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New Lift-Assisted Mountain Bike Park, Asheville

Apr 26, 2008
23
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Lift-Assisted Mountain Biking Arrives in the Southeast!
26 West Mountain Bike Park Prepares for Summer and Fall Operations.


The Southeast's only lift-assisted mountain bike park Grand Opening is May 31th, 2008. Only 30 minutes north of Asheville, NC, 26 West Mountain Bike Park is located at Breakaway Village in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The park will debut with the upper 7 trails, offering terrain for beginner to advanced riders, as well as a dedicated freeride area for hucksters. An additional 3 trails are under construction and are scheduled to be open later in the year. For the second year, Breakaway Village will host the North Carolina State Downhill Mountain Biking Championships. Race dates will be available by May 31th.

For 2009, 26 West Mountain Bike Park will continue to expand the freeride area and build more beginner, intermediate and advanced level trails.

The mountain bike park compliments outdoor activities at Breakaway Village, which already offers whitewater rafting, hiking, fly-fishing and horseback riding.

Lodging is available onsite. For more information contact (828) 689-2020 or
26west@breakawaync.com.
 

WODIE

Monkey
Jul 14, 2007
228
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Inman/Clemson, SC
Asheville is only an hour up the road from home.. i'm down for a close bike park. Cant wait till more freeride/downhill stuff gets built and i'll be up there.
 

PKG

Chimp
Jul 25, 2007
13
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cumming GA
I am soo happy i could cry!!!! I will do my best to get up there and help build!!! Maybe by the end of may! after finals are over!!!
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
lift assisted on the Breakaway side?
good for you.
Where does the lift start and where does it end at? I saw one from that lodge to Breakaway and one from Breakaway to the 3/4 point of Wolf Laurel side. Did they put that "Future Double Lift" in already that is on the trail map?

 
Apr 26, 2008
23
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26 West is located in Breakaway Village. It is not located at Wolf Laurel - the community, or Wolf Ridge - the ski resort, or Scenic Wolf Resort - also the ski resort.

Just remember Breakaway Village and you'll be okay.
How To Build a Bike Park suitable for all riders in three easy steps:
Dig. Work. Dig. 26 West Mountain Bike Park is alive and is looking better by the hour.

Work is moving along on the mountain. Naturally contoured descents provide a framework for 26 West Mountain Bike Park's trail system. These outer "framework" trails are classified "green" and "blue" and are intended for beginner and intermediate riders. Advanced level, "black-diamond trails" full of road gaps and drops are dispersed throughout Breakaway's slopes and woods.

This year's State Champs DH race course is already finished, keeping riders in the woods more and offering plenty of fast, off-camber loam sections. Course times could be 30 seconds longer, and cobblestones will once again provide a classic finish line feel.

A slope side dirt-jump section and freeride zone are located mid-way down the mountain and offer a variety of freeride stunts, tabletops and doubles. The mandatory bike park "jump and flow" trail exits from the freeride zone, sending riders into a bevy of tables, rhythm and hips before arriving in the village center. A cross-country loop and two Super-D trails are currently under construction and will offer sweet loam single-track, great views and flowmentum for riders who want to pedal a bit.

For more information email 26west@breakawaync.com or visit www.breakawaync.com.
 

acme54321

Chimp
Mar 22, 2004
38
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Then whose lifts will they be using? Because the Wolf Ridge map makes it look like Breakaway is in WR or something. I'm confused.
 
Apr 26, 2008
23
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Will there be a season pass available? And if so........how much?

Day lift pass...$24
Season pass...$179

Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Friday...2 - 8 pm
Saturday...10 am - 6 pm
Sunday...10 am - 4 pm

Grand Opening May 31
Season schedule: May 31 - October 1
email 26west@breakawaync.com for more information, including season pass orders, volunteer work-for-lift-pass program and trail descriptions. Web site will be updated soon.
 

CLos

Chimp
Jan 28, 2007
68
0
Well!!! Were the hell are the Pics!!! Park is expected to open soon and I know we would all like to see what's up. :picsstfu:
 
May 5, 2008
28
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I would take any news about what is going on. I have talked with the guy in charge once but he never got back to me about workdays.

Another guy I ride with emailed him and never heard back. The breakaway website says it opens on May 30, but the announcement here says 31st...anyone know which one is legit?

The descriptions sound awesome. We will be there opening day; I hope it is like the descriptions. Below is the last update.


"Work is moving along on the mountain. Naturally contoured descents provide a framework for 26 West Mountain Bike Park's trail system. These outer "framework" trails are classified "green" and "blue" and are intended for beginner and intermediate riders. Advanced level, "black-diamond trails" full of road gaps and drops are dispersed throughout Breakaway's slopes and woods.

This year's State Champs DH race course is already finished, keeping riders in the woods more and offering plenty of fast, off-camber loam sections. Course times could be 30 seconds longer, and cobblestones will once again provide a classic finish line feel.

