Join your new friends around the evening campfire. When morning dawns you will roll to the finish line in Canmore.
Our final stage has a lot of different meaning and emotion but one thing everyone can agree on is that the trail’s lot of fun. The stage ends with rolling singletrack descending onto the Main Street of Canmore and the awaiting crowds. Welcome home TransRockies Finishers!
We end the week with our famous TransRockies finisher banquet, Bring you family and friends – it’s not to be missed and you earned it!
2012 Route Description
We’ve ridden all of our proposed 2011 routing, but we’re still in the permitting process and fine-tuning the details. Don’t be surprised it there are small changes to the numbers before race day. Please note that all information is subject to change. Elevation gain/loss data collected by GPS can be highly inaccurate and varied depending on how it is measured and the equipment used. Our elevation data should approximate the measurements obtained by a portable GPS unit.
| 2012 Stage 1 – Fernie to Fernie Time Trial
Fernie is well known for its world famous singletrack riding. Designed by multi-time TransRockies Finisher and Fernie trail-builder extrordinaire, Pat Gilmar, stage one will highlight some of the best and funnest singletrack in Fernie. To minimize congestion on the narrow trails, this stage will be a time trial (Team Time Trial for TransRockies Teams and Individual Time Trial for TR3). 2010 Stage 1 News Report Video
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Distance: | 31 km
19 miles |
| Elevation Gain/Loss: | +1,150 / -1,150 m
+ 3,783 / – 3,783 ft |
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| Start/Finish Location: | Main Street Fernie | |
| Stage Designer: | Pat Gilmar | |
| Stats: | 68.4 % Singletrack 12.1% Wide Trail 16.8% Gravel Road 2.7% Pavement 100% Rideable* * Rideability based on mid-pack rider in normal dry conditions, highly subjective and provided for comparison purposes only |
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| 2012 Stage 2 – Fernie to Fernie
After the first mass start of the week, stage 2 will roll out of downtown. A warmup climb up Ridgemont Road will bring you to the first section of classic single-track, the Splitting Bears Trail. Then spend a time spinning up the Coal Creek Heritage Trail before dropping back onto Coal Creek Road for the main climb up to Coal Creek Summit, and then onto the incredible descent that premiered with last year’s TransRockies – Porky Blue. Then it’s a fun Singletrack traverse back into a Main Street Fernie finish.
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Projected Distance: | 51 km
31 miles |
| Projected Elevation Gain/Loss: | +/- 2,200 m
+/- 7,200 ft |
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| Start /Finish Location: | Main Street Fernie | |
| Stage Designer: | Pat Gilmar | |
| Stage Stats | TBA | |
| Proposed Route Subject to Change
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| 2012 Stage 3 – Fernie to Island Lake Lodge
When it comes to Fernie singletrack, Stage 1 and 2 are just scratching the surface. You told us you wanted more of the incredible buff Fernie singletrack and less road. We listened and are hard at work on a brand new Stage 3. The new stage will be a classic TR Mass start out of downtown Fernie, led by the town’s historic Fernie Fire Engine. After a few km of road, and wide trail to spread out the field, we’ll transition into some of the incredible mountain biking trails on the north side of the Valley. This day will feature relentless but rideable climbs and rewarding fun descents, before finishing at the spectacular Island Lake Lodge. A portion of entry fees will be going to the Fernie Trails Alliance.
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Projected Distance: | 36-46 km
22-28 miles |
| Projected Elevation Gain/Loss: | 1,700-2,000 m / -1,300- 1,600 m
5,500-6500 ft / -4,300 – -5,300 ft |
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| Start Location: | Fernie, BC | |
| Finish Location: | Island Lake Lodge | |
| Stage Designer: | Pat Gilmar | |
| Stage Stats: | ||
| Proposed Route Map Subject to Change
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| 2012 Stage 4 – North Fork Recreation Area to Little Elbow Campground.
Brand new for 2011, the new stage 4 starts with a bus transfer from Etherington Creek Campground. This strategically placed transfer puts you at the start of the best riding in the Rockies, and skips over the areas most prone to difficult mud in wet conditions. From North Fork you head south on the Gorge Creek Road, which is closed and reclaimed after 7 km. This brings you quickly to the base of the biggest climb of the day to the top of Volcano Ridge. This newly re-built climb is a grunt but all rideable by top riders, and mostly rideable by mid-pack folks. A rolling descent on trails brings you to the spectacular Black Rock Canyon. Then it’s onto the last climb of the day on Wildhorse trail, and a blast down one of the funnest descents of the week.
