Blue Mountain Releases Statement for 2008

nice

Sounds like the trails are gonna be super easy and "safety concious". What happened last year that made them take out all the airs?

Lift access Downhill in Ontario is officially............Dead.

hahaha Kerns, you dawg

It's a real shame that everyone has to pay for a few kids not riding within their abilities. Hopefully they don't make the trails too easy to ride. I think that the assessment is a good idea, and it should apply to any beginner rider regardless of age. A guy in his 20's could still just as easily get hurt by riding stuff he shouldn't be.

fuk blue mountain.. its dead to me.

That's terrible. I'm sorry to hear that. It's good that they are open for another season, however I suspect that this may be their last due to the type of trails they are planning on having from now on.

People who get hurt riding stuff they shouldn't be who then turn around and blame the mountain ruin it for everyone. How many lift accessed bike parks in the U.S. have been closed due to this? It's total garbage.

Wow, this is pretty dissappointing of Ontario riders. My first though was "wow this is bullsh*t but not entirely unexpected". What do bike parks in the west do that is so different that they don't need this level of red tape and elimination of man made structures? It seems obvious that insurance is driving this whole thing but I could be wrong. RCR took all the man made jumps out of their ski/board parks this winter and the Ferie bike park was in danger of losing it's man made features for the summer too. Yet, people die in Whistler fairly often and they seem to keep progressing. Why? Because they can afford the insurance, big business doesn't care about peoples safety as long as you're turning a profit. If they think they can make more money by eliminating the features that are driving up the insruance costs then they'll do that. Western riders take note it can happen here too.

My understanding was that Blue was owned by Intrawest, which if Im not mistaken owns Whistler! I could be wrong but dont you think they would be working off the same master plan? Why wouldnt Blue hire Gravity Logic (Whistlers contracted Bike park designers) to at least make some reccomendations. Unfortunately it might just be the difference between West coast open mindedness and East coast conservitsm, sucks to be on the wrong side.

so its going to be downhill bike trails without jumps, drops, or any other cool features? That's the stupidest thing i've heard all week

mt. chicopee is opening a new bike park, i sure hope they have jumps and drops

lol....it sounds to me like they havent come to a great solution at all

well, if they take out all the features, we can all look forward to about 30 seconds of single track trails...sorry put buying a $35 for a lift pass to ride single track with no features is kinda weak

Hey, it's not much different in the west. Silver Star was considering abandoning it's bike park as well. If one rider sues a hill in a season, then the hill turns no profit. No one wants to invest in that.

People who can't ride, should not be sueing the hills. It's taking away riding areas from true riders. Mountain biking is awsome because it's a sport of you against yourself. If you suck, you suck. No one else's fault.

The American resorts close because of this. and it's spreading to Canada.

Lets keep the Yuppies on the Golf Course!!

they should make it cheaper or soemthing if theres not gonna be any stunts, cuz i'm sure as hell not driving 3 hours to pay a bunch of money to ride around on some dirt

Risk Management 101....

bullitxl Yet, people die in Whistler fairly often and they seem to keep progressing. Why? Because they can afford the insurance, big business doesn't care about peoples safety as long as you're turning a profit. If they think they can make more money by eliminating the features that are driving up the insruance costs then they'll do that. Western riders take note it can happen here too.

The above comment proves that there are a lot of people who don't know what they are talking about. Only one person died in Whistler in the ten years of the Bike Park being open and that was not the fault of the Bike Park. The reason that WBP can buils and open advanced features, is because the features are properly built and signed. Everything WBP does has the blessing of their insurers and lawyers because they have faith in the WBP Management. Please don't post irresponsible comments - it's not good for the sport.

wow, DH in ontario is truly dying. the only mountain that was anywhere near my city was just across the border hour and a half drive, and now they've shut down their mountain biking due to environmental and liability reasons. here's my question, how is it any different in summer than winter? blue in winter has a massive park, as well as many challenging runs, so how is it different than summer?

