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Alternatives to Diablo and Platty? Launch Bike Park?

yd35

Monkey
Oct 28, 2008
741
61
NY
With Diablo closed and Platty iffy, what lift-assisted parks are reasonably close (around 3hrs away, or less) to central Jersey? Has anyone been to Launch this year? I've heard some chatter and read some older RM threads which haven't been overly enthusiastic.
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
Whiteface is about 3 3/4 hours from Plattekill and 4 1/2 hours from Diablo. We are a little farther but we offer big mountain riding (without flying out west) and 20+ minute dh runs. Head up to the mountains!
Owned and operated by 2 downhillers!
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
We are very busy again today. However, hardly anyone is riding the gondola. Most customers are on our shuttle truck riding the lower mountain only. This has been a strange year. Super busy, but mostly beginners that have never ridden downhill before.

So, if you know how to ride downhill, the Whiteface Gondola, the 5 k DH course and hundreds of new trail enhancements (including brand new single-track) await you!

I do believe this is due to races every weekend. So, if you have a car and don't mind driving a few hours, please check us out.

Oh, Saturday is Ladies Day # 3. Free lift for the ladies!
 

yd35

Monkey
Oct 28, 2008
741
61
NY
Whiteface is about 3 3/4 hours from Plattekill and 4 1/2 hours from Diablo. We are a little farther but we offer big mountain riding (without flying out west) and 20+ minute dh runs. Head up to the mountains!
Owned and operated by 2 downhillers!
I would love to go to Whiteface, but I can only ride on Saturday, and the 5 hour drive is a bit daunting for 1 day of riding. Thanks for the info though!
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
I would love to go to Whiteface, but I can only ride on Saturday, and the 5 hour drive is a bit daunting for 1 day of riding. Thanks for the info though!

5 hours is a bit too much for a day trip. I go to Platty at 3 3/4 hours each way, and anything more is a weekend get-a-way for sure. Platty and back is kind of a long day when you ride all day, but well worth it.

See ya when you have a weekend!

Whiteface is 2 1/4 hours from Albany.
 

wfoerk

Chimp
Jan 6, 2010
45
0
With Diablo closed and Platty iffy, what lift-assisted parks are reasonably close (around 3hrs away, or less) to central Jersey? Has anyone been to Launch this year? I've heard some chatter and read some older RM threads which haven't been overly enthusiastic.
Apparently I missed something; what do you mean, Diablo closed?
 

bullit398

Chimp
Oct 21, 2007
69
1
Neptune, NJ
5 hours is a bit too much for a day trip. I go to Platty at 3 3/4 hours each way, and anything more is a weekend get-a-way for sure. Platty and back is kind of a long day when you ride all day, but well worth it.

See ya when you have a weekend!

Whiteface is 2 1/4 hours from Albany.
DhMike, how did the trails up there fare the storm. We are thinking of coming up 9/9. Thanks
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
DhMike, how did the trails up there fare the storm. We are thinking of coming up 9/9. Thanks
Our bike trails held up great! This spring we had even more water than from Irene, so we knew how to build stuff for that kind of ultimate hydro test!

Lower mountain
:
All trails have been raked to perfection! Trail 15 aka the North East Shore has 3 different sections to it. The very top section (shortest section) will remain closed this year. The middle section (with the log ride and double teeter) if fine, but the ski trail leading into the woods got trashed, so that is officially closed till Whiteface fixes that ski trail next week. However, if you don't mind walking through the erosion, you can still access this section of 15. So the lower mountain is buffed out except 1 trail. The lower section of trail 15 is open too.

Upper Mountain:
The upper mountain saw lots of blow down on our trails. I finally took a run from the summit yesterday at the end of the day. A few signs are down that will be fixed today. The trail crew cleared all of the blow down, but didn't rake the trails as nicely as the lower mountain, due to how much worse it got hit. No worries, as I flew over the twigs and small debris on my bike like it wasn't even there!. No worries again as we plan on buffing out the upper trails today and Saturday morning. Also, on the 1st turn on the Cliff's of Insanity, we need to fix 1 tree that interferes with the flow. So all is riding good now and will be even better as the day goes on. The service road where you surf the woodchips on our race course saw some big damage. This section always sees damage after heavy rains. I rode it yesterday and it was a bit sketchy, but doable. Good news for this section is that Whiteface will fix this with their heavy machinery before the 5 K DH. It will ride super fast after the big machines buff it out!

