Now for the nuts & bolts, the deets & the details, or commonly known the FAQ (because you’ve got questions and you KNOW we have answers).

Below are some of the top questions coming through the interwebs but if we missed anything, don’t hesitate to drop us a line at or DM us on our Instagram! 

What if I come solo? 

Heck ya! You may arrive solo but you’ll leave with 60+ new shreddy besties. This is a great event to connect with other femme folks in the biking community. Plus we’ll be sending out a carpool / camping list if you want to buddy up on the drive out or share a campsite with another raddie for the weekend - stay tuned! 

I’ve never been to a dig day before, should I still join? 

Abso-stinking-lutely! Shovel & Shred is a great place to get your hands dirty for the first time and play in the dirt. We’ll be working in groups assessed by skill and interest so just be sure to fill out your pre-event survey (coming in April!) to help us place you with the right group. 

I’ve heard that the trails in Darrington at North Mountain are spicy and I’m worried I’m not good enough..can I still ride? 

Lovie, we encourage all femme-identifying mountain bikers to consider joining for our sunday funday shuttle day! 

Let’s break it down, yes, many of North Mountain’s trails are lots of sugar, a bit of spice, & everything nice which is a great opportunity for all bikers from beginner-intermediate to advanced rippas to shred together. For the best experience, we recommend all riders are at minimum comfortable on descending, uneven terrain green trails and are interested in continuing to explore blue trails with more spice. Below is a breakdown comparison of North Mountain trails to a few WA favorites for comparison. 

North Mountain Skills Park (VARIOUS - Something for everyone!)- 

The skills park is a quaint bouquet of short, lapable trails located at the base of North Mountain, including a handful of green and blue trails to practice skills and take many breaks. 

Trial Comparison: A smaller Duthie or Black Diamond with less wooden skills features and more natural trail

Skyline & Hoot Owl (BLUE - Intermediate) - 

Skyline is a 1-mile trail with a mix of natural rooty, rocky PNW singletrack and machine built flow jumps and berms. Upper is more techy and the lower is more flowy.

Trial Comparison: A mix of Side Hustle at Tiger Mountain and Middle / Lower Physical Therapy at Raging River

Hoot Owl is a short connector trail from the top of Out of the Blue (Black trail, see below) that connects back to the upper shuttle zone. Think blue tech with some more difficult rock like chutes. 

Trail Comparison: Atlas at Tiger Mountain  

Jackpot & Out of the Blue (BLACK - Advanced)- 

Jackpot is a great trail to turn up the spice after warming up on Skyline (Blue) with spicier steeper lines and with more narrow and tight trail navigation needed. 

Trial Comparison:  Upper Physical Therapy at Raging River

Out of the Blue is a 4 mile descending trail (over 3200ft, in fact!) near the North Mountain fire lookout viewpoint (#viewz) that is a mix of tech ranging from blue to spicy blue to black tech-style trail and features. 

Trial Comparison:  Canyon Creek Downhill at Raging River meets Not Off the Grid (NOTG) at Tiger Mountain

Showcase Showdown (DOUBLE BLACK - Advanced+ / PRO)- 

North Mountain’s most challenging downhill trail with rocky races, steep chutes, and plenty of gnarly roots. While there are some ride arounds for the gnarliest of features, we recommend this trail for those that took their antacid and are ready to level 10 spice…looking at your advanced+ riders. 

Trial Comparison: Predator at Tiger Mountain with less flow and more technical features to navigate

Don’t forget you can get more beta on Trailforks too! 

This sounds like such a fun weekend! I would love to bring my male partner, my epic trail dog, my 11-year old shredder, and my fiddle fig leaf plant! Can I? 

While we’re giving you 100+ kudos for keeping a fiddle fig leaf plant alive (you go plant momma!), it’s a hard no for this event to bring the whole Subaru Outback family team along. This is a femme-rider only event but we’re stoked your stoked and encourage you to check out the other awesome EMBA events happening this summer for the whole crew (cough, mountain bike fest at Raging River June 8 - 9). 

I can’t wait to join Shovel & Shred 2024, but I need a place to sleep. Where should I do that? 

We recommend booking a campsite at the Whitehorse Campground which is equidistant between Moe’s Cafe (our main staging area) and North Mountain (where we’ll be digging and riding). Besure to check out their campsite rental details for rules, camper occupancy maximums, and availability. 

Written by Evergreen Members Chrissy Calvery and Miranda Smith