The Canada Cup Trail on Baseline Mountain of Rocky Mountain House has been named one of the eight most dangerous mountain biking trails in the world by Fezzari, a bicycle-making company based in Utah.

The trails are part of a list that includes the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, an ancient road named Pasubio in Vicenza, Italy, and the Yungas Road in Bolivia.

“It’s steep and rocky downhill can make less experienced riders lose control. Not to mention insanely steep sections and obstacles, such as small trees on the way, which require adequate training to master,” writes the Team Fezzari blog site. “Take a trip to Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada, if you’re in for this type of challenge.”

Baseline Mountain, located about 70 km southwest of Rocky on Hwy 752, is number six on the list of eight, listed at www.fezzari.com/teamfezzari/. Fezzari custom builds, designs and manufactures cycling products.

Russ Page, with Fezzari, said they compiled the list by doing research on the Internet and talking to some of their Fezzari riders who named some trails that they thought were pretty “gnarly.” He said they didn’t want to give the trails a stigma with the title dangerous, but they wanted to bring attention to the great rides around the world.

“We’re trying to get people’s attention that these are some fun rides. I think in general when people see a nice downhill ride the word dangerous says I want to go do it. Ride at your own risk, but we thought these were some really adrenaline-filled rides,” Page said.

Baseline Mountain is known for steep and technically difficult trails, with one jump even going over a creek.

On a different website someone describes Baseline Mountain as having some of the “steepest and gnarliest” trails.

“I think it’s challenging and difficult, but not dangerous,” said Loyal Ma, who owns Rocky Mountain Bike ‘N’ Board and is known as “the mountain bike yoda” by some in Rocky. There are 10 evacuation points if someone ever were seriously injured and the courses are only 100 metres off the main road so if someone were hurt they could be taken out.

But Ma said in 20 years he has never heard of anyone having any broken bones at Baseline Mountain, with the only injury happening when a medic tripped on his way to the beer cooler.

As a Union Cycliste Internationale mountain bike official, Ma has travelled around the country and the world inspecting courses to make sure they are safe to ride down. He said Baseline Mountain has hosted 10 Alberta Bicycle Association provincial championships and two Canada Cups; it is a safe course and he would hate to see it get a reputation for not being one.

Ma trains children to travel the trails, with the idea that if they train on one of the toughest courses in the world they’ll be able to ride anything.

He said urban dwellers come out to Baseline expecting it to be flat, but he said he always tells people to be cognizant of the fact that it’s not Canada Olympic Park.

“It’s a mountain. It’s not the Red Deer River Valley,” said Ma.

sobrien@reddeeradvocate.com