Video: Summit Bike Park Announces ‘Blue Steel’ Debut

Aug 14, 2020 at 11:54
by Snow Summit  
Blue Steel Intro

by SnowSummitBikePark
Views: 1,709    Faves: 0    Comments: 0


PRESS RELEASE: Summit Bike Park

If you’re an ambi-turner who likes to ride good – and do other stuff good too – be sure to check out Blue Steel during you next trip to Big Bear Mountain Resort’s Summit Bike Park. All Zoolander jokes aside, here’s a quick trail overview from Summit’s Trail Crew Director, Ryan Wormsbecker:

The really, really, ridiculously good looking trail (OK, one more), which recently opened to the public adds another option to Summit's already renowned trail system by providing a blue jump trail that bridges the gap between the existing intermediate flow trails and more technical lines like Westridge and 10-ply. The trail has been In development for several months and features perfectly formed berms and smaller jumps – ranging from 7-12 feet – along with two wood features, an off-style bridge and a wallride, that are designed to help riders build confidence and rhythm.

Access Blue Steel via chair 2, with much of the trail running adjacent to Party Wave. Few more photos of our models:

photo

photo

photo

photo


Author Info:
SnowSummitBikePark avatar

Member since Apr 8, 2014
44 articles
Must Read This Week
Pole Bicycles Has Filed for Bankruptcy
56475 views
First Ride: The Sub-$600 RockShox Domain and Psylo Forks
42895 views
[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Mairiporã XC World Cup 2024
42191 views
Tree Root Pierces Harriet Harnden's Foot at Round 1 of the British National Downhill Series
38769 views
Pinkbike's DH Fantasy League: Get Your Team On The Line - Fort William is in TWO WEEKS!
35044 views
Review: Race Face's Era Chainring Uses Steel, Carbon, & Aluminum
28385 views
First Ride: Fox's New Transfer Dropper Post - Adjustable Travel, Up to 240mm of Drop
27026 views
Industry Digest: Crowd Funding 36" eBikes, Canfield Bikes' Relocation, Recalls & More
26765 views
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup

33 Comments
  • 23 0
 This is HUGE for that park....ther was such a terrible mix of local senders and complete noobs on the main jump line. Practically never make the hike for that reason, you always seem to get stuck behind a guy on a rigid 80's bike.
  • 7 0
 It's way worse this season. Im going to say up to half of everyone are on rentals or their first mountain bike and have no idea what they're doing. There are going to be a shit ton of barely used bikes on the market very soon. But im happy the parks are making some $$$ and stoked on the shops for the boom.
  • 4 0
 @Rubberelli: agreed, I see a demographic of people up there that I haven’t seen in years past. The type to be wearing khaki shorts and a road style helmet.
  • 7 0
 The problem is that this still funnels into party wave. So it will clear up some of the traffic up top, but bottle neck again lower in the run.
  • 1 0
 @Austink: ah RIP
  • 1 0
 @Austink: do they have plans to extend it to the bottom at some point? It will be a nice warm up run if so.
  • 2 0
 @Austink:

Right! Does SS assume that people riding this halfway down the mountain will all of a sudden be ready to transition into party wave?
  • 2 0
 @Austink: Exactly. I was there today. It was a complete cluster f*@k. The new trail merges with Party Wave right before Muscle Beach. Complete log jam. And Westridge after the bridge was full of people waaaayyyy over their heads. It was tough to get a clean run in before this, even on a weekday — it’s damn near impossible now. I don’t know what they were thinking designing this way.
  • 2 0
 @Rubberelli: no idea. But given how hard it is for them to build trails, I’m not holding my breath.
  • 2 0
 @SeanC1: haha maybe they will go on party wave (not westride) and try to send the only bigish double in the park (the one after the paver berms) then realize they can’t actually jump and stick to turtle and going green.
  • 1 0
 @jbess001: only time I even ride westridge is on weekdays after 3. Otherwise you are stuck behind a bunch of people rolling everything.
  • 1 0
 Westridge is my least liked trail due to all the "bros" who case every jump and have to pull off and catch a breath 5 times down. I stick mostly to MM and 10-Ply, or stay outside the park. Then again, I end up nearly running someone over on MM almost ever trip. I guess the "single black" rating makes people think it must be easy.