So yes most mountains in the north east saw damage. Some more than others. We do feel bad for those that are closed and got hit harder than us.

The phones, forums and other things indicate that we will have a nice crowd of dowhillers for the next 2 weekends.

I am getting tired of scaring newbies off the gondola and onto our shuttle vehicles. We love all of the beginners we have seen this year, feel it will help the sport grow, but this will be a refreshing change for us!

See ya at The Face
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
No the 5 K course is not marked yet. Taping a course this long takes at least 50 + hours. The storm damage and getting re-opened took priority. Not 100% sure if we are going to use Inconceivable (trail # 25) for the race course. We still have at least 1 good day to make new single-track on Inconceivable eliminating the short uphill section. The trail crew is pretty content on making this new section to be raced on. This course will really highlight much of our work that has been done in the last 2 years.

The course should have stickers on the signs to help for now, but a few of our signs our no where to be found. By Saturday or Sunday these stickers and signs will be in place. By Friday September 9th we expect to have the entire 5 K DH course taped top to bottom to be ready for open practice.

Gotta go now and make some new signs! Over and out.

Here is what the Trail signs along the way will look like.


 
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Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
I am getting tired of scaring newbies off the gondola and onto our shuttle vehicles. We love all of the beginners we have seen this year, feel it will help the sport grow, but this will be a refreshing change for us!
Hey Mike, the one time we were up this summer (my son loved the shuttle ride up and the pump track!), I overheard a lot of beginners talk about how they felt the lower and upper trails rode like different mountains. After riding mostly the lower mountain, this group expected the upper trails to be lie an extended version and weren't prepped for the steepness +rox. Just anecdotal evidence, but I found it interesting. Maybe you just need to find a way to 'bridge' people to the gondola? Congrats on the explosion of the lower mountain use! - Jim
 

olddogbmxer

Monkey
Aug 9, 2007
143
0
Launch has done quite a bit of work since last year adding and improving trails. I think people will be pleasantly surprised at what is there. The riders I have encountered there this year said they enjoyed it.While short on vertical alot of rocks and wooden bridges/drops. Its close to Philly and only $25 lift ticket plus there is a good cross country loop and 19 mile Perkiomen Trail that runs past the mountain for non DH-ers that is free access. Plus its in a nice area with Tiki Bar at the mountain open until midnight and a few nice bars and restauants nearby. There are also other activities at the mountain - Zip line canopy tour and a rock climbing tower.They plan to build a jump line and DS course for a series next year so the more support they get the more they will invest and the family that owns the mountain has to date been very supportive of the bike park as an important part of their summer activities.
Also GES race there Sept. 17-18 on a course incorporating some existing trails plus some new sections.
 

cbarth

Chimp
Sep 2, 2011
4
0
Launch bike park is only 45 min outside of Philadelphia in Spring Mnt, PA.

The guys up there have been doing some good work this year and the park is coming along nicely. The atmosphere is casual and there are quite a few decent restaurants and bars in the area for after riding refreshment & entertainment.

Although the vertical drop is lacking, the lifts are fast so getting plenty of riding in is easy. There is a decent mix of technical, steep rocky lines and some intro slope style trails along with some fun wooden jumps. There are plans for more trails including more advanced jumps and DH race oriented trails for next year. Launch is also the 2nd to last stop on the Gravity East Tour and a new DH race course has been built specifically for the GES race. The GES DH course is open now for trial rides.
 

Eastern States Cup

Turbo Monkey
Feb 29, 2008
2,465
2
East Coast
Friday 10 am
Plattekill Mountain
As of 10am still no power @ mtn. Crews are working. If fixed by Sat, Sun or Mon, we will post opening status on FB. Most roads passable. Most terrain open on mtn. If you have bike reservations this wknd, whether open or not, we will not charge for no-show. To transfer reservations to another weekend, email or call next week once power fully restored.
THANKS again for thoughts and well wishes for our area...