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Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
So my plan is to post updates on the progress of the Stevens Pass Bike Park as we move forward. This way you are hearing it from the source and not from the street.

Right now we are moving forward and are knee deep in the process with the Forest Service. We are on track for an FS approval in May of 2009! I know that this is a long time out, we have been pushing for a quicker timeline but the process is what is. Once we get approval we will start construction that summer with possibly some sort of limited operation late that summer? We want to have something to offer and not have to wait another whole year. From our end we are ready to start as soon as we get approvals.

Keep emailing the info@stevenspass.com address with support. We are keeping the emails of everyone that is contacting us so that we can call on you guys when we need public support. Cindy is the one who responds to those emails and does her best to respond personally to everyone.

Use this forum to give us ideas or suggestions of things that you would like to see. I can tell you that our goal is to do this right from day one and would like all the feedback that we can get. Hang in there with us as we go through the process!

Joel
 

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
We won't have any info on that until we get closer to an approval. I would guess we would start putting that info out sometime next winter after the 1st of the year.
 

NOOP

Chimp
Apr 26, 2007
59
0
Thanks for the update! This is good news.

As far as things I'd like to see...

  • A real downhill race track... long enough for pro's to take at least 3 minutes to race down. It should have drops, jumps, rock gardens, roots, etc.
  • A drop & jump skills area.
  • Several fun, mostly groomed, trails with lots of table-tops & berms.
  • A couple of fairly natural trails that epitomize NW riding.
  • A dual slalom and/or BMX/Mountaincross track
  • Some interesting wood features

Finally, there should be some long runs or ways to string together several trails into one big run, so people don't spend half their time riding lifts.

Again, thanks! It's great that you guys are really into this, and that you're asking for rider input. It will only make this venture better.
 

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
NOOP - We have in the plans some of things that you are asking for, skills area, jump lines, wood features, and others. Some of the other features are on the list but will be a couple years down the road once we open.

ryanfirder - In our first phase the lift will be Hogsback. From the top of Hogsback you will be able to access trails pretty much from Brooks to Tye Mill.
 

ryanrider

Chimp
Nov 20, 2007
99
0
so im assuming that the trails will run along the outside of the ski runs so they wont be completely demolished when winter rolls around?
 

muddy beast

Turbo Monkey
Nov 26, 2005
1,815
0
Will you be getting lifts similar or the same as whistler's mountain bike park lifts?

Because no one wants to hold onto their bike on a lift all day...
 

Eren

Turbo Monkey
Mar 18, 2006
2,874
0
mill creek, WA (now in Surrey UK)
Will you be getting lifts similar or the same as whistler's mountain bike park lifts?

Because no one wants to hold onto their bike on a lift all day...
man your retarded, id be willing to hold my bike on the lift. the lift takes 5 mintues, its well worth having to hold your bike for lift access an hour away from home.

quit bitchin
 

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
We will have trails running all over the place but designed so winter doesn't toally kill everything.

No you will not have to hold your bike all day. The whistler style racks are built in Van and from everything that I have seen they work the best.

I think I would have to agree with Eren though, I would probably hold my bike all day on lift if I had to.
 

Eren

Turbo Monkey
Mar 18, 2006
2,874
0
mill creek, WA (now in Surrey UK)
We will have trails running all over the place but designed so winter doesn't toally kill everything.

No you will not have to hold your bike all day. The whistler style racks are built in Van and from everything that I have seen they work the best.

I think I would have to agree with Eren though, I would probably hold my bike all day on lift if I had to.
in the initail stages of the bike park (meaning may 2009)
how many trails will you guys be planning to build before the season is over?

just one for each skill level, then a jump park and ladders and stuff?
 

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
We have been working with Gravity Logic. The guys are great and have been a huge help even before we started laying out trail.

We have 3 excavated trails (beg, inter, adv) and 2 single tracks (inter, Adv) in the plan right now. Once approved we would build out the intermediate, and advanced excavated and single track first. I am not sure if we can build all this in the first summer and open, we will see. As a reference these would be “Crank it up and A-line” style trails. My plan is to have as many wood features as well can. These trails are just the start of what is in the plan.
 

carbuncle

Monkey
Dec 2, 2004
364
0
Edmonds, WA
Dang that sounds nice. I'm in for a season pass sight unseen: whatever goes in first it'll be a stepping stone to later glory. I think you guys are going to be suprised by just how many people will show up to the only lift-served mountain biking in Washington! There's a ton of people like my wife and I who will hit it regularly in between Whistler and Shore trips, and there is an absolute truckload of groms whose parents will never take them to Whistler but who will be able to wrangle rides to Stevens...
 

