Snakes Jump Part Deux

First ride of the year. Tim and I decided what better way to start off the new year than with a half day of building and ride the rest of the day. On Snakes and Ladder we have built what we call 'The Snakes Jump'; it is a jump a third of the way down the trail that you hit after pedaling hard across a bridge. It is a 3-4 foot step-down and you gap about 8-10 feet. Very soon after this you bank right and pass by a tree that is in the perfect position to hip off of and if you hit it fast enough we guess you could hip to the other side of the trail. It is at this tree that Tim and I decided we should build a jump to give you some air time.


This first picture shows where we are building the jump and all the rock and wood used in its constriction. You are looking back up at the jump.


This picture shows the jump half built from the approach. The void in the framing will be packed with rock and dirt. The ride around is on the right of the jump.


This picture shows the front of the jump and how we used rung to box it in and keep it looking sanitary. The tree that we notched into is 3/4's dead so don't worry, we are not harming a live tree.


This picture shows the jump completed and ready to be hit. The dirt packed really nice and I anticipate that we will only have to throw a bucket or two more on in the future after this settles.


This photo shows the side of the jump and our signature curvy wood work. It looks even cooler in person.


This photo is taken from the approach of the first 'Snakes Jump' and you can see the new jump that we just built in center of the picture (darker dirt). One jump just leads to the other.

It was kind of funny when we finished building this jump because almost as soon as we were done we had a visitor. Graham showed up with his dog Jasper. Graham had just put some new forks on his bike ('03 Super T's) and was taking them for a shake down run. He was all smiles and simply loved his new forks. So we all hit the new section and ripped down the rest of the trail and then up over to Hoots and down to the cars. A very productive day and a great ride.