More Jonkershoek advice needed

[Donald_13]

Hey everyone-

I've been wanting to ride Jonkers since moving here but haven't found the time until recently. I looked at the post below and generally like the two options. Would those options be considered the longest way down with the most fun attached to them? For reference, I'm use to riding trails in Vancouver/Whistler (think A-line) which are fast and flowy with some technical sections thrown in for good measure.

I'm guessing to plan for half a day of riding considering the amount of climbing. Must admit, I'm spoiled with chair-lifts so now I have to earn it.

 

[Jako De Wet]

7 hours ago, Donald_13 said:

Hey everyone-

I've been wanting to ride Jonkers since moving here but haven't found the time until recently. I looked at the post below and generally like the two options. Would those options be considered the longest way down with the most fun attached to them? For reference, I'm use to riding trails in Vancouver/Whistler (think A-line) which are fast and flowy with some technical sections thrown in for good measure.

I'm guessing to plan for half a day of riding considering the amount of climbing. Must admit, I'm spoiled with chair-lifts so now I have to earn it.

 

For someone that rides Whistler A Lines, I would suggest going to top Armageddon, Iron Monkey, DH and Plumber. Probably just over 20kms with about 1600m elevation, but with that kind of experience under the belt, those 4 trails seems like the best fit.

[NickGM]

8 hours ago, Donald_13 said:

Hey everyone-

I've been wanting to ride Jonkers since moving here but haven't found the time until recently. I looked at the post below and generally like the two options. Would those options be considered the longest way down with the most fun attached to them? For reference, I'm use to riding trails in Vancouver/Whistler (think A-line) which are fast and flowy with some technical sections thrown in for good measure.

I'm guessing to plan for half a day of riding considering the amount of climbing. Must admit, I'm spoiled with chair-lifts so now I have to earn it.

 

Jonkershoek is great but compared to whistler the trails are not really maintained. Stuff tends to get built and is awesome for a month but then becomes rutted and rocky. It evolves into something more technical as a result, which is nice in it's own way.

G-Spot actually flows a lot better and has a few big gap jumps and big (better maintained) berms, etc, but doesn't have anywhere near the number of trails as Jonkershoek.

@Jako De Wet btw A-Line is a specific trail name at whistler, not a reference to the more technical parts of any given trail (as the term is used pretty often in XC). Still, I would have recommended the same trails (ie: stuff I don't have the nuts to ride properly). 

[Headshot]

You cant really compare G Spot to JH. It has hardly any gradient and relies on smoothness to carry speed through the berms and jumps. 

JH's trails are all technical single track ranging from the easiest Never Ending Story to the steepest hardest like The Plumber. Red Phoenix lies between these extremes, has high speeds, berms and small jumps lower down. Parts of lower Armageddon section have more of the same berms and jumps. The upper parts of Armageddon and Iron Monkey are very technical. If you just want to ride smoother faster terrain you can tailor your ride to exclude these sections and save yourself a lot of climbing in the process.

JH is as close to riding steep Euro terrain as you can find in SA. It would be awesome if there was a lift or shuttle service. Its the kind of place an eBike makes huge sense.

[Mook]

13 minutes ago, Headshot said:

You cant really compare G Spot to JH. It has hardly any gradient and relies on smoothness to carry speed through the berms and jumps. 

JH's trails are all technical single track ranging from the easiest Never Ending Story to the steepest hardest like The Plumber. Red Phoenix lies between these extremes, has high speeds, berms and small jumps lower down. Parts of lower Armageddon section have more of the same berms and jumps. The upper parts of Armageddon and Iron Monkey are very technical. If you just want to ride smoother faster terrain you can tailor your ride to exclude these sections and save yourself a lot of climbing in the process.

JH is as close to riding steep Euro terrain as you can find in SA. It would be awesome if there was a lift or shuttle service. Its the kind of place an eBike makes huge sense.

At Jonkers you could try to have somebody take your bike to the top, but you might just never get it back again 😬

[ChrisF]

My 2c .... go with somebody that knows the area.

 

The route markings were "poor" when I did it on my own.

[Puxi]

Hi send me a pm happy to take you for a ride then go from there

[herrowpreeze]

13 hours ago, Donald_13 said:

Hey everyone-

I've been wanting to ride Jonkers since moving here but haven't found the time until recently. I looked at the post below and generally like the two options. Would those options be considered the longest way down with the most fun attached to them? For reference, I'm use to riding trails in Vancouver/Whistler (think A-line) which are fast and flowy with some technical sections thrown in for good measure.

I'm guessing to plan for half a day of riding considering the amount of climbing. Must admit, I'm spoiled with chair-lifts so now I have to earn it.

 

If you want someone to show you around, I can arrange to go with you

But Jonkerhoek is nothing like A Line, its rough jank, not smooth, no big jump, and lots of technical rock features.

[Donald_13]

Appreciate the advice and suggestions. Trust me, there are a few jumps on A-line I won't hit but you can roll them. So it sounds like it Jonkers relates more to Freight Train at Whistler or Animal Crackers at Snowmass. I use to live in Seattle (close to Whistler) and Colorado which is where Snowmass is. Colorado is more rocky than Whistler so maybe a better comparison.

Tech lines are just as much fun as flow but if you can combine the two then, sublime.

Mate of mine I was going to go with decided England would be a better home so now trying to figure out the area on my own.

Puxi / herrowpreeze, I'll reach out and try to coordinate a time/day to get out there with one or both of you. Everyone else can join as well.

Edited May 23 by Donald_13

[Robbie Stewart]

If you're looking for some smooth flow line jumping then Hoogekraal has a line that has a bunch of decent sized jumps that can be rolled on the B-line or if you opt for the A-line you can pull some serious hanging time. It just recently got revamped and opened again to the public two weeks ago and is riding very well currently. 

This is mid way down that new line.

 

 

[Kvrsa]

As a first time at Jonkers (assuming at least an intermediate level of skill), I would start with Never Ending Story 2 down to ease into the ride/warm up, then across the valley and up to fire hut 2 down, then climb up Irish and go down from Armageddon 5 via Zulu Land... Trails would be from easiest to hardest... that would probably (from the gate) be around 25km and just short of 1000m of climbing and be a solid introduction to what Jonkershoek offers. If you're still fresh then go do the last 2 Red Phoenix trails, which will add a couple hundred meters of elevation.

Depending how that goes come back and give the the higher up Armageddon sections and full Red Phoenix a run - still not phased - then look at Iron Monkey, Plumber, Status Quo - latter two being seriously technical.