Mount Washington Bike Park Opens This Weekend

Jul 25, 2012 at 12:13
by Tyler Maine  
The final remnants of the winter white stuff were shovelled out of the way last week by Mount Washington's trail crew and the snow is now gone. Dirt has reclaimed the mountain and as a result, the Bike Park opens up this Saturday, July 28th.

“Due to the deep snow last winter we waited a bit longer to open our Park and we're proud to be opening it in amazing shape,” explains Bike Park Manager Mike Manara. “It was well worth the wait.”

Mount Washington's Bike Park is open 7 days a week starting this Saturday. The Hawk Chair operates daily from 11am to 7:30pm and offers access to 9 trails and over 14kms of mountain biking bliss!

“Our Park offers a little bit of everything. We have steep and technical single track for old schoolers, freeride trails with wooden stunts and jumps for the rippers and wide and flowy easy trails for beginners,” says Manara.

Darren gettin some training in for the lungs. Nice having this level of trails a half hr from your house.

Photo by Baxter Redfern


The Park will have the following trails ready to ride on opening day: Green Line, Magical Mystery Tour, Hustler, Big Brother, Wizard, 4 Cross and Quickn'Dirty.

Mount Washington is cranking out Bike Park events right out of the start gate with Rocky Learn to Ride Week from July 30 to August 3.

During Learn to Ride Week, riders get a two hour lesson, Bike Park ticket and Rocky Mountain bike rental for only $49 per person. After determining comfort-level, guides take riders up to Green Line, the perfect learning trail, to perfect the art of rolling two wheels downhill.

“In addition to our Learn to Ride Week, we will be offering daily deals on programs every week this summer,” explains Manara. “This includes Mtn GRRLS every Friday and kids programs every weekend.”

If spectacles are your thing and you want to witness the world's best freeride mountain bikers doing what they do best, then you have to join the hyped-up crowd at the Bearclaw Invitational Slopestyle event on August 3-4th.

“This year's course will be very similar to last seasons with a few tweaks included to spice things up,” explains rider/organizer Darren Berrecloth. “We have the big line setup for the boys to throwdown for a $30,000 prize purse plus we have a new amateur comp to entice some locals to step up on the world stage.”

The Bearclaw Invitational is one of the stops on the Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour and regularly draws thousands of spectators to watch riders boost massive airs and tricks down one of the most innovative Slopestyle courses in the world.

This summer is action-packed at the Mount Washington Bike Park! For all events and program details head to mountwashington.ca.

Mount Washington Alpine Resort opens the Bike Park this weekend! The resort is located 30 minutes above The Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. WestJet, Central Mountain Air, and Pacific Coastal Airlines service the Comox Valley Airport (YQQ). To find out about accommodation and package information, call Mount Washington Alpine Resort at 1-888-231-1499 toll free or locally at 250-338-1386. Surf to www.mountwashington.ca for additional information including live webcams.

