Extreme Downhill Mountain Biking Banned at Beaver Creek

The Grand Junction Sentinel recently reported Beaver Creek Mountain near Denver Colorado will ban "extreme" downhill mountain biking. The article quotes Beaver Creek representatives who blame excessive speed (20MPH?) user conflict and erosion for the ban. Local riders are especially disappointed as there's talk of nearby Vail Mountain following suit.Here's the full article as it ran in the Grand Junction Sentinel.

Extreme downhill mountain biking is being banned this summer at Beaver Creek Mountain.
The high-speeds and steep trails favored by the area's bravest bikers will be off-limits, the resort announced. Bikers careening downhill at more than 20 mph has become too much of a nuisance for others who roam the mountain in the summer, including those bicyclists riding uphill.

"With such a strong focus on hiking and cross country mountain-biking at Beaver Creek, we feel that the extreme downhill biking segment is incom patible with our existing programs and activities," said John Garnsey, chief operating officer of Beaver Creek Resort.

The resort defines "extreme" biking as "steep, technical, fall line off-trail biking at excessive speeds -- over 20 miles per hour."

Vail Mountain should release its policy on downhill mountain-biking in the coming weeks, said Bill Jensen, Vail Mountain's chief operating officer. Vail Resorts operates Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, and Breckenridge.

The decision at Beaver Creek and the uncertainty over what Vail Mountain will decide has clearly disappointed local downhill mountain-bikers, for a variety of reasons.
Local downhill rider Jay Lucas accused the resort company of being "out of touch." Other ski hills have done a lot better job building trails for downhill bikers, he said.
"If you look at how well Whistler's put it to gether, it's amazing. It makes us look like idiots," Lucas said.

Dawes Wilson is a member of the Trails Action Group, a local organization that works on creating healthy trails for mountain bikers. Wilson said Beaver Creek's decision could degrade the environment in undeveloped areas outside the mountain.
"The people that ride high-tech downhill are going to do that somehow," Wilson said. "If not on Vail or Beaver Creek, than elsewhere, and we'll have more problems with pirate trails."

The U.S. Forest Service also is concerned with "pirate trails." Rangers say these trails, which have been plowed illegally throughout the forest, damage mountainsides. When water funnels down the trails, erosion is sharply increased.
Environmental degradation played a role in Beaver Creek's decision, Garnsey said.
Last summer, extreme downhill riding caused extensive erosion and damage to the mountain's trail system. Illegal, renegade trails also sprang up, Garnsey said.