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Whistler Bike Park Poachers Ruin Fan Favorite Trail, Injure Staff
A rider gets sideways during the 2022 Whistler Crankworx Whip-Off on Crabapple Hits.Photo: Anadolu/Getty Images

Poaching closed ski area trails in the winter is dangerous, disrespectful, and a generally stupid thing to do at best. Ski patrollers work hard to evaluate and properly close terrain to keep the public safe from dangerous avalanche conditions, unseen hazards, poor coverage, and a number of other things. 

While you won't risk getting in an avalanche or destroying your skis (and body) on uncovered rocks in the summer, poaching closed bike trails is just as bad an idea. For one, bike park trail crews spend weeks preparing trails, rebuilding features, and smoothing out sections so that they ride well, not to mention all the maintenance they do throughout the summer to keep them rolling. 

Whistler Bike Park called out a couple riders for poaching Crabapple Hits, one of the biggest jump lines in the bike park, and for posting about it on Instagram.

The bike park trail crew had been hard at work reshaping the jumps on the line, which is pretty darn important on hits this big, and poachers set them back about three days in their work.

Tap or click below to watch Whistler Bike Park crew members talk about the ordeal.

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Worse than just creating extra work, some of the bike park's trail crew were actually injured due to poaching.

Riders collided with staff who weren't expecting people on a closed trail, resulting in broken trail crew member's bones. Not only does that make them unable to work, it also means less folks to keep the trails running well. 

It's actually tough to fathom this level of stupidity.

Everyone knows the cardinal rule; if you're gonna do something illegal, don't post it on Instagram. Anyone riding Crabapple hits should also know how important trail work is, and if they don't, someone should revoke their bike privileges until they do some trail work.

The Whistler Bike Park is one of the best around for a reason (look at the lip being shaped in that video- a work of art!) and the folks that keep it running deserve a lot better than this.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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