A slope side dirt-jump section and freeride zone are located mid-way down the mountain and offer a variety of freeride stunts, tabletops and doubles. The mandatory bike park "jump and flow" trail exits from the freeride zone, sending riders into a bevy of tables, rhythm and hips before arriving in the village center."
 

highrevs

Monkey
Oct 13, 2005
827
0
NC
Ryan’s description of what to expect does sound very promising. There’s a group of us coming up form the triad area for opening weekend. I can promise there will not be a shortage of photos after I spend a weekend of riding and shooting up there.

Few photos from last years DH race




 

tonyb

Chimp
May 17, 2008
2
0
i went to help get some work done this past wednesday and thursday and its gonna be sweeeeeeeeet! super fast and flowy, mixed in with some tight techy sections. and more road gaps then you can shake a stick at.. cant wait! theres gonna be a volunteer work day on the 24th sponsored by industry 9 with food and cold ones! go check it out for yourself.
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
Ryan called me last night to ask if I can help clarify things. He's been working up there non-stop pulling 12 hour days, alot with bobcat's, etc and he said he has seven trails ready to go for this weekend. They are moving the main offices and are waiting on the re-wiring of the offices, so he can't go doing internet. He's not an e-nerd either so he asked me if I or someone else can come up today or tomorrow and snap pics and post them.

The situation with the lift is this. They did their research with Dopplemeyer about bike hooks and it would cut down alot on how many riders they can uplift + their bikes using their basic offering. As Doug said they want to switch to dedicated bike carriers, a la Whistler. As is, those are 4 man chairs. That means 36 riders on the lift and their bikes meeting them up top. Last time I checked that was about as many riders as the magic bus at Snowshoe. We're talking opening weekend of a new park. Lines aren't gonna be an issue, I would guess, since it's our first ever.

Parking & Passes:
Go to Breakaway Village to purchase your pass. You can't park up top at the lodge unless Breakaway fills up. If you do park up top, you have to ride the lift down, get your pass, ride it back up and get your bike.

Trails:
7 trails w/ more to come. He said he's got 3 skill levels exiting the tunnel up top Novice/Intermediate/Advanced and you can choose which route there, then as trails cross you can mix them up as you go. He said he's got 1, technically 2 Dominion style runs and lots of other stuff to suit all riding styles. He even has a few hardtail rentals for rent in the village. One trail is a Super D trail that has a climb in it to get to another section of trail, so don't be surprised by it. Long term plans will expand that run to what he guessed would be 12 minutes.

Long term:
He'll be able to use the lower half of the mountain all the way to the main road for next season, but he needs your support to make it happen. He said there are plenty of trails and riding to make it worth the trip.

I suggest supporting him if you want a place to ride....just a thought.

For any and all questions, feel free to call him at 828-553-5856. He's on the mountain ALL DAY, so you may have to leave a message. He reiterated that if you want a park pass for volunteering, to call him and come up!!!
 
Apr 26, 2008
23
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26 West Trails:

1. Village DH - Black Diamond
2. Park Connector - Black Diamond
3. Yo-B - Intermediate
4. Bunny Slope - Beginner
5. EZ Does It - Beginner
6. Stilzation - Intermediate
7. Facebrake - Double Black Diamond
8. Super D - Intermediate

Trail Descrips:
1. Village DH - Fast. Starts with tight bench-cut; goes into tight woods; 3 wideopen tables 20'+ into S-turn; off-camber; off-camber to long table to fast woods finishing section. Doesn't touch the ski slope after leaving the tunnel. Cool.
2. Park Connector - It will make you want to learn to ride like Gerritt. Swoopy and quick into corners and 25' road gap to g-force right hand berm to terrain park to fast run-in havin' 30+ road gap into woods into lift chair and repeat. Runon sentence.
3. Yo-B - Good rock garden into mini "A-line". Read: mini.
4. Bu...
5. EZ Does It - 1993 nationals. Open slope with a little woods. Fun.
6. Stilzation - Just like the man, one you wouldn't want to miss. Tight singletrack into step-downs onto slope and back into woods. He would rip it.
7. Facebreak - Mach 5 into double to road gap to double to road gap into hip. Fast straight into sketchy corners into Pisgah singletrack. The second road gap steps down a bit like the race course step-down did last year. Big trees around, though.
8. Super-D - Good momentum (ONCE IT PACKS AFTER IT IS RIDDEN A LOT) into steep, bloody-awful grunt of a minute or 9 climb. Dumps onto old road bed that has two big tables on it now. More to come in future for sure. Finishes with singletrack. Time-wise, longest run. Could be one of the top super-d courses in the area.

Our web site should be live before the weekend.

I have been working a good bit and am very excited to offer the park to the region. Guys and gals, if this park is a hit, we'll be riding 10, 11 or even 12 months a year in a very, very short time.

For more information please call me on my cell phone:828-553-5856.

Thanks and see you this weekend,
Ryan