Whenever this argument of "Secret trails are getting out of hand" comes up I always wonder about Squamish, particularly Alice Lake. They have a somewhat comparable riding and building culture, but don't have this problem of sheer quantity of unsanctioned lines.
As someone who also rides ███████ like they will perish if they touch an officially designated mountain bike trail (that one stung a little) I simply cant say I am consistently challenged by the sanctioned riding at home. Sure there will be a single move here or there that gets the blood pumping, but to spend a whole lap to get there doesn't make much sense. You could always push the speed, but only select trails on ███████ are really much fun to do that on, why not go to the other shuttle mountain, or just rip some loam ;). Either way I always find myself staring down some greasy rock to chute or big drop by lunchtime.
Whenever I go to AL its always a different story. There is a large amount of consistently difficult riding, on Trailforks and signed around the zone. If the trails aren't at the limit, the extra credit lines on the side will be. As a result, any secret lines that pop up are usually built by some pro (probably French) and are so difficult barely anyone ever rides them, let alone rides them consistently. The quantity of difficult lines in the sanctioned network is such that most riders don't seek out challenge in unsanctioned trails. Or at least it keeps me off them. I hope this will be the case on ███████, with the boogie nights rebuild (although I heard that wasn't the original plan) and the sanctioning of a particular slab trail (you know the one). Its like if Whistler suddenly decided to close all their hardest terrain. People would poach it all day, but Blackcomb wouldn't have the same problem. Multiple user bases does make this analogy tricky though.
But who knows, maybe I'm wrong, and the sheer quantity of riders will keep pumping out new trails at the same pace, or the quantity and diversity of all users doesn't suit itself for trails in such aggressive terrain. AL seems to be more mtb focused than anything else. Or I just don't ride Squam enough. Or maybe riding the shore too much before 30 turns you into some loam hungry maniac popping out in peoples backyards. Either way great article (and song choice), got me thinking about how I conduct myself out there. Might have to revisit a some sanctioned stuff now.
