Mt Washington to Re-Open in 2016 - Video

Apr 11, 2016
by Pinkbike Staff  

We are very excited to announce that, following a three-year hiatus, the Mount Washington Bike Park will reopen this summer for lift-accessed mountain biking! With the support of our new owners, Pacific Group Resorts ULC, the decision to reintroduce the Bike Park is the first step in our long-term summer development plan. We'll be investing approximately $250,000 into the Bike Park this year, with enhancements each year thereafter.

As a 15-year Mount Washington veteran and Snow School Director, Mike Manara, will be our Bike Park Manager, taking the lead on the planning and development of the trail system. He is one of the founding board members as well as the current president of the United Riders of Cumberland. He also sat on the Mountain Bike Tourism board and has been an integral part of the planning and maintenance of the Cumberland trail system for the last 15 years.

The Bike Park will have trail offerings for all ability levels, from never-evers to advanced freeriders. Our goal is to take the fun and relaxed feel of the local valley trails and bring them up to mountain, and we’ll be looking to partner with the riding community to help make that happen.

We're in the planning stages right now so the trail building will take place as soon as the snow melts. With a quickly-eroding snow base, we anticipate having the park operational in early to mid-July. Stay tuned for regular updates on our progress, along with details of opening dates and pricing. We can’t wait to see you all back up here this summer!

www.mountwashington.ca

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50 Comments
  • 28 0
 im so excited i live in courtenay (the town below mt washington) and ive been waiting for this for a long time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 27 1
 3 years? A lot's changed in the world of bikes. Will the bike park be able to handle 650b DH bikes? What about Boost? Metric?
  • 12 0
 They are probably going to use the new 1.42 meter boost trail width standard with metric sized breaking bumps if they want to compete with modern resorts.
  • 24 1
 2017 Monster Mile BC Cup - Yes Please!!
  • 13 0
 Man this is going to be way cheaper than heading off island to go to whistler or sun peaks!! So stoked! Who gives a rip about brake bumps when you can have lift access riding at your door step.
  • 12 2
 Last time the jumps were weak. For this park to survive we need some serious air time. Get those feist peeps or gravity park architects to engineer somthing new and epic and we wont automaticaly get on the ferry for whistler. Are you getting this mt Washington?
  • 8 0
 Get Berrecloth up there as park director. Problems solved.
  • 4 0
 I agree with you but it kind of depends who they're marketing at. It's tough to make a business out of serious bikers who own all their own gear, pack a lunch and only head up for the day... i.e. Whistler has awesome expert level trails because the joeys fly in for a week, drop big bucks and clog up Crank It Up. Now a place like Silver Star does a great job of a small-scale bike park with runs across the spectrum and without the same level of summer first-timers, so it *can* be done, but it appears pretty rare. I see a lot of ski hills that have tonnes of terrain, limited trail crew that gets stretched way too thin and just say "turn on the chair in the summer". The results are predictable.
  • 20 0
 @rockin-itis: working on it!
  • 4 0
 @claw: You could turn that hill into something great Darren, I know it. Hope it happens.
  • 1 0
 @claw: awesome
  • 14 2
 Can Canada adsorb Washington State into BC?!?!
  • 12 0
 Well you guys did buy the resort..sort of the same thing
  • 1 0
 yes they must its like the same place same attitude towards biking but an overall bigger community up there
  • 7 0
 Sure thing. We'll send in our Army to take it the hard way.
  • 8 0
 Great beginnings ... We will need to see if the quality improves though?. Good ideas need great execution. There is a growing number of very qualified individual who could lead this project . One can only think that some new blood and fresh inspiration is what this place needs. If Mt. Washington is just doing what they did last time, We will just get what we had before,
  • 5 0
 Exactly. My last memories of Mt Washington were lift tickets going from $35 to $50 over 2 years, over which time they closed more trails than they opened (and failed to maintain the few they kept).

I don't know who was responsible for that shit-show but I can't imagine it going any different unless they drop everyone, from trail crew to management, and start fresh.
  • 2 0
 @bderricks: couldn't agree more.
  • 6 0
 The park was horrid the last time most people rode it. For me it was going in August with virtually every trail still under snow and a single muddy, sloppy cow-path that they had managed to con some poor bastard into shovelling out. I shouldve demanded my money back. God was that lame.

