notorious Mt. 7 Psychosis downhill race.<\/a> It\u2019s also the site of a local rite of passage for backcountry skiers. For a brief period every spring, the snowpack melts to reveal the mountain\u2019s namesake: a perfect \u201c7\u201d of snow that lingers before disappearing for the Summer.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s where Reg Mullett, a veteran freerider who also raced the Psychosis back when it was running, a friend and two snowboarders put together one of the most visually striking 30 seconds of footage we\u2019ve seen in a long time. Just as the snowboards drop in on snow, Mullett comes flying down the ridge line, arcing down into a steep, fall-line scree descent parallel to the snow.<\/p>\n
The right place at the right time<\/h2>\n
As amazing and perfect as it looks, Mullett says the moment was a lucky coincidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just got really lucky. I\u2019d just done a warm-up riding the ridge. I was hiking back up and as I was getting close to the entrance to the Seven line and I noticed two snowboarders just popping out onto the ridge. Lo a behold, it was two buddies,\u201d Mullett explains.<\/p>\n
The boarders, Dougie Fleming and George Leonardo, are also mountain bikers and were into the idea, but had their own timeline to stick to. The timing was unintentionally precise, nailing a razor-thin window none of the four were expecting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were on a bit of a time constraint, so they were keen to ride the Seven right away. I was basically ready to go. My buddy Hugh [Brown] already had the drone out and was ready to capture it. So the two snowboarders showed up and literally within five minutes we were making it happen. Just a random encounter that looked planned at the end but was nowhere near planned. But it\u2019s really cool that we captured that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\nA moment decades in the making<\/h2>\n
While it couldn\u2019t have worked out more perfectly this year, it\u2019s a moment Mullett\u2019s been chasing for nearly 18 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve been looking at and contemplating riding for a long time. I first hiked halfway down it and gave it a go in 2008,\u201d Mullett explains. That time, a bit later in the summer, the conditions weren\u2019t safe to ride it and he bailed out a third of the way down.<\/p>\n
Mullett says his friend, Rich Marshall, successfully rode it around 2020, finding a better weather window early the spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scree up there needs a level of softness to make it rideable, and that day it was\u201d the Clagarian explains. \u201cSince then, there\u2019s four or five of us that have been riding it pretty regularly every year. I first did it in maybe 2020. I\u2019ve probably done it seven or eight times since.\u201d<\/p>\n
Riding it was just the first half of the story. It took another six years for Mullett to get the shot he\u2019d envisioned all those Springs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favourite memory? I\u2019ve been trying other capture the full 8 and get the drone shot of that line for years. The last two years I\u2019ve been close, but I\u2019ve never got my dream drone shot. So I\u2019m very thankful that my buddy Hugh, who\u2019s been flying for a month, was able to capture that as he did. I\u2019m stoked to have that memory in the bank for the future and hopefully it inspires other people to do things like that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other cool memory would be my first taking a new downhill bike, the new Specialized Demo 11, into big mountain terrain. It performed amazingly and provided a little extra grip than I was expecting in situations like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mullett adds that Brown wasn\u2019t just there to fly the drone. He also ride the line after. As spectacular as the 7 ride was, it was just a warm up for a bigger trip the duo have planned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe and I and two other friends are planning a really cool trip into the Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories this summer. This was a bit of a training ride for us and an opportunity for us to have some really good discussions and planning for that big trip in August.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mullett sums up one of the most amazing scenes we\u2019ve seen lately in the understated way of someone that has bigger plans in the books:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was all-in-all just a really great day out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Close to town doesn\u2019t mean easier<\/h2>\n
While the 7 is visible from downtown Golden, you can see it from some of the town\u2019s better patios, Mullett is quick to caution that despite that proximity, it\u2019s just as serious as any of the many remote lines he\u2019s ridden.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big crux of this line is that it ends in a cliff and you need to be able to stop at the bottom. You also need to have an understanding that the conditions need to be appropriate to manage that safely. The other big concern is with rockfall. It\u2019s hard to change fall lines so you\u2019ve really gotta pay attention to any rocks that may be chasing you down or have a plan to avoid that. And certainly when you stop you\u2019ve gotta get out of the way of any potential rocks.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, while you can see it from town, the dangers aren\u2019t any less real.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a very serious big mountain line. I really hope that anybody that would try it would have ample experience and be able to understand the dangers. I think that\u2019s pretty obvious once you stand on top of this line that it\u2019s not just a \u201csend it\u201d situation. You gotta have a plan and you gotta have some experience to understand how that\u2019s going to play out. \u201d<\/p>\n
That proximity to Golden did make access much simpler than a typical day out for the scree-riding pioneer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually not that bad of a hike up compared to what you typically have for these big mountain, backcountry. That Mount 7 \u00a0FSR gets you 15km and 1000m up. So it\u2019s just another 600m of hike-a-bike. Albiet it was pretty challenging to navigate with the bike around some of the corners. That was the crux of the hike up.\u201d<\/p>\n
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