STORY AND PHOTOS BY STEVEN MARLENEE
A Ride With Top Pro Riders Near Alpine , Wyoming
In Wyoming , what always gets me is the terrain . The mountains are tall , steep and almost sinister , and most of the trails into each riding area follow a creek at the bottom of a sharp valley between two ridges .
This is vastly different from my adoptive home state of Colorado where , in most cases , you drive to the top of a pass and unload in a road-side parking lot that is usually close to your riding elevation . Wyoming offers longer trail rides into the playgrounds , but certainly more breathtaking scenery , as you ascend from around 6,000 feet at the parking lot to nearly 11,000 feet at the summits , again in contrast to Colorado where one unloads at 10,000 and rides to 12,000 feet . And , believe me , an extra 3,000-foot elevation differential makes a big difference if you ’ re looking for that quintessential mountain experience with less chance of altitude sickness .
For most of summer , and even some of winter , I often find my mind wandering to some of the unique and awe-inspiring trips I ’ ve had to the Cowboy State . There are , without exaggeration , dozens of riding areas accessible within an hour of Alpine , including some that start right in town .
With each daydream , I can feel the building anticipation of riding my sled down a town road to the local gas station in Alpine , my heart pounding in preparation for the views and challenges I know are coming . And , while anyone can have their own adventure in Western Wyoming , few get the chance to do it along an all-star lineup like the Klim Backcountry Team .
That was my assignment – ride with some of the bestknown backcountry riding heroes in the sport , capture some photos of the action and live to tell about it .