My First Time: Women’s Night in the Whistler Bike Park

Last May, I found myself manning a craft booth in the heart of Whistler Village—for the children, of course. There I stood, covered in glitter and mourning the end of a monumental snow season, when I noticed that the masses of humans in body armor toting expensive-looking bikes swarming the village stroll. Downhill mountain bikers, it so happens.
 
My co-craft-leader, Louis, was absolutely mad about mountain biking. I followed his journey as he searched for, found and eventually purchased his dream mountain bike. It was like mountain biking meets The Bachelor.
 
All this to say that I had no idea mountain biking existed, and then, suddenly, I did. I discovered that these people share the same stoke than many of us experience while snowboarding, and I knew I had to try it.
 
Enter Whistler Mountain Bike Park’s Women’s Night.
 
After receiving assurance from several mountain biking women that Women’s Night was the perfect place for an absolute beginner like me to start, I signed myself up. Several Wednesdays later, I found myself sitting in a rental shop, being fitted with slightly damp equipment (from the sanitizer, I was told, not from sweat) and matched up with my very own mountain bike.
 

Check it out, mom!

 
I’ve ridden a bike or two in my day, mainly my bright red beauty of a Peugeot that is a few years older than I am, but this downhill mountain bike business is a whole new world. It sprang down delightfully as I sat on it. I would soon learn that I’d be getting to do very little sitting on it. Too bad.
 
I was matched up with a group of four girls, also neophytes to the biking world. I caught nobody’s names, as the helmet muffled out all sound, and watched as our patient instructor demonstrated how to load the bikes onto the lift. Easy peasy.
 
This is the point where I tell you that I absolutely bombed loading my bike onto the chair lift. A Good Samaritan came to the rescue, and nodded solemnly as I told him, “First time”.
 
I am by no means a naturally athletic person, so I’m not sure where my downhill mountain biking confidence came from. When they were seeding us into groups, I told the staff that I was new, “but a quick learner”. I navigated the skills practicing zone with a smug sense of bravado—surely they would bump me up a few levels. But the second we actually began mountain biking, well, it all went out the window.

What I pictured myself doing.

 
Mountain biking is HARD, y’all. I had seriously underestimated the physicality of the sport (isn’t biking down a hill always the easy part? Etc.). I hadn’t even bothered to remove my work makeup, but sweat-streaked mascara was the least of my concerns as I slid my way around dirt, rocks, and those pesky turns.
 
Our instructor was aces, stopping frequently to make sure we were alive, and giving us helpful tips (which I SO BADLY wanted to follow, but my body would simply ignore). Eight hundred hours later, we made it to the bottom. I don’t know how I survived it, but I did.
 
Our second run felt significantly easier, and I began to actually enjoy myself, streaky mascara and all. I was terrified and lacked any real skill, but it felt awesome. I felt the same feelings as I did my first day on a snowboard: “Man, I suck at this, but I can see how awesome this could be. I need to get better.”
 

Thank god this did not happen!

Before I knew it, our lesson adjourned and we were corralled into the GLC to enjoy a complimentary beverage (no Women’s Night is complete without a free drink). I missed the prizes, but I do know that they raffle off several awesome mountain biking-oriented prizes to cap off the evening.
 
Would I recommend Women’s Nights to a wannabe downhill mountain biking enthusiast? Absolutely. I cannot fathom even attempting this sport without proper instruction, and the other women in my group were chill and equally stoked (and possibly equally scared) as I was. At $76 for the lesson, rentals and lift ticket, it is a worthy investment to make.
 
I should also note that while I was in one of the beginner groups, there are groups for all levels. I have a few advanced friends that make Women’s Nights a ritual, and I met a girl who was on her 12th Women’s Night and had spent her evening flying off jumps.
 
Just be sure to remove your makeup first.

More info on Whistler/Blackcomb's Bike Park Women's Night HERE – Check it out!