I spoke with some Blue mountain representitives at the bike show about this and they basically said that lift accessed riding just doens't bring in enough money to make it worth all the troubles. Its expensive to run lifts and staff the mountian just for bikers. They also followed with they are sondisering opening a lift towards the older trails on thei hill in the future? I have not rode at blue mountain for 3 years and a week from today will eb my first day back. Only then will I get to see what kinda changes have really been put into palce.

LOL blue mountain sucks, just drive the extra distance and go to camp fortune,or bromont, those courses will make you a better rider, blue mountain is just lame. too many rules, not enough fun. Although ill still probably go a couple times this year. lol

the only way to progress is doing the bigger harder drops.. so many people try to make stuff safer... well this isnt a safe sport.. thats how you get better by pushing your limits. then you get hooked. sometimes that involves crashing thats how to progress thats the name of the sport. you get hurt.. deal with it.it was your choice to do the drop. not blues they did put it there for everyone its not blues fault if you crash on it. but when 1 out of all of ontario and other people who rides blue gets hurt and for blue to react the way they did is retared. ill never ride there again.

Yeah it is a shame, but hey, at least it is not shut down.

just like every single sport nowadays from formula one to DH hills as soon as some random idiot hurts himself and trys to sue the organization they shut it down, because of the crying moms who don't understand the risks we take as riders and wont buy the safety gear required, their kid gets hurt, they sue, then they still have a cripple kid because of there unwillingness to pay attention to what there kid can evan ride, thats why blue is making a guide ride with everybody's first time there. and what happoned to the waver that you sign to get on the hill? to put it simple. if you dont have the gear and skill, slow down and learn up, it's not blue's fault the kid got hurt it's the kid and the kids parents.

blue is dead to me 2...

Everyone saying blue is dead to them and it sucks need to step back a little and think about what you have in Blue mountain. Seven day a week lift-accessed Downhill all summer. Also, if its not challenging you, go faster, try a new line. Jumps and drops don't make things hard, more fun than hard really, so don't BS about progression.

I'm not saying to settle for a shit system, but man there are some fun trails there and lots of ways to improve your riding by going there. If you want jumps and drops, grab a shovel and some wood and nails and have at 'er.

This really sucks but when i think about it, we didnt lose that many features. i could count the number of jumps/drops on my hands. i still think it will be fun. i went back after they took the jumps out and the trails were so much faster and without the jumps it made me go to the trails further from the lift and those are some of the sickest on the hill(embryo rocks). ill still be going up alot this season, so see you there.

reading these comments makes me sick. i cant beleive the hate fest and the amount of false information. very sad.
we shall see how you all feel and what you gotta say if this operation hadf to shut down.

also the picture for this give a false idea and confuse people

yes it is not all about jumps and drops but you have to consider what blue has in front of them. MAD POTENTIAL! It they are gonna offer lift access riding they should help progress the sport not inhibit it. with Proper design and implementation they could have it all. but now they have put there balls back in there purse and gone and f*cked a good thing up.

I encourage all of you to write mountainbiking@bluemountain.ca. and voice your opinions. don't use words like sucks, f*cking it up. but just tell them there is a way to have both. I am convinced that with enough forethought they can come up with a solution that allows jumps and drops and is safe for all to ride. they build a sweet snow park, no? how long did it take to get that one right?

don't let them take a good thing away.

the picture shown above I believe it was taken in the 3rd re-entry to HWY after the cliff drop from the top. That section was too narrow and pumpy, too many trees gets in the way otheriwse it was best Blue Mtn ever had provided to DH riders. So sad, They closed it last year. Will the HWY be re-opened? I really love that drop from the top of the very beginning. It gave my adrenalin pumped for the rest of the day ride.

Wow.. I cant stand to read all this.. Canadians.. we need to seriously re-think about how much we and our businesses are influenced by our american neighbors. If not we may as well start flying american flags here too. Then sell our bikes and get a set of golf clubs..
Everyday theres something closing or being limited here in canada because of american laws..
Just say no !

Im really sorry about anybody getting hurt while riding a mtn bike.. but no one forced you to sit on the seat.. or to go to a riding area and huck your carcass off something. Maybe we should start suing the government for letting immigrants with no driving experience buy/insure a car and drive here in BC ( Hello ICBC ) and then our insurance rates go up. Sick of insurance and all that crap.

