Snow Summit Bike Park Due to Open on May 27

 Snow Summit is in California not China...

 You're better than that

 Stay tuned...more on that soon.

 Yeah I agree, there needs to be a beginner trail from top to bottom that doesn't share any lines with Miracle Mile, Party Wave or Westridge. Its great to see beginners out there but having them going slow down the main trails is unsafe for everyone.

 @SnowSummitBikePark: Lol, who do we have to bribe at the forestry service? give me a name, I will send them a check today! I'm sure I speak for a lot of SoCal riders.

 yew

 They have a shitload of snow this year, that's why. Honestly I'm surprised they're opening in May at all the snowpack is unreal this year

 Have patience! Jesus. I guess you arent thankful that your state is going to croak with its water levels?

 @chillrider199: cali is still screwed water wise regardless of precipitation... I'm waiting for when global warming stops snow all together so bike park can be year round provided it will still rain

 @chillrider199: We didn't get the same amount of rain down here as you did in NorCal. I didn't think there was that much snow up at Summit to prevent an earlier opening.

 www.northstarcalifornia.com/bike-and-hike/mountain-biking.aspx
If conditions permit, Memorial Day weekend. I'm hoping this holds, but with the late season storms we've been getting, this is always subject to change...

 @rizreign: thank you! Don't want to ruin the snow for you but I'm ready to hit " sticks and stones!"

 @weebleswobbles: This sucks but Northstar will only have from mid mountain down open no livewire no sticks and stones.

 @weebleswobbles: absolutely, and I second your readiness! Cheers!

 @Kre1985: Do you mean for early season? I assume because of the normal snow year this year. The full mountain will still be open come regular summer hours, and seasonal conditions...

 @rizreign: Yes just for the first couple weeks then they will open the rest of the mountain when the trails are good to go. I can't wait!

 @Kre1985: I can't wait

 @rizreign: That's only the lower mountain though. None of the good trails.

 That makes sense considering the east coast got about 7 inches of snow this season

 Haven't ridden at mountain creek since it was diablo freeride park.. Its been too long

 @chrisclifford: had one big snow storm. Got 37 inches. But was gone with in a few weeks ????????

 When people started talking fatalities as if the park is at fault or the park is unsafe. Neither of which are true. This park is good for intermediate to expert riders, designed by the best park designers in the world. If people are having trouble riding in SS, maybe they just arent experienced enough?

 @dmc619: there was one table in particular(2nd jump on trail) that had a tricky landing spot.
You really cant go wrong with long landing-transitions ala whistler.

 @jrocksdh: I assume you are talking about the 27' table on Westridge? Ive seen guys case that and get bucked. Ive cased it with no issues. Sure I dont have to tell you that tuning your bike correctly is very important. I would agree that jump could use a long landing transition. It is still fun as hell to send after the short step down right in front of it.

 That is the resorts problem though. If you are inviting families up to ride the park and only offer more experienced trails it entices inexperienced riders down them and that's when things go from awesome to coffins. I don't think Mammoth has had any deaths in a while.

 @drummuy04: Agree they need more beginner trails. I dont think this will keep curious beginners from riding experienced trails though. The size of this park is smaller than any other park Ive ridden with some of the funnest jump lines of any park Ive ridden. Consider the size of the park, every rider from San Diego to Palmdale rides here because of convenience and throw in a bunch of beginners and it makes things not flow as well at times. This is definitely not a place for Lycra and Strava.

 People crashing and blaming it on the bike park.... what a joke. Ride down slow the first time, check out all the jumps, if it sketches you out, don't ride it.

 The last fatality was off the 5ft ladder drop with a 10ft wide groomed landing area. The park added the beginner trail Small Wonder last season. Sadly, many people do not honestly assess their skill level, just like in the snowboard park. I really don't see any of this as SS's fault. Westridge is a jump line and Miracle Mile is a DH trail. If you can't handle either, there are plenty of local trails accessed from the lift outside of SS.

 Yea I noticed that recently as well. ERASED

 @weebleswobbles: It's not erased, people have given it negative props so it's hidden.

 @zutroy:

Even when someone's comments are down voted enough to be hidden, you can still click on them. It appears that his previous comments are indeed, completed deleted. Unless the mobile site is f'ing with me.

