26 West Need You

I hate to sound like a broken record but I think Ryan (or whomever else) needs to look into some small business resources. Running a small business is fvcking HARD and not everyone is up for the challenge. He has my number and I'm open to talk and offer realistic expectations at almost any time.

I've said this before, but if he's gonna call it quits I think he should either look to sell the assests or we should turn it into a co-op.

It's kind of hard to believe that there is already talk of shutting down the park.Damn. I haven't had the opportunity to even ride it yet!But if this internet forum is the only way that people know about 26 west, then I could see a major problem. There are quite a few people that I have talked to that know nothing of the park. Word of mouth advertising is a great way for an established business to create new customers. But with a brand new business, you need to get your message across where everyone hears about it, not just a select few. I manage a local furniture store in arden,nc and even though I haven't ridden at 26 yet, I've been trying to spread the word to all of the bikers that show up in the store. Would be a damn shame to have to call it quits before it hasn't had a chance to "blossom" into something great;especially in this gravity starved area.Good luck Ryan. Western North Carolina really needs a bike park. They just need to know about it.

Living in Asheville just 35 minutes away from 26West the only thing I've heard of it is from this site. We haven't made it up yet but hope to next week, but I've been trying to spread the word. There are a great many free resources they could use to get the word out, the local paper, Mountain Express, etc. But I've seen nothing. Asheville is a great mountain bike town with lots of riders but when I tell friends about 26 West no one has heard a thing. Talk to one of the shops about putting on a demo days up there, have a party, hand fliers out at some of our riding spots. Theres plenty that could be done to promote it. I also hate to see this die before I even get there. New businesses need time to get going but they also have to be promoted.

agreed i will try and get my crew out there the weekend after july 4th, and some of the guys from boone as well. i think if he made some big workdays and posted them up we could get some crazy work done and some awsome ridding in as well, but that is just me spitballin here. i will see what i can do with my boys and hope to see you guys out there.

Do they have a website? Even a crappy one?

Has he gone to the local bike shops to put up some big fliers on their bulletin boards? Seems like some advertising might help. Especially for the out of state crews. What if he emailed a flier to stores all over the south? I'm sure more would put them up in their stores than wouldn't. Because like said before, most people don't even know about this place and the only information on the web is vague to say the least!

This is just weird if you ask me. You make an announcement about a park; delay the opening (maybe because of rain or maybe because you weren't ready), have a horribly planned opening day with a ton of riders showing up, and then talk of shutting down because of low turnout after that?

Bottom line...this is really about poor planning on many fronts. I am not bashing the guy; I am a fan of the park idea, but you have to go in with a sustainable business plan and a destination that is worthy of travel.

What about going up this Saturday?

I am going to be in Helen and was thinking about making the trip but what I've read has not been positive. Should I make the 2.5 hour drive up?

Listen, I know that some were dissapointed with opening weekend, but bottom line is this is the ONLY lift assisted park within 2-3 hrs. If we can help make it not suck, then why not. I have read almost every post about 26 on here and there are SO SO SO many offers to help in a myriad of different capacities. Fact is we want to help but the 30-40 people who are on this forum will NOT support 26, promise. 26 needs to market themselves. if they don't have time then take someone up on their offer to help especially someone who has experience in marketing or at least business development.

Just my $.02

I want nothing more than for 26 to succeed. but we need to be told what the plan is if there is one or else help to come up some workable ideas.

26 West needs to talk to the dudes from whistler, what are they called now? gravity inc.? that is their job now, they go around the world to show you how to have a sustainable fun park, i am sure it is not free, but the returns would be exponential. it is sad that there has been so much negative chatter on the net. i want to go, but for some people even such a short drive from K-Town would be hit on the pocket book, not to mention being 15 min from WR, and all the negative sh!t makes it that much harder. i really hope everything works out for the park. there has to be something going on in the background we dont see, there usually is with kind of deal. I hope you dudes squeeze through the summer 26W.

me and some of my friends headed up from WCU this weekend in the greasy slimy mess...Even in all the mud it was a ton of fun!

All in all i walked away with:

1 - Messed up rear wheel after casing one of the hips
2 - Stitches in my knee after crashing in said greasy slimy mud into hidden rock

It was a blast and i know we will all be back as soon as it dry's up some! Its not too bad a price if you carpool with your friends and get a full day's ride in! The WCU crew should be up for a build day after school resumes since alot of us are missing right now. Hope this place stays open it was TONS of fun! I will spread the word and i know the LBS in Sylva has a flyer for this place so i think they just need to be spread all over the place!

huckaduck said:

26 West needs to talk to the dudes from whistler, what are they called now? gravity inc.? that is their job now, they go around the world to show you how to have a sustainable fun park, i am sure it is not free, but the returns would be exponential.

Click to expand...

That is a really good idea! I don't know this for sure, but I've heard that some of the trail crew from Snowshoe have attended some of the Gravity Logic workshops..............

Here is the site: http://www.whistlergravitylogic.com/index.html

Dave Kelly: dave@whistlergravitylogic.com (has been at Whistler since the beginning)

Tom Pro: tom@whistlergravitylogic.com (ran the Whistler bike park for years)


Definitely a resource 26 West should take advantage of................

demolition dave said:

That is a really good idea! I don't know this for sure, but I've heard that some of the trail crew from Snowshoe have attended some of the Gravity Logic workshops..............

Here is the site: http://www.whistlergravitylogic.com/index.html

Dave Kelly: dave@whistlergravitylogic.com (has been at Whistler since the beginning)

Tom Pro: tom@whistlergravitylogic.com (ran the Whistler bike park for years)


Definitely a resource 26 West should take advantage of................

Click to expand...

he's been to Whistler and met those guys for advise.

Question for you guys...

I just got started in mountain biking so I purchased an entry level xc bike to get started. After riding for about 4 months (two times a week avg.), I realized that I want something with a bit more of an adrenaline rush.

Now, to the point of putting this in this thread...
I think I want to try more DH and FR style riding but I don't believe my bike would stand up to the conditions of a place like 26W. Are bike rentals available at the park or nearby? Would my '08 GF Wahoo be able to handle this? If I make it up there from Mooresville, I'll be the guy on the side of the trail trying to figure out what I'm doing. Sorry for the noob first post but I think this is something I'd like to try and at the same time support something that would be a great benefit to the area.
Thanks,
IdiotMatt

In addition to the great idea to learn from great pros like Tom and Dave, there needs to be some serious honest marketing.
Even places like Whistler and Snowshoe would not have a chance to make it if they only relied on word of mouth "advertising".

TOIDITTAM said:

Question for you guys...

I just got started in mountain biking so I purchased an entry level xc bike to get started. After riding for about 4 months (two times a week avg.), I realized that I want something with a bit more of an adrenaline rush.

Now, to the point of putting this in this thread...
I think I want to try more DH and FR style riding but I don't believe my bike would stand up to the conditions of a place like 26W. Are bike rentals available at the park or nearby? Would my '08 GF Wahoo be able to handle this? If I make it up there from Mooresville, I'll be the guy on the side of the trail trying to figure out what I'm doing. Sorry for the noob first post but I think this is something I'd like to try and at the same time support something that would be a great benefit to the area.
Thanks,
IdiotMatt

Click to expand...

You can do it on your bike but it won't be near as fun. If you are already thinking about DH/FR then sell your wahoo and get a new bike. You might lose some money but you'll be happy you did it. I did the exact same thing- a couple months of xc and it was time to move on...