Thanks for my rant.

i think the person who makes this decisions should kill them self and the people who sue blue are f*cking idiots becuase it there fault for sucking cock FUCKING BRING BACK THE MAN MADE STUFF

i have an idea,
instead of hiding the progression park at the top of hill, were no mother or father of some 12 year can see itm but it right at the bottem in plain veiw of the village. when you stand in the villege, the only evidence of bike trails are 2 or 3 runs just coming out of the trees, which arnt even the hard parts. this way, it looks really really safe, and the parents of the little kids let them go up. when they go up, they head over to park, see something, try and hit it, and thats when they get hurt. if the parents can see what is involved in a bike park, then they can see what is involved in the sport, and make an informed dession about their children taking part.

i still love riding at blue, weather or not there will jumps. i go to blue becauce i want to go ride single track. when i want to go dirt jumping, i head out to my trail. i think that is what people should do.

a dh hill just isnt a dh hill without some form of jumps and drops

So did this hill not have a waiver that people have to sign before they ride?? Seems to me that would be the answer?? I think it' wrong to shut down all the good stuff on a hill cuz soemone got really hurt, if that is what happened. I think it's because it's MTB "an extremist" sport and parents are looking for an excuse. It's not like they shut down the local hockey arena when some kid gets checked into the boards and breaks his neck, no thats just an accident, and the kid who did the checking doesn't even get sued, but since this is a so called "rebel" sport it must be the hills fault that he got hurt. Again I don't really know the whole story but this sure is sad. The only good thing is that ski hills used to ban snowboard jumps and stuff back in the day, now the hills MUST have a park to stay competitive, this should hold true for mtb over the long term, and hey global warming is on our side on this one boys-it's not like the winters are getting any longer!!

ontario laws are diffrent then the west so the injured riders insureance company can sue the hell outa poor blue mtn. even if they sign the waver. there seems to be many new riders at blue mtn who dont understand the risk. its almost like blue mtn is a training ground for riders, and when you train you can fall and when you fall you can get hurt and when you fall in ontario you can get the insureance company to sue who ever they please.
these comments are soo full of false and inaccurate information its acctually INSANE.
no one liked the fights and harsh commments on the blue mtn thread so why the hell are we aloud to do it on here.

total disgust in PB site control...

It is shit%y all around and for everyone that people got hurt.

blue is terrible. They have no backbone and give in to lawsuits that have no merit.

cuz they are left with no option

Frankly I am happy that so many people claim that they arn't going to blue this year because of this.

To me, being from Windsor, Blue is the best thing around and its at least 5 hours away. The jumps at blue were fun, but they wern't that great. But yeah, less people at blue this year means less waiting in line for me. I spent 99% of my time riding just the trails last year and am more then happy to do the same this year because i dont get to ride them everyday like some people.

I have a question, what makes Quebec diferent from Ontario when it comes to Lift access MTB and insurance? Major contradiction in my mind.

17 and under now? bull shit. i had to do the run with the guide last year cause i wasn't 17 yet and it was 16 and under, i also had rode at blue loads of time before that, and i was the first one down the run (and had to wait at the bottom) for a good 5 minutes or so.

so what do they do, bump the age up one year so i have to waste an hour of my first visit there again. i realize this sounds pretty selfish, and i realize not every rides at the same skill level and there are some riders who will need and rely on that guide, but honestly, these sort of things grind my gears.

i'll be honest with you guys though, i really didn't mind the lack of jumps last year, like sure, jumps are always fun, but i can always go dirt jumping if i want to jump, and its what i do mainly, so i don't really mind the lack of jumps on the runs.

