Blog
1800m Down: Heli-Dropping into Whistler’s Backcountry on the S.150
04 November 2025
Words: Gill Harris
This summer, Gee and Athy ticked off something special, a heli-drop into the Whistler backcountry and an 1800-metre descent. The location: Hidden Peak, a remote 13km trail deep in the Rutherford Valley. The terrain: raw alpine singletrack, rock slabs, steep tree-line chutes, and a whole lot of vertical.
While Gee dropped in aboard his faithful S.200 DH rig, Dan opted for his S.150, putting our all-rounder trail machine to the all-mountain test.
The trip was made possible by our friends at Continental, and it gave Dan the chance to try out the latest Enduro version of their oh-so-sticky Kryptotal Super Soft tyres in some big-mountain territory.
DA “It’s always cool to go Heli-Biking! It’s pretty insane loading your bike into the heli then within five minutes you’re at the top of a huge peak! Especially coming from the UK where it’s all tractors and land-rovers to get the top. Massive thanks to Conti for organising such a cool trip – there was a gang of us, I guess about 15 riders and journos; me and Gee, Kera Linn, Moonhead, Brian Park and Matt Beer and loads more, the trail is about 13 km long, way out there in the back-country so it needed a lot of trust in our equipment; I’m very pleased to report not a single flat all the way down, it’s actually amazing; that top section is rocky! Proper Alpine gnar!
I was super-hyped for the experience but at the same time I hate helicopters! They just feel so small and dangerous. All these crazy thermals buffet you around, it feels so sketchy but our pilot from Blackcomb Helis was great and got us down nice and smooth! I guess it just give an amazing perspective of where you are; we’ve been riding in Whistler since 2006, nearly 20 years; when you go heli - biking it’s so different, you’re away from the park, it’s not just a new zone with new trails but a whole different perspective on a familiar place. Our guide was brilliant – and super-fit!
The trail we rode is called Hidden Peak and was built by AlpX above the Rutherford Valley. It breaks into three main sections: high alpine, 3.5km in and out of the trees and then a fast, open lower stretch that drops right through the cut blocks into the valley. 1800m vert is a long way down and the views are absolutely stunning so there was quite a bit of stopping for photos! That top section is rated black diamond and it’s singletrack, very natural using the terrain, amazing sections of rock on rock on rock, no dirt at all but loads of big granite rock slabs to showcase the new sidewall on the tyres! Pretty much the whole trail is so remote but it was really well maintained – the guy who took us up there has stayed up there in a high alpine camp working on it for the better part of two summer seasons. every summer he takes kids up there for a week building, really cool.
As we dropped into the woods, the terrain changed, the dirt was incredible, more tests for the tyres with loose chunky rock, roots and some lovely sweeping turns and berms. There’s a bit of a climb section – maybe 1km where `I was pretty glad I’d brought my S.150 and then some fun little jumps before the trail opens up into a drier, rockier conditions with some speedy switchbacks.
We’ve heli-biked before but never on our Atherton Bikes. It felt good to have them in that situation where it’s a long way up if anything breaks!! 13km is pretty gruelling on the bike, it’s not often you do that much descending in one hit!! On the way up there I was a bit gutted not to have my 170 but the S.150 was sick; it rode really well and felt like it had a lot more travel than it did. In fact it handled exactly the same as my 170 but was maybe a bit more playful which was a lot of fun. We all rode together and on some bits I definitely had the advantage, there are a few climbs in there. Gee was on his S.200 which he loves, but honestly either is pretty good for this; the S.150 was well within its comfort zone, I just stiffened up the suspension a bit to deal with the big hits.
All in all it was a brilliant day. It’s pretty rare that you get to ride something so big, there’s nothing else really like it in terms of the scale of it, a proper big mountain ride where you’re descending for about two hours, all downhill and with a lot of variety; it’s pretty different from Dyfi, proper raw mountain-biking and I’d do it again on the S.150 anytime I get the chance!
From a different planet...
Dan's not alone when it comes to being an S.150 fan. The crew at Enduro Mag awarded it 'Best Buy' in their 2025 Trail Bike Test.