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Lift served in Idaho or Oregon?

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
As the heat increases here in Phoenix I am starting to look at the truck and out at the road with a serious longing that only a fat man can feel for pizza.

Is there any lift served riding in Idaho or Oregon? Those seem to fit my summer time heat, or lack there of, needs.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
As the heat increases here in Phoenix I am starting to look at the truck and out at the road with a serious longing that only a fat man can feel for pizza.

Is there any lift served riding in Idaho or Oregon? Those seem to fit my summer time heat, or lack there of, needs.
Oregon:
- shuttle service for Mt Ashland, more FR, Super D style trails.
- Willamette Pass: lift, limited amount of trails but fun for a weekend; mainly natural trails
- Mt Hood Skibowl: lift, also just a few trails
- Blackrock: no lift/shuttle but awesome FR trails; well worth half a week to a week stay
- Oakridge: no lift but shuttle service, more trailbike/Super D-ish trails but can be enjoyed on a big bike if it pedals well (and you don't mind pushing a couple of spots)
 

MinorThreat

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2005
1,630
41
Nine Mile Falls, WA
Idaho:

Silver Mountain , Kellogg - Opens June 16 for Fathers' Day. Dads ride FREE. Loooonnnnnng gondola ride (20 minutes) to the top and 12-15 minutes back down. Not a lot of trails but the expert lines are good. Maintenance/improvement spotty last couple years with operator's budget cutbacks.

Schweitzer Mtn. (site of 03/04/05 NORBA Nats), Sandpoint - Opens June 29. Not a lot of trails but a couple or three really good, rough, 'quintessentially-North-Idaho' gnarly. Old NORBA course is gone (unless you know where to look and poach) but they are trying to rebuild their rep as a MTB destination. High-speed quad means a lot of runs in a day.

Brundage, outside McCall - Opens June 29. Never been there but I know they have lift service. A venue that's part of the Wild Rockies DH series.
 
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Uncle Cliffy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 28, 2008
4,490
42
Southern Oregon
Oregon:
- shuttle service for Mt Ashland, more FR, Super D style trails.
http://ashmtnadv.com/

- Willamette Pass: lift, limited amount of trails but fun for a weekend; mainly natural trails
Natural, as in barely maintained semi-volcanic chunder holes... Still, I love riding there.

- Blackrock: no lift/shuttle but awesome FR trails; well worth half a week to a week stay
Bring a lunch, stay for the day baby!

- Oakridge: no lift but shuttle service, more trailbike/Super D-ish trails but can be enjoyed on a big bike if it pedals well (and you don't mind pushing a couple of spots)
Oof. A day doing all of Alpine would kill me on my big bike. Super fun, but I suggest nothing bigger than a 35lb AM bike.

Next year, this might be cool...

Dirt; hit me up if you're rolling through Ashland. ;)
 
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aenema

almost 100% positive
Sep 5, 2008
305
111
Brundage Mt in McCall, ID is good for a day. One real DH trail that is a good mixture of rocks, speed, and some manicured trail towards the bottom. Not a destination mountain but if rolling through the area with time it's good. Couple other 'all mtn' type trails that are a lot of fun in spots but get a bit tedious on a DH bike after a couple runs.

Honestly, Salt Lake area has a ton of momentum right now with Deer Valley and Wolf Creek along with many shuttle trails out of Farmington. Would likely be a better spot than Idaho but Oregon with Mt. Ashland, Black Rocks, and Hood River offer great options. Oakridge is a blast on a trail bike, must ride area.
 
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BUFFALO

Vigorous Giver of Reputation
Feb 11, 2005
150
0
Renton, wa
How long are the runs at Schweitzer Mtn.? I saw it's about 1700'. I guess in terms of minutes down. Are there any jump trails to go with the 'quintessentially-North-Idaho' gnarly?
 

MinorThreat

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2005
1,630
41
Nine Mile Falls, WA
^^ About 5-8 minute runs. There are no real jump trails; althought there are a handful of decent jumps. A lot of steep chutes with drops and rocky-rough.

Footage from a couple years ago when this trail was new:

 

thom9719

Turbo Monkey
Jul 25, 2005
1,104
0
In the Northwest.
Dirt, if you're coming through the area, most of the places are ok for a day of riding. But I wouldn't make them your destination. If you're going that far, you really should just keep heading to Whistler.

I've been to all of the places listed above except Willamette Pass. Most only have 1 or two decent trails and not much infrastructure around. The only place I would recommend really stopping at would be in Washington at Stevens Pass. This will be the parks first full season, but they are building trails as fast as they can and will be opening more this summer. It's not Whistler yet by any means, but that is the only lift access place that seems to be making a real effort at runnning a bike park and any support they get will only make it better.

-KT