8.1 miles
Distance
1,458 ft
Climb
-1,533 ft
Descent
3,189 ft
High Point

This route is a simple guide, directions can change with interpretation. If you're unsure about directions or difficulty we highly encourage you to grab a guide on one of our daily Singletrack Tours.

A great Advanced XC loop with some technical climbs and descents.

You will begin with a climb heading straight up the left side of the piste on Blackcomb. Access the 'ascent trail' on your right once you are in line with the second group of trees (The initial trailhead at the bottom is fenced off for hikers) this is a shared trail so be aware of hikers.

Climb out of the last group of trees into the beginner ski area zone and take the left along the ‘Base 2 access road’. Look for a trail descending away from you to your left, this is the Blackcomb XCO climb- Be aware at this point for oncoming traffic. Take this and head right to follow the trail uphill as it traverses the decent trail ‘Instant Gratitude’ taking a left turn when you see it.

Once you join the ‘Blackcomb Access Road’- descend and keep right at the next 2 junctions- eventually crossing over a large wooden bridge. After the bridge look right for the trailhead and take this turn to climb on ‘Yummy Numby’. (if you see signs for the golf course you have past the turn)

Climb ‘Yummy Numby’ trail- a technical and rooty climb that features a narrow bridge crossing, small rocky moves and some woodwork. Keep right at the next junction to continue the ‘Yummy Numby’ climb up some steep corners. Follow the trail as it crosses the FSR and eventually joins ‘Yummy Numby (Upper)’ Take a right here and continue up. This is a trail with much the same theme to it as before.

Once you have completed a dozen or so technical corners you will see the trail goes flat- follow this left to continue to the ‘Foreplay Decent’. The descent features many punchy climbs, wood work, along with some fun rock roll moves with optional go arounds. Take care in the wet.

Eventually you will find the trails connects with several other trails joining from the right- keep left to eventually join Central Scrutinizer. Follow this as it descends across an FSR heading straight up the rocky climb of Packard Goose. From Packard Goose head straight into ‘I’m not Satisfied’ and onto ‘Why Johnny Can’t Read’ these trails will traverse the hillside, taking in some small technical rock moves and wooden features while mixing climbs and small descents. As you finish the last feature on ‘Why Johnny Can’t Read’ either taking the technical rock line or wooden bridge, take a left onto the crushed gravel trail ‘Molly Hogan’ for a short time until you see the entrance for Grand Wazoo . Take this and follow the trail to completion. At the end of your descent take a left and follow the valley trail back towards the fairmont golf course taking this right hand turn to take you back into the upper village.

Detailed Description
The Arbutus Routes - XC Foreplay Loop (Advanced) is a 8 mile popular expert route located near Whistler British Columbia. This mountain bike only route. This route includes 22 trails. This route climbs 1,458 ft with a max elevation of 3,189 ft then descends -1,533 ft.
Local Trail Association
Local trail association
Whistler Off Road Cycling Association (www.worca.com)
Please consider joining or donating to the local riding association to support trail development & maintenance.
donate to earn trail karma!

Trail Products

97 Reviews & Comments


We hope you've been enjoying Trailforks!

Create a FREE account to view route comments and much more.

Details

  • Riding area
  • Primary Activity
    Mountain Bike
  • Difficulty rating
    Black Diamond
  • Ridelogs
    5
More Stats for The Arbutus Routes - XC Foreplay Loop (Advanced) mountain bike route
  • Avg time
    4 hr 0 min
  • Altitude change
    -76 ft
  • Altitude min
    2,229 ft
  • Altitude start
    2,305 ft
  • Altitude end
    2,228 ft
  • Grade
    -0.2%
  • Grade max
    -48%
  • Grade min
    37.9%
  • Distance climb
    3 miles
  • Distance down
    4 miles
  • Distance flat
    3,960 ft
Avg: 3.5 (4 votes)
close
3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Partial
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 2 days
  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
  • < 6 months
  • > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
  • Downhill Only
  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
Contribute Details
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
  • most popular
  • popular
  • less popular
  • not popular
ATV/ORV/OHV Filter
Max Vehicle Width
inches
US Cell Coverage
Legend
cell carrier legend

Radar Time
x Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
  • mountain biking recent
  • mountain biking (>6 month)
  • hiking (1 year)
  • moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
  • Downhill Ski
  • Backcountry Ski
  • Nordic Ski
  • Snowmobile
Winter Trails
Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.
x Missing Trails
Most Popular
Least Popular
Trails are colored based on popularity. The more popular a trail is, the more red. Less popular trails trend towards green.
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
Trails Deemphasized
Trails are shown in grey.
disable
Only show trails with NO bikes.
enable

Save the current map location and zoom level as your default home location whenever this page is loaded.

Save
Trail transparency
568
1,716
576
982

Recent Trail Reports Along Route

statustraildateconditiondescription
Blackcomb Access Road
Jul 1, 2025 @ 10:04am
Jul 1, 2025
Valley Trail - Passive House to Lost Lake
Jul 1, 2025 @ 10:04am
Jul 1, 2025
Grand Wazoo
Jun 29, 2025 @ 8:48am
Jun 29, 2025
Comfortably Numb (Foreplay Descent)
Jun 28, 2025 @ 2:41pm
Jun 28, 2025
Black bear with cub encounter in the lower part of the trail.
Why Johnny Can't Read
Jun 26, 2025 @ 3:21pm
Jun 26, 2025
more reports »
  • By arbutusroutesTF Pro & contributors
  • #17047 - 2,938 views