Up north where B.C. nuzzles Yukon Territory, Wade Simmons was ready.
Like most mountain bikers, Simmons had never set wheel among the glacier capped peaks in the area known for frequent floods, landslides and avalanches, according to information furnished by B.C. Parks.
Still, there was something about those technical North Shore trails Simmons had navigated over and over. He was ready.
“Pound for pound, quality of trail, I think we have the best in the world,” Simmons says of North Shore trails. “The shore will prepare you for anything . . . other places won’t prepare you for the shore.”
Lynn Valley resident Simmons was one of four riders who participated in Riding the Tatshenshini, a Red Bull TV-produced documentary. The 42-minute movie follows the quartet amid a two-week journey across the 947,026-hectare Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park.
The group’s riders included a slopestyle rider, a freerider, a promising rookie, and Simmons, who’s considered an elder statesman in the mountain biking community.
Asked about his Godfather of Freeriding nickname, Simmons laughs.
“When I was younger I was like, ‘Godfather kind of makes you sound old.’ But as I’ve evolved and had a new perspective on life . . . I’ve come to appreciate the title,” he says.
Asked about his reasons for going on the trip, the answer is simple.
“I like adventure,” Simmons says. “Mountain biking, for me, is adventure.”
However, he adds that he did have to “kind of sell the story,” to his wife.
“It was a bit of a feat,” he says with a chuckle. “I’m a lucky man with her.”
Accompanied by a guide as well as the filmmakers, the mountain bikers rafted down the river that zigs and zags through the coastal mountains before being helicoptered to mountain peaks.
The team also received guidance and permission from the Champagne First Nations.
The trip gave Simmons more appreciations for the First Nations and how they’ve lived for centuries, he says.
But as he reflects on the movie, Simmons suggests that maybe what stands out the most is the growth of mountain biking as an international sport.
“It’s cracked globally,” he says. “It’s just not renegade punks in the woods jumping off stuff.”
The documentary is a reminder of the land that’s worth protecting and the adventure that’s still out there, he says.
“This is the pinnacle of mountain bike adventure. You don’t have to go to this extreme. ... But you can take your mountain bike to Yukon and have a great time.”
The documentary can be seen at redbull.tv/film/AP-1R8N13JRD2111/riding-the-tatshenshini.