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Projected Distance: | 47 km
29 miles |
| Projected Elevation Gain/Loss: | +1,250 m / -1,000 m
+4,101 ft. / – 3,281 ft. |
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| Start Location: | North Fork Recreation Area | |
| Finish Location: | Little Elbow Campground | |
| Stage Designer: | Aaron McConnell | |
| Stage Stats: | 48.5% Singletrack 14.3% Wide Trail 28.8% Gravel Road 8.3% Pavement 97.6% Rideable* * Rideability based on mid-pack rider in normal dry conditions, highly subjective and provided for comparison purposes only |
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| 2012 Stage 5 – Little Elbow to Little Elbow
Since we first introduced “big loop” stages at Nipika in 2008, we have seen great reviews for these stages that feature excellent riding based out of an attractive base camp. We return to this concept with our Little Elbow based Stage 5. Stage 5 features an incredible loop of mountain bike trails. The stage combines classic area rides like Prairie Creek, Sulphur Springs and Moose Packers Trail with newly developed purpose-built mountain biking trails like Pnuema and Ridgemont to put together the ultimate combination of trails in the Moose Mountain area.
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Projected Distance: | 66 km
41 mi |
| Projected Elevation Gain/Loss: | +2,000 m / -2,000 m
+6,562 ft. / -6,562 ft. |
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| Start/Finish Location: | Little Elbow Campground | |
| Stage Designer: | Aaron McConnell | |
| Stage Stats: | 67.4% Singletrack 0.0% Wide Trail 14.8% Gravel Road 17.8% Pavement 97.2% Rideable* * Rideability based on mid-pack rider in normal dry conditions, highly subjective and provided for comparison purposes only |
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| 2012 Stage 6 – Little Elbow Campground to Rafter Six Ranch Our “Queen Stage” will be one of the funnest days you will have on a mountain bike. Our longest stage with significant climbing, stage 6 will also be the most rewarding, with dozens of kilometers of marquee mountain trails that will challenge your stamina and riding skills, and reward with fantastic ridgeline views and incredibly fun descents. Locals will surely recognize Powderface Creek Trail, Prairie Creek Trail, Jumpingpound Ridge Trail, Coxhill Ridge Trail, and Lusk Pass Trails as some of the best rides in the area. 2010 Stage 6 News Report Video
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Projected Distance: | 72 km
45 miles |
| Projected Elevation Gain/Loss: | +2,,050 m / – 2,350 m
+6,726 ft / – 7,710 ft |
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| Start Location: | Little Elbow Campground | |
| Finish Location: | Rafter Six Ranch | |
| Stage Designer: | Jim Smith | |
| Stage Stats: | 40.3% Singletrack 27.1% Wide Trail 28.4% Gravel Road 4.1% Pavement 97.1% Rideable* * Rideability based on mid-pack rider in normal dry conditions, highly subjective and provided for comparison purposes only |
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| 2012 Stage 7 – Rafter Six Ranch to Canmore, AB
Our final stage takes us up the beautiful Bow Valley to the town of Canmore, just outside Banff National Park. This stage features the TransCanada Trail, fun singletrack riding leading to the town of Canmore. Once in the town, the route will explore some of the Quarry Lake trail network, and then into the Canmore Nordic Centre, host venue of the 1988 Winter Olympics and UCI Mountain Bike World Cup racing from 1998-2000. Finally, the route will descend into the Town of Canmore and the cheers of the assembled crowd on Canmore’s Main Street. 2010 Stage 7 News Report Video
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Projected Distance: | 45 km
28 miles |
| Projected Elevation Gain/Loss: | 1,150 m / -1,150 m
3,773 / -3,773 ft. |
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| Start Location: | Rafter Six Ranch | |
| Finish Location: | Main Street Canmore | |
| Stage Designer: | Jim Smith | |
| Stage Stats: | 51.1% Singletrack 28.4% Wide Trail 2.7% Gravel Road 17.8% Pavement 95.2% Rideable* * Rideability based on mid-pack rider in normal dry conditions, highly subjective and provided for comparison purposes only |
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2012 Projected Overall Route Statistics
| TR7
Teams of 2 – 7 Days |
TR3
Solo – 3 Days |
TR4
Solo – 3 Days |
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| Projected Total Distance | 371 km
231 mi |
141 km
88 mi |
230 km
143 mi |
| Projected Elevation Gain | 11,350 m
37,238 ft |
4,900 m
16,077 ft |
6,450 m
21,161 ft |
| Projected Overall Stats | 49% singletrack
18% wide trails 23% gravel road 11% pavement |
43% singletrack
19% wide trails 29% gravel road 10% pavement |
52% singletrack
17% wide trails 20% gravel road 12% pavement |
| Projected Distance and Time on Trails | 246 km / 153 mi
79% of riding time |
87 km / 54 mi
75% of riding time |
159 km / 99 mi
81% of riding time |
| Projected Distance and Time on Singletrack | 181 km / 112 mi
62% of riding time |
61 km / 38 mi
57% of riding time |
120 km / 75 mi
65% of riding time |
