The North face was approved to be built as IMBA "Intermediate" standard.
So what does this mean?
It means if you find Lazy Fern tricky, this trail will be very challenging.
If you find Ridgeline Vertigo and Trickle Falls Ok, this trail will not (and should not) have the anything like same technical challenge.
This is the difference between diffcult+extreme tracks, and intermediate, and easy ones..
The track itself is currently very like Sally Alley to ride. So what end of intermediate should it be built to?
Many people would automatically build a trail to be as tough as they could- however this does minimise the number of riders who can happily ride it. If we do that, we are not really building a trail to cater for as many intermediate riders as we can. Given that this is (and will be) the only intermeduiate way down from the top, I dont think we can fairly build it to be as tough as possible in technical difficulty.
However if we built an intermediate trail that is not as tough technically as can be under that standard, the more skilled riders will not have the technical challenge that they are looking for.
To ensure this trail is also enjoyed my the more skilled riders, I think we should build as much fun and flow into the trail as we can, and the more skilled riders will challenge themselves by riding it faster.
In this way their fun comes from the flow rather than the difficulty, and more riders will enjoy this epic trail.
Cheers!
Rob