Video & Photo Story: The Trail Builders Behind Sun Peaks Bike Parks' Major Expansion

Every trail is a challenge. The solution is Always Flow.

We had a dream of growing beyond our rugged roots. Of endless dirt waves cascading across three mountains, allowing riders of all levels to chase progression and push their riding experience to greater depths of flow. We hand-picked three trail crews, each a master of their craft with a track record of incredible builds, and presented them with a blank canvas to sculpt as they saw fit.

Building trails is always hard. Building them in 2022 was even harder, as an unusually wet, cold spring threw one challenge after another at the teams. Undaunted, Landmark Trail Works, Lifetime Outdoor, and Starr Trail Solutions rose to the challenge. Meet the crews that made the dream of riding on Sundance and Morrisey a reality.

Always Flow: Higher


If flow is in the eye of the beholder, Ron Penney of Landmark Trail Works holds that flow accountable to the highest standard. In a quest to remove our self-imposed limitations from our riding experience, Landmark serves up a simple solution in a trail that teaches us to let off our brakes and trust the shapes of the dirt.






Enter Super Nugget - created as a building block to prepare riders for Sun Peaks’ archetype of amplitude, Steam Shovel - holding its own weight as the flagship of Sundance and an instant classic in the community.







In the pursuit of consistency and amplitude with minimal consequence, the perfect building block of flow appears at Sun Peaks, allowing riders the chance to progress from blue squares to black diamonds with unshakable confidence in themselves and their ride.

Always Flow: Broader


Long before we can lose ourselves in a flow state, first, we must find it.

Enhancing accessibility to flow is paramount in Jeff Cook’s imagination as he leads the Lifetime Outdoor team to create dirt waves that invite mountain bikers of any dynamic to discover and define their flow.








In the blink of an eye, mountain biking’s popularity exploded and new riders came flocking in droves for a particularly desirable ride… effortless blue flow. The kind of ride that delivers progressive challenge before pointed, chunky terrain. Trails long on sightline and short on surprise. Where the number of berms and rolling tables stack as quickly as your confidence to charge through them. And with the addition of lines like Might As Well, Stella Blue, and Bad Habit, that’s what Lifetime Outdoor has injected into Sun Peaks.







And where Lifetime Outdoor sees opportunity, we see an open invitation to flow.

Always Flow: Deeper


In the conversation of creating flow, we’re often occupied with pushing it to new heights. The elements of speed and amplitude shape the priority of progression as we carve our experiences.

Yet long before Brady Starr of Starr Trail Solutions and Sam Loxton of the Sun Peaks Recreational Trail Association began scratching at the blueprints for pedal-access trails on Mt. Morrisey, they had a flow of a different kind in mind - pushing the riding experience to greater depths.






Imagine a network that requires no ticket to ride. Where pushing on pedals becomes your pass to enjoy an active-rest day and access a deeper flow, outside of the Bike Park. Where you’ll find yourself winding upward beneath tall cedar trees and passing over alpine meadows with sweeping views of the resort, before turning the page to find fast paced, effortless rolling flow back toward the valley below. These charming conditions compose Starr Trails' contributions to Mt. Morrisey, Cedar Twist and Calypso Groove.







And no matter what time you ride, you’ll experience the depth of flow that marks Sun Peaks as a true mountain bike destination.

We invite you to join us this summer to enjoy the results of the hard work by Landmark Trail Works, Lifetime Outdoor, and Starr Trail Solutions. Click here to learn more about Sun Peaks.


Trail Builders
Higher: Ron Penney, Marcus Cant, Brad Stuart, Steve Scott
Broader: Jeff Cook, Luke Stewart, Connar Huddart, Megan Hawryluk
Deeper: Brady Starr, Chris Ritchie, Sam Loxton, SPRTA Volunteers

Riders
Higher: Ron Penney, Soren Farenholtz, Jesse Munden, Kyleigh Stewart, Matt Miles, Gus, Jared Gatzka, Marcus Cant
Broader: CJ Hauptman, Charlie Sissons, Noah Lara, Kiera Melnechuk, LeeAnne Ellis, Dylan Sherrard
Deeper: Mike Sleziak, Mark Fry, Kelly Kozevnikov, Jase Petersen, Leyla Johnson, Sam Loxton

Video: Lone Wolf Productions
Director/Photographer: Dylan Sherrard
Sound: Keith White Audio