Would be nice if this trail takes some of the pressure off Westridge.
  • 2 0
 @JSTootell: unfortunately, I think it’ll have the opposite effect. The vast majority of people coming off Blue Steel seemed to be heading down Westridge rather than heading under the bridge and connecting to Turtle (heck, heading under the bridge would probably just result in lower miracle getting even more clogged up).

I guess I shouldn’t be complaining — the new trail is fun and good on summit for building it. It just seems like a TON of fairly new riders have been up there lately and it’s been really frustrating on trails like party wave/Westridge and miracle. Maybe some more mandatory features to act as squirrel catchers would solve the problem.
  • 1 0
 @JSTootell: Miracle seems to be the goto trail for everyone on a hardtail up there! I heard a guy on an old GT hardtail bragging how he made it down MM. His friend told him 10ply would be next!
  • 5 0
 Yea progression! I'm 37 and just started riding a few years ago. As much as i'd like to send everything i'm still learning and more than welcome trails like this. God knows when I get on the bigger lines i'm just casing most jumps anyways...
  • 9 1
 10ply needs to be redone. it's not even a f*cking trail. It's a blown out water canyon/drainage.
  • 12 1
 100%...never seen a bike park open a double black trail and it just miss the mark like 10ply. In addition to that their 2 bikes per rack is also unacceptable...they need proper racks instead of the half-assed racks they lay on top of the chair. Lastly, they charge higher rates than every park I've been to, have the least amount of trails and worst conditions. Having said all of that I'll be up there tomorrow cause I'm a sucker.
  • 2 0
 10ply is a proper SoCal DH course. Every outlaw DH trail around here can fit your description. You either get a bike that can handle it and learn to ride them or you go ride the "normal trails" with everyone else. It is especially entertaining to watch these COVID beginners up there giving it a shot!
  • 2 0
 @Rubberelli: I have a DH bike and can ride 10ply without issue...doesn't mean it rips. If we're being honest 10ply is likely the last "double black" trail they're going to put in for a while and it just leaves more to be desired. Off-site trails rip harder though so at least we have those.
  • 4 0
 @mooseindahouse: I agree on 10ply; it’s awkward. The whole way down you expect it to open up and get scary fast, or get scary technical, and instead you just slide through sand in between service roads the whole way down.
  • 2 0
 Since the trail crew is probably reading this, Here's what you should do. At the minimum, you should be raking each trail once per week, to clear the pine cones and foot ball sized rocks that fall into it. Better would be to rebuild the corners and smooth out the holes, every month or so.
  • 1 0
 @mark4444: actually got to ride 10ply today with good dirt and it was solid so maybe they just need to water or clear out the beach sand? I dunno.
  • 2 0
 @mdpetrie: I’m with you on that. It doesn’t feel like a full run, but small segments connected with fire road. Most days I just alternate between miracle and 10ply, since party wave is a cluster, so it would be rad if they kept building it into a proper fast double black tech trail.
  • 1 0
 I'm not saying it can't use some work, obviously it does. And it is still pretty new. But I really like it. It was fucking awesome Saturday after the storm, but even when it is super loose it makes for a great ride.
  • 1 0
 @mdpetrie: it sounds like you need to open it up, not the trail crew! But I admit, 10ply without a healthy dose of brakes can be terrifying and thre times as fast an anything else there.
  • 5 1
 Nice job Summit! Just to have another option is great. If you take the trails that run outside the boundary into account the park definitely has some variety now.
  • 1 0
 Its funny to me that they show an intermediate jump line with a guy who's an expert that makes it look like child's play. SMH
  • 1 0
 I think this is right on. At the very least have your pro purposefully land nose heavy like most intermediate riders still do, and maybe at most do one or two front wheel turns while in the air. Hell, I consider myself between intermediate and expert and I still land nose heavy when I'm not totally dialed in.
  • 2 0
 Looks like these jumps have the same unnecessarily steep lip on the takeoff.
  • 1 0
 I think my son and I will enjoy this on our next trip up there...
  • 1 0
 Looks good for trail/Enduro/DH bike
  • 1 2
 Looks good for a trail bike. Why make the intro vid with a full DH rig?
  • 5 0
 So does A line, your point?

YB even road it on a CX bike...maybe you shouldn’t bring your trail bike?







Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv65 0.039794
Mobile Version of Website