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FAO Norbar et al - east-european DH scene

- seb

- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
So a friend of mine and I were wondering, is there much in the way of decent DH out your way? I've chucked Poland up on google maps, and from an overview it looks like a pretty flat place apart from the very southern edges. Same with Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia really. Or are there some hidden gems to be found?

Slovakia and Romania presumably have a few spots, they certainly have the hills for it. What about the bottom corner of Ukraine - much there?

Just looking for somewhere a bit different for a riding roadtrip really. The Alps are awesome, but so's going somewhere new and experiencing different cultures/places.
 
frango

frango

Turbo Monkey
Jun 13, 2007
1,454
5
Can I, can I? :D
Unfortunately, it's mostly flat in Poland.
First list-assisted mountain (artificial, in fact ;) ) is nearly 200km south from Warsaw.
All other spots are just on the Polish-Czech or Polish-Slovakian border.
However, if you had time and money you could make a road trip starting from one bottom corner and ending up in another :)
 
norbar

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,498
1,714
Warsaw :/
Hey
Poland is a large country so it looks flat but our mountain ranges cover all of our southern border which is quite long. We have 10x the riding compared to Latvia and other baltics that have no hills over 300m.

If you want eastern europe your best bet would be Slovakia, Poland and Czech Republic. Basicly 2 mountain ranges between 3 countries. Don't expect classical groomed trails as between the 3 countries you will probably find 3-4 tracks like that but some nice dh and some nice old school singletracks are to be found here and some of them are very nice.

For the best places:
1. Ruzomberok/Malino Brdo bikepark (Slovakia) - 3 trails with an awesome dh track. Rocks, wide tracks, technical dh, flowy and fast park run with only a few jumsp + a longer wooden section.
2. Kouty nad desou (Slovakia) - haven't been there but supposedly very nice dh and fr tracks. A bit away from the PL/SK border.
3. Wisła (Poland) - great dh track, rocky, rough, fast. Flowy bike park track but you have to push for it a bit. Short hill (2min dh for top pros, regular guys 2.30-3min)
4. Spindleruv Mlyn (Czech Rep) - old euro champs dh track, new supposedly rough track. Nice sport though far away from the rest
5. Bachledova dolina (Slovakia) - Track made by Filip Polc - flowy bermy track, horrible mud when wet.
6. Szczyrk - mostly hidden singletrack, a lot of hickers but it's a BIG hill
7. Czarna Góra - gnarly, rocky, long dh track, further away from the rest.
8. Koninki, Ustroń - 2 more enduro spots with lifts but kinda meh for dh. Fun but strange.


I will give you a longer write up when I'm at home and post some helmetcams. There is a large bike fest in may in Poland - pump track, ds, dh, slope, en, xc if you want. The hill is small but the event is ok. If I will be in Poland when you arrive I'd gladly ride with you. If you need a guide Totalbikes is a great option (the owner is a friend, certified mtb trainer and an ex dh and 4x nat champ).

If you want to race check out - Downhill Contest and Joy ride series.

Overall the quality of riding is far from the alps but the hills here are quite big and the riding is fun.


@Sethimus - Bozi Dar is still open? I was there 6 years ago and it looked like a dead town. The track was awesome though.

Spicak is nice but if you want to ride the rest of the region it is far away since it's very close to Austria.
 
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