Kicking Horse Bike Park - Trail Crew Update 1 - 2014

Jun 12, 2014 at 22:30
by Steve Crowe  
The straight goods on Kicking Horse Bike Park, straight from the trail crew's fingertips.

It was a stubborn winter here in the mountains. Trail work was delayed as the snow clung onto the slopes and water oozed out of the earth. But the tempo has picked up recently, the 7 is on the peak across the valley, the challenges are set and the crew is crushing them.

This is how every summer starts - open up the 10 Rd first.
The first tool of summer trail work at Kicking Horse is the snow groomer (in case you are wondering, that's not a groomer in the photo). We have to ensure bikes can get down from the top of the gondola to the dry trails below on opening day.

The theme this year is dirt. It is really remarkable stuff and we hate to see it go. So we continue to experiment with ways to harvest, nurture and preserve it while adding flow to our show. Here's a little video showcasing some of our efforts towards that end thus far in 2014:

Views: 1,719    Faves: 5    Comments: 2


But that's enough of moving pictures. What's the biggest change so far in an early season of many changes? Did you say 'pump track'?

brand spankin new pump track at the base. Who s in
Starr Trail Solutions parachuted in to make this one. This is a great improvement to the base, and hopefully the beginning of something grander.

Discussing plans. Always discussing plans. We see the future from here.
We spend a lot of time scratching our chins at work, discussing solutions to problems and sharing grand visions. Here Brad and Nick debate who has a meaner judo chop. Meanwhile, the DJs are in such great shape, we barely needed to touch them.

A dozer crushed this section last fall to make a smoother ski run. Now it is reborn better than ever.
We've done a number of reroutes and rebuilds, including the start of Easy Rider which got squashed to make a flatter ski run. Now it is better than the original. Evolution just feels right.

Reroute catcher berm at the bottom of the rock drop to get around another complete blowout washout. A new duff route leads from here.
Pioneer (part of the Western Open race course - July 25-27) was modified in a few places. The original trail in the steepest sections had to be rerouted for issues of safety and sustainability. We added a longer berm below the rock drop that cuts off the original line and sends riders to the right now.

The race line to the left of the woodwork Spiral Tap is completely blown out. So a deep duffy reroute goes to the right for bike tires to define.
Another reroute was beside Spiral Tap. The unholy union of rock, root and strong gravity that is the left option is still available for the misfits that like that stuff, but now there is a roughed in trail to the right. All we did is pull the alders and large obstacles so the first riders are going to have a blast tearing up the duff and forming the trail. Are we being lazy or smart?

The big rock slab under the gondola on Rock n Roll will not be open at the beginning of the season due to vicious water damage caused by a blocked culvert. Everything else below Blaster (and very likely Blaster too) will be open. Watch out for significant changes to Buffalo Jump and Hop a Long as well.

Kicking Horse is offering lessons this summer so the crew are becoming instructors.
Another new, exciting feature at the park this summer is beginner and intermediate lessons. These will be available on Fri-Sun for the time being. Who will be offering them? The very same guys who are building and patrolling the trails. Who could know the terrain better? 5 of those guys are on at least their 5th season. Here we are getting schooled to become schoolers. How do you know when a bike instructor is at a party? He'll tell you.

Testing out the resurfacing.
An advantage to taking the instructor's course for us is that we were able to ride our trails for 3 days before we opened them. That never happens! We usually have our faces buried in the dirt until opening day...well, until closing day really.

remains from a past battle against a particularly nasty berm.
One thing that is interesting about working in the spring, when the grass is still dead and the ground is easier to see, you stumble upon old bike trails and tools you misplaced unknown years ago.

A Bonus Weekend is happening June 21-22 which is lickety split. Full operations start June 27 until Labour Day, then Fri-Sun through September (first time in 3 years!), weather permitting. Also July is cuckoo bananas with races (Western Open DH and Kootenay Rockies Enduro Series) at the resort in July. It's going to be another great one. We'll be getting the machines out right quick like here to start the big projects. See you soon!
Crowe

www.kickinghorseresort.com

Bike Park resident
One of our common companions.

Author Info:
BlackCrowe avatar

Member since Jun 24, 2008
54 articles

28 Comments
  • 5 0
 i did Fernie, panorama and kicking horse last summer and Kicking was #1 in my books. I Shall see you in August,
  • 2 0
 I'd take Fernie, personally. It's been a few years since I've been to the horse, and although it was a blast it really does rattle the bejesus out of you in the upper sections! I have yet to find a substitute for the combination of amazing, loamy soil and flowy trails in Fernie's lower sections. Puts a smile on your face the whole way down : )
  • 2 0
 you should go back....they have made a lot of changes to a lot of trails....its certainly getting better a fast rate
  • 1 0
 Fernie can rattle you up just as bad as Kickinghorse. Some of the stuff around Playground/Hornet/TrackII (before you get into the trees), and then everything off the top of Timberwolf.
  • 1 0
 I'll be coming from Winnipeg to spend a week in Golden in July to race the BC endure series and to just ride everyday. Can't wait to do some riding in the real mountains again. I will definitely spend at least a couple of days riding at Kicking Horse.
  • 2 0
 Kicking Horse has one of the best bike parks in north america that's for sure, ive seen this place improve so much the past few years. everyone should get out here and rip it up Smile
  • 2 0
 Sick! I'll have to get out this weekend. Curious to see whats been done to pioneer, I've been mentally prepping for full gnar
  • 3 0
 Frown Surfing through the moon dust after the rock drop was my favorite part of the entire hill
  • 2 0
 I enjoy reading/watching these trail updates more than anything else on the internet haha
  • 1 0
 I'll be there Saturday and Sunday for my first time ever. Going to be a blast :-) can't wait!
  • 1 0
 awesome, i love going to KHMR. Cant beleive those at NSMB rated fernie higher than you guys.
  • 2 0
 Hobo Rings to the rescue!
  • 1 0
 I'm stoked! Looks like they put a lot of effort in. Summer days at Kicking Horse are the best
  • 1 0
 See you for my stag party at the beginning of August.
  • 1 3
 I love the raw feeling of that place. Don't dumb it down. Remove the wooden garbage and keep the trails natural. The alpine single track is amazing!
  • 3 0
 We aren't trying to dumb anything down, but what we are trying to do is create a bike park that is sustainable in the long term. As much fun as it might be for a handful of passionate bikers to blaze straight down the mountain, it isn't so much fun for the trail crew to have to move the loose rocks every single day. We have other projects we want to work on. Remember, there are 3700' of trails to maintain on this monster.
Pionner/Claim Jumper is still an undeniably fast, old-school singletrack with plenty of places to grip for your life. Come see for yourself.
  • 1 0
 Is is just me, or is the section of trail on Pioneer below the rock drop and around Spiral Tap getting a little gnarlier each year? I've ridden it a number of years in a row, and something about it last year, maybe it was just my ridding at the time, but it just seemed gnarlier than I'd ever remembered.
  • 2 0
 It isn't just you, it's us too. Those zones reached a point of no return (well, almost - the section to the left of Spiral Tap is still available to those who want it). We also did another small reroute below Spiral Tap because the winter folk were complaining about the massive trench in the middle of the ski run, and winter concerns usually trump summer concerns around here.
  • 2 2
 if you have 3700 m of trail then i think you should be building more instead of rebuilding old. just a thought....
  • 1 0
 stoked to go this year!
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