The Canada Cup trail at Baseline Mountain in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, is broken into two sections. Canada Cup Upper is decidedly shorter but makes up for it in spiciness. The trail starts with some relatively tight singletrack through the trees and is chunky before encountering a smallish rock drop, which is followed by more chunk, off-camber turns, and just generally steep descending. The trail traverses another technical, ledgey section that is fairly off-camber before crossing the shuttle road where Canada Cup Lower begins. This upper section is rated a black diamond trail, though locals make a distinction between this and a "Baseline black" — which is typically a touch spicier. Regardless, Canada Cup Upper drops by more than 200 vertical feet over just 800 linear feet.
Before the rebuild, the lower section was a bit narrower and jankier. After the rebuild, though, Canada Cup Lower was widened a touch and caters more toward a dedicated flow trail. The beginning is still relatively narrow as it cuts through the trees, but once it leaves the trees, the trail becomes noticeably wider and begins to feature typical flow trail features — berms, bumps, and jumps. While Canada Cup Lower enters wooded areas a few more times during the descent, the trail stays wider.
One thing that doesn't change throughout the duration of Canada Cup Lower is the high speeds. The trail becomes blue and descends nearly 1,000 feet over a mile and a half. Riders who may not want the advanced-level tech of Canada Cup Upper can opt to start on the lower section, which serves as a great introduction to Baseline Mountain. That said, Baseline Mountain is known for its steep, gnarly trails that lean heavily toward advanced, so even the intermediate trails here lean closer to dark blue.
