NAEC 2021 Day 1 route

Large portions of this route are only open during this race, you may be trespassing at any other time.

Day 1

Riders will depart the Send Up Arena in waves and begin pedaling on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s. You’ll take a right on Division St, and continue until seeing signs pointing out a left turn onto Slaughterhouse Gulch Rd. The asphalt will turn to dirt, and you’ll ascend roughly 2000’ to 5 Corners. Once you reach the top of the transition you have up to five minutes to start the stage.

Stage 1- Everyone – Soup Kitchen/Mom Jeans/Pirate Trail/Wide Open/Second Entrance to Secret Squirrel/Man Child
You’ll drop in on Soup Kitchen, a rooty and twisty mix of off cambers and narrow sections. As you cross the first road you’ll hit Mom Jeans, which will crank up the off cambers and reward those that stick the highlines. You’ll cross Pepsi Can and enter Pirate Trail and then pick up speed on Wide Open. Shortly after the third table top riders will hook right onto Secret Squirrel and things will narrow down again and get a little more natural. As you exit the final big left berm on Secret Squirrel you’ll be merging onto the last bit of Man Child, which starts with a small step up and step down. There’s a nice little natural section and then a table top followed by the finish line for Stage 1. Riders can transition down from here and load the gondola.

Stage 2- Everyone – Hot Beans/Frankenbeans
As you exit the gondola bay head towards Chair 3, you’ll find the start to the lookers left of the chairlift terminal. Stage 2 is a full-on downhill track with an optional section called Baby Swiss. Baby Swiss is NOT rollable, please look before you leap. When you finish this stage you will upload Chair 3.

Stage 3- Everyone- El Burro Loco/Lower Jackass/Ridge Road/Daisy Downs
As you depart Chair 3 exit to your left and you’ll find the start at the top of El Burro Loco. El Burro Loco is a blue tech trail and offers a bit of everything, including rim shattering rocks and fast berms. You’ll cross the road at the edge of the ski area and go straight into Lower Jackass, which spits you onto Ridge Road where you can sprint your legs off. Riders will turn LEFT onto the Picnic Rock viewpoint trail, this intersection is just before you’d normally turn onto Corkscrew. You’ll stay on this trail just for a second and then enter a new trail, Daisy Downs. Daisey Downs is fairly raw and narrow, it features some off cambers and tricky roots. After the finish you will immediately come out on a road.

IMPORTANT- All riders must ride UP the road to 5 Corners.

Sport- At this point Sport riders are done for the day, they can descend whatever open trails they choose from 5 Corners.

Pro/Expert Riders continue reading.

As you approach 5 Corners follow the signs that direct you to take a very hard 180 right and continue up the road, follow the signs until you reach chair 3. Load Chair 3 and exit to your right where you’ll find the beginning of Snake Pit. Ride the first part of Snake Pit until you exit the initial steep section and are crossing a nice open saddle area. You’ll see signs directing riders to Stage 4 and 5 here, follow the signs over the rope and up the road. DO NOT CONTINUE ON SNAKEPIT.

Stage 4- Red Dragon
Red Dragon is a brand new raw track built for this race. A short downhill leads into a short uphill, followed by a series of off camber corners, berms, rock rolls, and rock drops. Please do not block the trail during practice, also please practice this trail before the race. You’ll finish on a road, follow the signs back up to the saddle, and then follow the same route back towards the start of Stage 4. As you saw earlier, you’ll need to cross Stage 4 to continue the transfer to Kellogg Peak for Stage 5.

Stage 5- Stix & Stones/Snake Pit
Stix and Stones got a huge reroute in 2019. While you will use a short piece of the Stix & Stones dirt bike hard enduro course, this trial has mostly been rebuilt specifically with our race in mind. Expect to navigate a short bit of snow immediately after starting, followed by scree rock crossings, tight woods, polished roots, and all a fairly raw trail from top to bottom. You’ll merge onto Snake Pit, a DH track and things will become a little more polished but maintain a rowdy feeling. There’s a table top near the end of the course, and riders can choose whatever open trails they’d like to descend after finishing the stage.