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Member since Mar 27, 2001
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33 Comments
  • 7 0
 I've always had a blast ripping laps at Mt. Washington and am looking forward to squeezing in some runs when I'm there to announce the BC Cup DH later this season!
  • 3 0
 Is the entire back in black going to be open this year? And the trail a little ways down Big brother (near the wallride befor the top of back in black) going to be finished?
  • 2 0
 Rumor has it they are going to re-build upper back in black once the rest of the mountain is ready to go. Also, that was a volunteer trail being built, unfortunately than there was a disagreement and the builders walked away from finishing the trail.
  • 6 2
 You need to employ a phased and strategic approach. Re-build the woodwork lower down the mountain first (the problematic wood structures are all lower down the mountain, the few at the top have held up in recent years), then improve the drainage problems in the key muddy areas once things start to dry out a bit. Then finish the last bit of clearing, drainage improvements and surface repairs at the top part once the snow is mostly gone. By your own own admission the snow melted a while ago. Think back to last year: the trail crew spent about a week rebuilding the wooden hip on Time Warp because the previous one broke. That's a waste of material and labour costs. Instead, a dirt hip jump would have flowed better, taken maybe a day to build, and required merely a little bit of borrowed import. Keep in mind that my constructive criticisms are inspired by my desires to give you more of my business, and I would hope that the mountain can look beyond the current year and consider the long-term reputation of the bike park.
  • 4 0
 Feedback taken, good points but don't overestimate how much earlier we could have opened and don't read too much into what you think I was implying. We definitely appreciate the time taken on this feedback, thanks!
  • 3 3
 You know, I get the impression that you're not being very forthright. If the snowmelt alone was the issue, why call off the month of July all the way back on May 5? Because doing that left no opportunity to re-evaluate the actual conditions in July. Every report I've heard from people who have been up the mountain during July is that it can and should have been open. What you're trying to tell us is that you called it perfectly, to the weekend, 3 months in advance. There's just no way, so I don't believe that's the reason.
  • 1 0
 Fair comment for sure, but check out the snow behind Mike in this video from June 18 at the bottom of the mountain:
youtu.be/iZUAShrdExw
We were talking metres deep still at the end of June. We called end of July early because we had been in the same position the previous two summers and the weather in May and June did little to initiate faster snow melt. The snow literally just melted away at higher elevations and there are still pockets up there. Just take this into consideration with the combined rebuild of damaged sections and prep for opening. We wanted it to be in amazing shape for opening and it will be....
  • 4 0
 Guys stop chirping mount washington we should be happy they even open with all the snow/re-building they have done the last couple years of record breaking snow. They could have left the bike alone and not opened it for all us riders. So we should be greatful on the hard work and snow removal they do so we can ride the park for the summer. It doesn't matter how long its open for just get up there and ride while its open and hope for less snow next year! Happy Riding
  • 3 0
 On the website it say: "July 28, 2012 to Sept3, 2012 11:00am to 7:30pm, daily (weather permitting)" What does weather permitting mean!? Also how do we know if the bike park decides to close for the day before we head up there?
  • 6 4
 By the way, get Back in Black and Helter Skelter opened. Otherwise, you've accomplished less than last year despite an even more delayed opening date and less snow. "Worth the wait" my arse.
  • 5 5
 If Mountwashington build good trails and maintained them, riders would come from all over. It's a classic case of "build it and they will come". Better trails = more paying customers and better financial results. Mountwashington has been trying to capitalize on minimal investment and SHIT trails for the last decade. It's no wonder your bike park is in financial troubles, because it's poorly maintain, opens late, and is garbage.
  • 5 2
 Never said overall financial troubles per say, but it appears that you have no idea how much money it takes to move multiple metres deep snow in May and June, that's all. Character assassination taken with grace....
  • 6 0
 I'm going to chime in here as a very active local trail builder and someone who was turned down a job at Mt Washington years ago to see it given to someone with no experience. Snow aside, bunk does have a point in my opinion. Riders here WANT the trails to be better. I WANT the trails to be better. There as so many things on the mountain that could be improved. The business still chooses to build more trails rather than dial in the ones they already have. I have ridden there once in 6 years because of this. I was up two seasons ago and ran into the same flow killing layout that was there 5 years previous. Jumps to long, too short...all easy fixes. I know for a fact the mountain has received many emails regarding this and no fix has been applied. This is the mentality that gives bunk his opinion. This is not a character assassination but a legitimate criticism that has been ringing true with the riders in this area. That being said, I will be up this year to enjoy what you do have. Cheers.
  • 5 0
 I am going to have to give my 2 cents as well.... I have to agree with universe and bunk. I have worked on mount washington and being an avid biker it was painful to watch the trail crew "work". Management doesn't care about hiring passionate hard working trail builders instead they opt to keep snowcat operators and other winter staff on the crew to hold them over until the snow falls again. Start running the trail crew like a construction company, hire people with passion and work ethic and last but certainly not least have the trail crew study and follow this : nsmba.ca/trail-building-tips . Stop building new trails and start manicuring the trails you have. The only thing going for mount washington right now is there is a chairlift...
  • 2 0
 This will be my last post to this thread- our mandate over the last couple of years for bike park was to build less, maintain more. We've been on that train for a while now and all I have to say is, come and check the park out. We have legit builders, carpenters and passionate mountain bikers maintaining our trails.We will be posting progress reports from our crew with photos to show the work. Bunk- c'mon out and check it out and then repost your feedback on the park. Cheers, over and out.
  • 1 0
 One small correction to that last statement- Green Line was a trail we developed over the last couple of years out of necessity, it's a great beginner trail for our Learn to Riders. Other than that, no new trail development...just maintenance and improvement.
  • 1 0
 I'll see you up there this summer.
  • 1 0
 Are you guys getting rid of time warp? i dont see it o your list of trail or map anymore!
  • 2 0
 Gonna be there this Saturday. Stoked!
  • 1 0
 yer lucky, I really miss it there. Shred hard and ride safe!!!!
  • 1 0
 His last name is manara, in Israel that's how the best DH course is called...
  • 1 0
 mount washington bike park closed for ever.
  • 6 5
 It's almost August... Why are they just opening?
  • 5 5
 Read post then comment....
  • 6 2
 Miker, don't neg prop that guy. He's got a legitimate question. The snow has been gone a loooong time. There is just no excuse.
  • 4 2
 The main reason we're opening this late is in fact the snow. On the west side of the mountain at the top of the Hawk Chair (top of our bike park) we get our deepest snowfall on the mountain and it melts pretty late. We could have opened slightly sooner if you just consider snow melt, but there's also the fact we have to rebuild a lot of our woodwork that was crushed under the snow load. This is our third mega-deep season in a row and financially, our bike park couldn't take another hit to push snow out like we did two and three years ago. If it made financial sense for us to do that, we would. Hope that clarifies things a little.
  • 3 2
 Hey mountwashington. Thanks for replying to the public. See my post above regarding a phased approach to the trail works.
  • 1 0
 I am so stoked for saturday!!!
and how muddy is it right now?
  • 4 4
 Seasons passes are only $200! Crazy cheap!
  • 2 0
 I heard it was due to the fact they trimmed down on some trails and opened so late. But yes it is a great deal.
  • 1 1
 That's about what I paid for my Fernie AND Kicking Horse Pass... both of which have been open for about a month.
  • 1 1
 Aren't those mountains part of some group though? Last time I was in Fernie they were offering me a multi mtn pass for the area... Not a fair comparison IMO.







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