NW Cup Combines With Pro GRT at Tamarack Resort
PRESS RELEASE: NW Cup
The battle for Downhill supremacy and the chance to score valuable points continues for both the NW Cup and Pro Gravity Racing Tour at Tamarack Resort. The venue located in Donnelly Idaho, gets a visit from Pro GRT racers for the first time this year. A brand new venue in 2017 for the NW Cup Series, organizers decided to use what they learned from year one and give the tracks some serious facelifts, as well as new sections of trail for all categories. It has been a gigantic effort from the Tamarack Bike Park as well as Deitys very own Sean "Griz" McClendon to sculpt and shape what is sure to be some spectacular race tracks.
Tamarack Bike Park with 1700 feet of vertical should satisfy most everyone's gravity needs. If something off the bike is what you desire. Tamarack Resort also offers a Zip Line Tour and River Rafting on some of the best rivers in the country. There is also the beautiful mountain town of McCall Idaho just 30 minutes away with a variety of restaurants and shopping as well.
Accommodations available at tamarackidaho.com. For more Event info go to nwcup.com Overall points thus far, go to rootsandrain.com
All the action goes down July 27-29, until then enjoy the Pre-Ride videos below provided by the Griz!!
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The resort has an interesting history. It was basically a real estate ploy, that used the ski resort to sell luxury hoses when it opened in 2004, with backing/endorsements from Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. They sold over $300-million in real estate, but then when the market tanked in 2007, they ran out of money.
The original developers went through bankruptcy in 2008, and for about the next 5 years there was a series of calamities and schemes. The most interesting was a man, Matthew Hutcheson, who swindled a bunch of money from pension funds, used some of it to buy fancy cars and some of it to buy a stake in the resort. He got caught and slapped with a 17-year prison sentence.
Things turned around when the home owners association at Tamarack got together and raised money to operate the chairlifts and resort. Basically people who bought hoses saying, "if we don't want our houses to lose all their value, we'd better make sure this thing doesn't fail." That started in 2012, and apart from the minor-hiccup of having a chairlift repossessed by the bank that year, things have been getting progressively better every year since.
They opened lift-operated mountain biking on weekends in 2016. I haven't had a chance to ride there since the lifts reopened, but heard that the trails are fun, ifdesigned for the way we all rode a decade ago.
If you're in the area, my favorite riding is at Jug Mountain resort. They have really well thought out, if short, trails. Some flow, some fun expert trails, a short jump line and one crazy road gap. They run a shuttle on Saturdays and Sundays, $20 for 3-hours.
Brundage, a much more "local" ski resort 30 minutes to the north also has fun lift-accessed mountain biking. Their trails are longer, but not as well thought out as Jug. If you're spending a weekend, you could easily hit all three, and you'd have a blast doing it. If you're traveling, I'd recommend staying in McCall vs. down at Tamarack. Worth the 30 minute drive to have better food, and more to do in the evenings.
If they keep adding and improving every year, they're on the right track. I love Jug too, but Tam is very fun.
"Nearly new chairlift, needs nothing, bring a trailer, serious offers only no tire kickers, I know what I have"