Highland MTB Park Update

 This is where a little common sense needs to kick in...

 I want to ride the GT bikes soooooooooooo bad

 i showed common sense.

 Lol that GT Fury is nice

 ya

 im sure the bikes will do fine. The treks did great considering the people who were riding them. Having lift lines that long is good because eventually they will be able to justify building another lift. The place gets better every year so no worries, you cant build the best mountain bike park over night. And gopro prob paid for everything in that room, very inexpensive compared to building and operating another lift all season.

 1.) The GT Carbon frames are actually super burly. Additionally, Highland outfits some of them with protective downtube covering like they did for the Trek's last year and had no major problems.
2.) Yes we all know Highland doesn't have the fastest lift in the world. No one at Highland is oblivious to this fact. Installing new lifts costs upwards of millions of dollars for new high speed equipment. I can't speak to plans for new lifts cause I don't know the future, but I'm sure Mark wants to alleviate this problem just as bad. The HTC is an integral part of the Highland's future as a mountain and they've done some awesome things with it in the offseason while they can't be out on the mountain creating new trails. Nothing wrong with adding value to the Ayr Academy camper's experience. The money spent on the lounge probably wouldn't even pay for the electricity to run a new lift for a month.

 Look at the other side of increasing lift capacity though- with more riders arriving at the top, the more traffic on the trail. Let's face it, Highland doesn't have the most extensive trail network. Can you imagine what riding Hellion or Happy Hour will be like if there were 10 more riders per minute arriving at the top? I'd rather have riders trickling up to the top and wait in line at the bottom than be worried that every time I roll a gap jump I'm going to land on someone's head. Plus the trails would get chewed out so much faster...more and bigger brake bumps etc.

 They don't need to create new trails, their current network is fine. IMO, they need to figure out a way to get more people to the top, and faster. I agree that the HTC is part of the future financially, but when will the point come when riders refuse to show up to stand in 30 to 40 minute lift lines......like I did on more than a few occasions last year. Yea, Sherwood Forest is cool and the pumptrack is sweet, but when I drive 2+ hours to ride at a mountain, I want to 'ride' on the mountain, as in DH.

I love Highland and will visit them a bunch this year, only on the weekdays though. If I'm riding on the weekends, it's Sunday River all the way. SR certainly doesn't have the numbers or riders that visit Highland, but they run a 6 person highspeed lift that gets you to the top of the mountain in minutes and some runs are 4-5 times as long. It's a no brainer when you're just talking about DH ride time.

 Weird... I rode every saturday and sunday for the whole season (with the exception of sept-oct for a broken bone), and was only subjected to a 10-15+ minute line wait once. Admittedly, I normally rock the single line while the general public is rolling deep. Highland is progressing better than anybody could have guessed! I here the solidarity of solitude can be enchanting, though that is not why I ride bikes. You should try solitaire.

 Yea, maybe I'll just dump my boys that I spent 2+ hours of windsheild time with just to jump in the single line and 'beat' the wait. I have no problem with the single line......if you're there solo. I was there on plenty of weekends in Aug, Sept, & Oct and the 'Single' line should have been opened WAY sooner. I was there all three days of closing weekend as well. What a S-Show......as well as it should have been. On Saturday of closing weekend, they didn't open the 'Single' line unitl 11:20am. Bad form for sure.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Highland hater, I love the place and will be back, just not weekends.

BTW, I ride solo as well. I ride to the top with my boyz, we go down single file (solo), and meet up at the bottom. Kind of solo I guess.

 If you ride Hiland that much , then you also know that the 2010 closing weekend was an exception . Hiland is the only Mtn that is open til the 2nd weekend in November. So people from as far as New Jersey were up there riding due to lack open Mtns. IT was defintely a shitstorm. But I rode every other weekend last summer and on average only had to wait 15mns the most. Claymore Challenge weekend notwithstanding. ON THAT NOTE. I will atest to the AWESOMEness of SUNDAY RIVER. The most underated mountain in New England. No lines, 3x the verticle height and alot of natural DH runs. Real Old School New England style Dh with some really nice man mad jump trails thrown in. I split my time equally last year between the 2.

 @Antmav. You know you will probably be there on the 7th too, along with that same dreaded line. LOL You know that I diodnt even realize that Upper Hellion trail was finally finished being built til about 2:00p on that last sunday. I couldnt believe I rode all day and didnt even get to experience it for most of the day. I cant wait to get back there to ride it again properly.

 Hahahahaha

Yes, I'll be there on the 7th, hahahaha. I was there on Fri & Sat of closing weekend last year also. Yea, Upper Hellion is pretty sweet, that little potato chip drop is fun as hell. I really like riding Highland.

I'll be spending the bulk of my time up at Sunday River this year. A group of us rented a house from June 22nd to mid September. Did you hear that SR will be open Weds-Sunday this year? I agree, SR is amazing. Yea, you gotta bring your A Game up there. Filled with gnarly, old skool New England, rocky, rooty, DH runs!!!!!!I'm amazed that they don't get more riders up there.

 SR's Tango and Crash was fun as shit and yeah I love that Hellion step down ramp drop into the burm. It sux SR wont be open til June 30 ,though. Have a safe season. That SR "Rock Garden" double D trail is scary steep and Gnarley, there are some trails at SR that just plain scare the shit out of me but I love it.

 Yup Yup, Tango & Crash has that West Coast/Highland type feel to it..........tons of fast berms and sweet flow. Steve (head trailbuilder) mentioned that Rock Star will be a top to bottom run this year. That's gonna be scary too. Guess Crater is going to see some love and maybe some options too. The Tower Trail always seems to be the last run of the day. 40 minute hike a bike with way too many stops for sessions on the way up and then crazy sailing on the way down. Unfortunately, I've 'tasted' way too many rocks up there. You're right, it can be a scary place, but super fun. Hoping to get 20-25 days @ SR and 6-8 days at Highland. That should beat up the old body enough. Yea, you have a safe season too. If you make your way up to SR some weekend, look up the crew, we're always centered in Lot 10, off the beaten path, nice place to set up camp for refreshments and sessions before/after runs. Ask the lifties for directions

 A Highland in the Highlands?

 THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!!

 Yeah, sometimes it is a drag knowing that whistler is so far from here. But we make do.....

 get building

 Bromont is close enough, and has a high speed chair! Not to mention AWESOME trails!

 Yup Yup, You're not missing anything with Bromont in your backyard

 It's in the North East of the U.S.!

 south of canada