^^^^ very good point, ive been riding at blue for about 2 years now, and yeah sure its not as much fun as it might of been without the jumps but really if your a downhill shouldent you get used to it because im pretty sure not every single dh course out there has a bunch on jumps on it so suck it up.

anyways i when i used to g on electives (skiing/boarding trips) we would have to enter in our skill level so if blue had one of thoes then they could split all the lessons up so the faster people arnt waiting at the bottom for 10 minutes while everyone else gets down and then the people who need more help could maybe take another run or 2 with the instructor, and also instead of just passing the people who make it down the trail alive, wouldent it be smart to give everyone different skill levels and only let them ride certain trails and if they had a problem with thier level they could come back and do another test, for some reason it seems to work with all the little school kids who go there and ski or board (which can easily just be as dangerous as biking) for thier first time, why not try it out on the kids and adults who are going to blue for thier first time

when does it open?

may 15

i was scared for a while there, i heard blue was closing. happy to hear they arnt anymore, stoked to ride

glad im from BC

i'm super dissapointed that blue will no longer have drop and jump trails. the singletrack is good there, but not nearly as good as the drop and jump trails. i think that this will be the last year for blue when they realize the attendance to the mountain is going to be way less then previous years. bring back the progression back and good shit. the people that were injured were not forced to ride the stunts, and if i remember correctly, if under 18 you have to get a parent or guardian to sign and say that they've seen the stunts and are allowed to ride them....right??
so they knew what was coming and blue shouldnt make all of us riders suffer because of two peoples mistakes. also i agree with brendanfoell that they should just put the progression park down at the bottom of the hill where it is visible to everyone. overall, i think blue is going to regret making these changes.

ya this is bullshit

ive ridden blue many times and theres nothing dangerous at all. unless your a rookie rider who is careless thats the only way you can get hurt. so maybe they should keep riders like that off the mountain and ruining the real riding were all missing out on now thats everything good is taken out.

This whole thing sounds like a misunderstanding. Kids these days push there selfs to hard. Up here in whistler , if you cant do the jump , you dont do it. Its simple. Whats the point in trying to look good infront of your friends and ending up in a bed the rest of your life? Wait half a season , or what ever it takes you to get to the point were the hit is in your Skill level. I just dont get why riders need to get to the point were there risking there life to hit a 20 ft Booter when they cant hit a 6 ft at the local dirt jumps. It is in know way blues fault.

Just my way of thinking.

Blue mountain's bike park program is faced with a tough challenge and they are handling it positively considering the incidents and lawsuits of the past four years. Blue's challenges are not unique to their mountain - many other recreation providers are experiencing similar challenges with their lift-served bike parks.

Blue does not need to be on the cutting edge of mountain biking to grow their bike park program: they need to identify and understand their target market and cater to them effectively. 2008 should be a year of assessment, not upping the ante.

I don't live in Ontario, but I would surmise that most Ontario riders care more about flow-and-fun than hucking. Blue's bike park should provide the experience of blue-square powder-turns, not Chamonix! Well... maybe a little bit of Chamonix... but not too much! Give families a roller coaster ride with features that control user speed in a fun and flowy way, not a braking-bump riddled rain rut. The goal should be to build fun trails that are low maintenance and require little pedaling and braking.

Blue's relationship with their insurer(s) is very important. If Blue's risk manager needs to take a step back in order to solidify that relationship - that's fine. If Blue needs to take a step back to get a better feel for their target market, that's fine too. The people on this forum don't invest at Blue, but their families do.

In the meantime, Blue can communicate with professional bike park planners and other successful bike parks to create a solid management program, trail signage and flowy trails which minimize incidents.

Mountain biking will continue to grow during this period of assessment and Blue can bring their bike park back stronger than ever - once they are ready.

All you builders, park managers and riders out there: enjoy your summer at Blue Mtn - It's still the best thing Onterrible has going.

also blue may have removed all the designated jumps and drops but there are still drops and jumps that are natural those are all still their. Also they have invested much time, money, and work into building far more north shore features. there is still air to be had at blue you just have to find it.

screw that I wanna huck! I'm not paying top dollar and driving for hours to go ride down a hill

blue is an awesome place to ride and for ppl who live not to far from it its better for them, they don't have to pay much for gas and they don't have to drive like 2-3 hours to ride a hill

does any one know if its gonna open this weekend?