giving lutsen a rip tomorrow

[RRWilso]

well, im up at lutsen... im very skeptical of the riding (heard some pretty poor reviews on here) but i'm here with family. im gonna go out tomorrow a rip it and see how she goes. i'll be here til' monday so if anyone is comming up for labor day weekend and wants to ride send me a pm. im up here doin some family stuff but i can always sneak away for a ride. im heading to sawtooth outfitters in tofte tomorrow to talk to jeff, who has some maps of other singletrack in the area, (that doesnt cost 30 f***ing dollars to ride for a day.) so i tell you all how it goes and post some pics and give a new review when its all done. any suggestions of good places to ride up here drop me a reply, peace bros.

[gpzrider]

I'm anxious to see what you think. I'm going to be staying in one of the condos up on the hill in Lutsen for a long weekend in October and am planning on laying out the cash and trying the trails there since I'll be right by them.

I've read some decent reviews for pincushion mountain up by Grand Marais (though I've never ridden it myself) and know that there is a bike shop behind Sven and Ole's Pizza in town that is the place to find out about riding around that area. I might try that if Lutsen doesn't sound like it is worth the money.

[col200]

I had a cabin (just recently sold) a few miles from Pincussion Mountain. That was the first singletrack I ever rode. It's really just a long loop. There are a fwe "black diamond" sections that have some killer climbs (and decents) but for the most part, it's a XC trail. Very beautiful though and if you actually climb to the pincussion point, you can ride your bike on some sweet slick rock with one of the best views in the area.

[RRWilso]

alright, so im back. i rode lutsen for two days when i was up there. my overall opinion of the trail are that they have massive potential for being something unlike anything else in mn. but there was obviously not very much thought put into the design of the trails. even though there isnt really any expert section on the trail i still had a great time. there are enough trail and service roads/catroads that you can ride for 4-5 hours and not go over the same place twice. in that respect it is refreshing for me to ride on a mountain because im used to rippin out laps at leb left and right. you get the feel of being somewhere else up there so its good. its very uneconomical though, on the riders part. it is 30 dollars a day to ride! the first day i went ahead and paid this fee. i rode all day from 10 to 5 and only rode the lift 4 times though. the second day i just rode and didnt ride the lifts. there are some serious climbs! its a lot of fun for me to ride all the way up then come down. i put in a lot of miles on the road so i felt comfortable doing this, but if you arent confident in your conditioning dont plan on just riding without a lift pass. its a serious workout.

well, to reiterate i think lutsen is too expensive, but if your willing to pay you can have some serious fun.

also, on the way home i stopped and rode at spirit for 3 hours. that has a bunch of singletrack which i found no problem. it is also all what i would consider expert terrain, so if thats your bag, check it out.

[mfx007]

______________________

[mfx007]

Does Lutsen officially allow you to ride without a lift pass? I was there Sunday and only had a few hours, so paid my $ and went to try it out. I did not make it up the gondola to try that black loop. Only did the no. 3 blue loop. I got tired of getting my brains rattled on my hardtail going down all the time - so I rode up. Refreshing.

I don't think that I would pay $30 to ride there again. However, if I could ride without a pass, I might go, but that means riding up the "green" runs. Only worked for me since I rode up at the end of the day and did not meet anyone on the way down. I might pay $10 if they put in a trail like Afton and leave the $30 lift ride to the downhillers.

Also stopped by Spirit. That place is really nice. I rode the Powder Monkey one year, so I knew where to find the stuff at the top. Unfortunately I lost the race course and ended going down the downhill / expert valleys (good stuff if you like that type of thing - too much for me).

Too bad there is apparently no other single track on the north shore. Would be some good stuff.

[mfx007]

Does Lutsen officially allow you to ride without a lift pass? I was there Sunday and only had a few hours, so paid my $ and went to try it out. I did not make it up the gondola to try that black loop. Only did the no. 3 blue loop. I got tired of getting my brains rattled on my hardtail going down all the time - so I rode up. Refreshing.

I don't think that I would pay $30 to ride there again. However, if I could ride without a pass, I might go, but that means riding up the "green" runs. Only worked for me since I rode up at the end of the day and did not meet anyone on the way down. I might pay $10 if they put in a trail like Afton and leave the $30 lift ride to the downhillers.

Also stopped by Spirit. That place is really nice. I rode the Powder Monkey one year, so I knew where to find the stuff at the top. Unfortunately I lost the race course and ended going down the downhill / expert valleys (good stuff if you like that type of thing - too much for me).

Too bad there is apparently no other single track on the north shore. Would be some good stuff.

[mfx007]

Does Lutsen officially allow you to ride without a lift pass? I was there Sunday and only had a few hours, so paid my $ and went to try it out. I did not make it up the gondola to try that black loop. Only did the no. 3 blue loop. I got tired of getting my brains rattled on my hardtail going down all the time - so I rode up. Refreshing.

I don't think that I would pay $30 to ride there again. However, if I could ride without a pass, I might go, but that means riding up the "green" runs. Only worked for me since I rode up at the end of the day and did not meet anyone on the way down. I might pay $10 if they put in a trail like Afton and leave the $30 lift ride to the downhillers.

Also stopped by Spirit. That place is really nice. I rode the Powder Monkey one year, so I knew where to find the stuff at the top. Unfortunately I lost the race course and ended going down the downhill / expert valleys (good stuff if you like that type of thing - too much for me).

Too bad there is apparently no other single track on the north shore. Would be some good stuff.

[mfx007]

Does Lutsen officially allow you to ride without a lift pass? I was there Sunday and only had a few hours, so paid my $ and went to try it out. I did not make it up the gondola to try that black loop. Only did the no. 3 blue loop. I got tired of getting my brains rattled on my hardtail going down all the time - so I rode up. Refreshing.

I don't think that I would pay $30 to ride there again. However, if I could ride without a pass, I might go, but that means riding up the "green" runs. Only worked for me since I rode up at the end of the day and did not meet anyone on the way down. I might pay $10 if they put in a trail like Afton and leave the $30 lift ride to the downhillers.

Also stopped by Spirit. That place is really nice. I rode the Powder Monkey one year, so I knew where to find the stuff at the top. Unfortunately I lost the race course and ended going down the downhill / expert valleys (good stuff if you like that type of thing - too much for me).

Too bad there is apparently no other single track on the north shore. Would be some good stuff.

[mtnbykr]

geez dude, go back and delete some of the repeats...

[mtnbykr]

Too bad there is apparently no other single track on the north shore. Would be some good stuff.

next time you're up the shore contact--

Mark Spinler
Superior North Outdoor Center
9 North Broadway, PO Box 177
Grand Marais, MN 55604
218-387-2186
bike@boreal.org (javascript:press_email('bike@boreal.org'))
superiornorthoutdoor.com

he'll know where all the nice trails are. there is more than you think...

kl

[®y$GåÅ®D]

its too bad there isn't lift access to moose mountain, becuz there are some rippin trails over there as well. I was there yesterday, and since the lifts weren't working, myself and a few others hike-a-biked up to the top of moose, and rode the 33 trail. it was long, had a few climbs not too tough for my beastly rig, and tons of rippin downhill.

well worth the walk up!

[RRWilso]

i just rode up moose, NO WALKING WIMPS! i didnt pay the second day i rode, dont tell on me...