Snow Summit's inherent danger has been discussed extensively on other sites, and what it really boils down to is the following:

The whole argument that it is the rider's responsibility is a tough one. In an ideal world, where no one took for granted that their safety was guarenteed, this would work. But that's just not the case. Snow Summit attracts A LOT of families, and others with ZERO experience. It IS the resort's responsibility to provide safer, beginner level trails IF THEY WANT TO STAY IN BUSINESS.

When Snow Summit opened they chose to build advanced trails first because the Forest Service has to approve every single new trail through a lengthy bureaucratic process. And Snow Summit didn't know if they'd have the chance to build anything else, or so the story goes. In other words, they wanted to go big just in case the park got stuck in limbo with only a few trails.

But when you let inexperienced riders on the mountain, even a "5 ft ladder drop" is a huge liability, because they don't know any better. You can claim that ride arounds exist and that nobody is forcing them to hit big features, but that $hit don't hold up in court when someone sues.

So you can argue that it's the rider's fault till you're blue in the face, but when we're talking about places getting shut down due to liability or lawsuits, then you're argument doesn't hold any water. Don't forget that Snow Summit WAS shutdown years and years ago because of someone suing after an MTB injury...

But it does seems like Snow Summit is genuinely trying to make the park safer for beginners, it's just a lengthy process.

Now let's see what happens to my comment.

 @MasterSlater: I cant find the thread from earlier at all.

 @scottyrides5: That first jump was a big time "booter" jump and didn't really flow with the other jumps. I didn't have issues as i just didn't jump it and yes there is a B line around it too. I rode mammoth and all the jumps were fun for beginners and pros alike. It would be nice if they could replicate that.

 Snow Summit is poorly designed, no arguing that. And it just so happens to be close to LA/SoCal, one of the largest biking populations in the world.

Poor design + easy access = dangerous. Hopefully they can fix this soon because it has so much potential!

 @MasterSlater: That argument does indeed hold water in court as that is why it opened back up. It was closed by skittish lawyers that though they could not rely on ski precedents, but with so many other parks, the legal liability issues surrounding bike parks appear to be worked out. You hit the nail on the head, saying completely inexperienced people ride it all the time. But SS goes to great lengths to point them to the xc trails that would be more apprpriate for them. If an inexperienced person went down Chain Smoke at Mammoth that would spell a much bigger danger than Westridge (or if they got on the gap side of Pipeline). Experienced riders buy the season passes and pay the bills so thats the two big runs. In addition to Small Wonder there are 4 or 5 other xc style trails anyone can ride and they are marked from the top.

 @Rubberelli:

Thanks for clueing me in on the precedent apparently set by other parks being open. I thought snow summit just came up with a bunch of new money and jumped right in, lawsuits be damned. Although, I would argue that precedent or not, all it takes is a few really talented personal injury lawyers to change that. It could just as easily be bad luck that snow summit suffered two fatalities within a few weeks of each other, particularly because most other parks in the nation haven't had any fatalities in several years. But I think it is more likely related to what you suggested, that there are so many people in such close proximity to the mountain that there's a far higher ratio of inexperienced riders at Snow Summit than anywhere else in the world probably. Except maybe Whistler?

The skills park at the bottom of the mountain that snow summit built last year goes a long way to getting beginners a way to get comfortable with jumps.

They just need to get a few other green and blue trails open to ease the ever-present congestion and give newbs somewhere with lower risk to ride.

 @Rubberelli: You are right, and the people who fatally crashed were not beginners. Accidents happen and we sign the waiver knowing that. As a rider that goes to snow summit 5-10 times a year, I can say that the majority of riders showing up every weekend are advanced skill level. So it makes sense that the trails end up this way. Theyre paying the bills. And you are 100% correct that there are plenty of easy trails with lift access, but no on wants to admit they belong there.

 @Rubberelli: Westridge was labeled as a blue square for while. I felt it was black worthy for sure.

 @MasterSlater: when you sign the waiver at any bike park you are agreeing to the inherent risks. Basically saying sorry you or your family can't seek legal ramifications if you go out and get badly hurt/killed. It's pretty well advertised what trail skill level is required and even you were dumb enough to get yourself in way over your head they're is plenty of signage warning what's ahead. I personally believe SS has done a great job catering to the southern California DH masses and doesn't really need beginner trails. There are enough trails being closed every year at least here in San Diego to send no shortage of riders up there every summer, myself included.