Panorama

We hit the road from Fernie on Saturday afternoon and followed the Columbia River north up highway 95 to Invermere, BC. From Invermere we climbed the Toby Creek road gaining 350m over 18km into the Purcell Mountains arriving at Panorama Resort.

Panorama offers a full service resort and was quite busy during our weekend there. Between the Canada Cup Downhill Mountain Bike Finals, a wedding, a family reunion and August Long weekend crowds the resort accommodations were sold out. Thankfully Panorama & Bike Parks BC hooked us up with a great one bedroom suite at the Springs which boasts two great heated swimming pools complete with water slides and fountains for the kids. We took advantage and soothed out bike park rattled bodies before retiring for the night.

Panorama Bike Park utilizes a high-speed detachable quad that provides access to 17 downhill trails descending 380m/1246feet and combine for a total 30km of trail.

Now we probably should have picked a quieter weekend to visit because with the Canada Cup Finals on Sunday it meant many trail closures leaving only 10 trails open with several detours. What was open was dry, dusty and fast although the concentrated travel did mean an abundance of braking bumps throughout the park. Dry and dusty is still fun though…as long as you’re up front.

Despite the busy village there was little to no lift line so I was able to bang off 10 runs in a few hours which added up to over 12,000′ of descent for the day. Stiffy emerged as my favourite trails on the mountain with its steep switchbacks, well built tight berms, rock gardens and multiple line selections. Crazy Train was also challenging and a lot of fun littered with rock drops, bridges and tech rock lines.

Panorama Biker Cross and Jump Park

Lift Tickets at Pano cost: $41/day + tax
DH Bike Rentals: $80/day or $119 includes lift pass and gear

I knew a few of the racers out for the Canada Cup and took a break to watch the pro-men duke it out for the championship. My buddy Adam Mantle from Dunbar Cycles wasn’t too stoked on his run but he did look fast clocking a 3:37 which was mid-pack in the field of 50 pro riders.

Pickering, Ontario’s Rob Fraser pulled off the win with a 3:24 and scooped the Canada Cup overall. This capped at big week for Ontario as Kingston’s Kyle Sangers won the Junior X Canadian National Championship which was also held at Panorama the previous weekend with a time besting the top pro men.

The Canada Cup series is a bit of sad state of affairs these days with only 3 races this year (Bromont, Tremblant & Panorama). With so much great terrain in Western Canada it is surprising that the CCA can’t find organizers to expand the circuit.

We capped off our weekend at Pano with a trip to the top with Holden. He was excited to take in the view and enjoyed the ride.

My family was also really happy to soak up the resort amenities and loved the pool and family activities available to keep the young kids occupied. As they say…a happy wife is a happy life!

Overall Panorama is a very nice resort and I would love to come back and ride it again in the early season with all trails open. It would be also nice to see some of the upper mountain open up for moutnain biking as their ski resort offers an additional 3000′ feet of vertical terrain.

A big thanks to Jeremy Neil, Panorama Resort and Bike Parks BC for the trip!