Lift service within 8 hours of Phoenix?

DirtMcGirk said:

or do I just need to factor in long drive times or flights this summer to go ride on my new toy?

Click to expand...

Pretty much...

Pajarito could be right at 8 hours, depending on what part of PHX you're departing from. And if you're gonna drive that far, you could include AngelFire, which is only another 2 hours up the road.

Pajarito and Angel Fire are tons of fun for sure. Telluride should also be just about 8 hours and their gondola is free and the bike park is open until dark.

Brian Head, Utah should be less than 8 hrs away.

Come up and ride with the Gnar crew in Flag and on Mingus. Mingus is "so so", but it's downhilling and Flag has some awesome trails to shuttle, not to mention next year supposedly sanctioned DH building is going on and Snowbowl has some kind of go-ahead to start planning DH runs. Although nothing beats good lift-served, it's kind of sparse around here, Sunrise is pretty lame and you're best off heading deep into NM or CO for real "built up" lift-served riding with thought out trails and such. Skip the Pinals (Globe) if you're on a bigger bike, unless you're strong with good endurance, it's a BIG shuttle, but lots of uphills on the way down..

Tahoe has Northstar, and even though there are a couple smoother trails now, if you're not a fan of SoMo, I probably wouldn't recommend it. I grew up around there and have ridden there several times. Stick with PacNW or Colorado for more dedicated DH stuff that isn't super-chunk.