Mt. Washington did a huge amount of damage to the trust and expectations of the riders that supported it. Mike Manara, you defintely have your work cut out for you. You've been there 15 years? I dont think I'd be bragging about that. Want to make that hill great? Get Berrecloth up there to turn it into something world-class. Thats what I'm going to need to see before I spend my money there again.
  • 3 0
 @rockin-itis: Thought the same thing about the "15 years of experience". Also, 250k budget when having to buy the chair lifts back does not leave much room left for build (guessing). I'm hopeful, but not getting my hopes up.
  • 3 0
 @spinko:
guess we'll have to wait and see I guess. Been let down too many times.
  • 5 0
 Won't get a dime of my money until managment and staff are changed or other major changes are made. Same reason I don't go up in the winter, refuse to support slackers. The mountain has potential, but they can't charge whistler prices with way less to offer.
  • 5 0
 Seems like their business model, summer and winter, for the past ten years has been, "We can charge 200% of what our product is actually worth, because it's still only 75% of the cost of taking the ferry to whistler for the weekend."
  • 9 0
 Time to fire up ol' back in black!! woop!
  • 5 0
 From what I understand Mt. Washington needs a bike park design and build company that knows how to build bike parks from the ground up, or improve what is there already. I really hope they create a good mix of machine and hand built trails. Gravity logic is one company that comes to mind, but a $250,000 budget is not a lot of money when it comes to building and maintaining good trails. They will have to put a good amount of money in to get a return on their investment, otherwise history will probably repeat itself, and the bike will close once again.
  • 9 2
 Basketball sized rocks strewn all over the trails. Bring a sack of tubes.
  • 5 1
 Unfortunate that they're bringing this back on the year of the "Epic Snow Pack". It's at about 4 meters right now. I hope they open up the monster mile side of the mountain, that was always the best part.
  • 5 0
 Finally! Now I have a reason to get a dh bike again. Good job Mt.Washington!
  • 6 0
 You never had an excuse to not have one!
  • 1 0
 @moe-zee: Come out for a ride and I'll go buy one today haha. My 60 pound Banshee is ready for the dump lol.
  • 2 0
 I hope it doesn't follow the ski lift pricing, it's the reason I got way out of that sport...
$100 for a day of skiing pushed me out of the sport quickly.

I wonder if they will be selling "trail passes" and lift tickets, somepeople like the ride up as much as the ride down, lol
  • 2 0
 Have not been back when it was around before so don't know what it's like, but hopefully they build some fast and rough natural single track in the trees and that would entice me to get on the ferry and check it out.
  • 4 0
 It's about time!!!!! Definately what the island needs.
  • 3 1
 "The Bike Park will have trail offerings for all ability levels, from never-evers to advanced freeriders."

Freeriding is still a thing?
  • 1 1
 Sweet, hope to plan a trip over to the island from Bellingham. Never been to mt Washington to bike before,any of you have an idea of the trails there? What kind of vertical is there?any advice on hotels nearby?
  • 1 0
 Great news!! Thank you so much to people who made this decision. I was about to sell my dh rig. Guess I am going to keep my bike for now!!
  • 2 0
 Yup. Just yup. So awesome. Have missed out island lift riding for the last few years. Here's hoping it's great!
  • 6 3
 mt washboard
  • 2 3
 Such is life at a bike park. 3 days in Whistler and I can't feel my arms either! A grooming machine for dh tracks would be THE invention.
  • 2 2
 @bikebums: we ride big wheels and suspension so we dont need groomers.... Enduro bros need to hop on big bikes
  • 2 0
 Well that does it, no need to ever leave the island again.
  • 2 0
 Hopefully this time trails won't be cut down the middle of ski-runs!
  • 1 0
 Holler for a great deal on a sweet DH bike!
  • 1 0
 I know what I'm gonna do this summer! Sooooo stoked!!!!!
  • 1 0
 So excited for this!!
  • 1 0
 THANK YOU GOD
  • 1 0
 Very excited for this!
  • 1 0
 Fuck yes!!







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