Eren

Turbo Monkey
Mar 18, 2006
2,874
0
mill creek, WA (now in Surrey UK)
We have been working with Gravity Logic. The guys are great and have been a huge help even before we started laying out trail.

We have 3 excavated trails (beg, inter, adv) and 2 single tracks (inter, Adv) in the plan right now. Once approved we would build out the intermediate, and advanced excavated and single track first. I am not sure if we can build all this in the first summer and open, we will see. As a reference these would be “Crank it up and A-line” style trails. My plan is to have as many wood features as well can. These trails are just the start of what is in the plan.
that is somewhat contradictory. you said you would build intermideate and advanced first, yet you compare it to crank it up and a line? a line i believe is a diamond, but crank it up should be like the bginner trail, just my opinion
 

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
Next summer check it out. Crank it up is actually an intermediate trial and A-Line is an advanced. Again this is just a reference, usually one that people can relate to.
 

muddy beast

Turbo Monkey
Nov 26, 2005
1,815
0
man your retarded, id be willing to hold my bike on the lift. the lift takes 5 mintues, its well worth having to hold your bike for lift access an hour away from home.

quit bitchin
Man shut up...
you know as well as I do, that when your riding all day, that when you get on a lift the last thing you want to do is hold onto your -/+ 40 lb bike and worry about that $5000 bucks slipping away if the lift stops and bounces.

Having bike holders would be a big plus to bring people in, and keep them in. I'm speaking from the average consumer point of view.

For the record, sure, I'd hold my bike if I had to, but odds are I wouldnt want anymore after awhile.
 

Dave_Schuldt

Monkey
Jun 13, 2004
343
0
Seattle
Any plans for XC style trails? I love riding uphill but it would be nice once and a while to take a lift and have a nice long ride down and do it over and over....... Like a gentle downhill traverse over to Big Chief then switch back over again and again... Good for older folks or those who don't like riding the steeps.
 

F.M.

Chimp
Mar 4, 2005
26
0
Seattle
This is such awesome news... Cindy's personal responses are really appreciated.

I know a lot of people who have emailed to voice their enthusiasm, but I can also tell you that for each one of those emails there are twenty more people who will be riding at Stevens every chance they get!

Two things I would suggest:
Train building- There are plenty of people here who will tell you what they want, but who will build it? Put the word out and the builders will show up. There are so many people who would just be stoked to have a legal place to build, even if lift access won't be ready for a year or two. You can expect good quality since nobody's worried about the stuff getting torn out. The message boards and BBTC are great resources to rally builders. Would it be possible to offer trail builders credit towards a season's pass for hours volunteered? That could really be a win/win situation that woudl get high quality trails built fast.

Trail variety- yeah people here will bicker about skill levels and what is "challenging". I think a huge part of what has made whistler successful is having trails for ALL SKILL LEVELS. I love the double blacks, but some of my best days have been taking family up on the blue trails and watching them get hooked. This equals new customers ($$$) for the resort, which means better trails next season. Regardless of difficulty, Crank it up was a huge success because the trail has flow for all skill levels. Everybody loves berms and not many people get hurt on them. Add in some optional moves and you get trails that friends can ride together even if they have different skill levels. That makes for a fun trail but also prevents a lot of injuries since big moves aren't mandatory.

Thanks for posting here!
 

Eren

Turbo Monkey
Mar 18, 2006
2,874
0
mill creek, WA (now in Surrey UK)
This is such awesome news... Cindy's personal responses are really appreciated.

I know a lot of people who have emailed to voice their enthusiasm, but I can also tell you that for each one of those emails there are twenty more people who will be riding at Stevens every chance they get!

Two things I would suggest:
Train building- There are plenty of people here who will tell you what they want, but who will build it? Put the word out and the builders will show up. There are so many people who would just be stoked to have a legal place to build, even if lift access won't be ready for a year or two. You can expect good quality since nobody's worried about the stuff getting torn out. The message boards and BBTC are great resources to rally builders. Would it be possible to offer trail builders credit towards a season's pass for hours volunteered? That could really be a win/win situation that woudl get high quality trails built fast.

Trail variety- yeah people here will bicker about skill levels and what is "challenging". I think a huge part of what has made whistler successful is having trails for ALL SKILL LEVELS. I love the double blacks, but some of my best days have been taking family up on the blue trails and watching them get hooked. This equals new customers ($$$) for the resort, which means better trails next season. Regardless of difficulty, Crank it up was a huge success because the trail has flow for all skill levels. Everybody loves berms and not many people get hurt on them. Add in some optional moves and you get trails that friends can ride together even if they have different skill levels. That makes for a fun trail but also prevents a lot of injuries since big moves aren't mandatory.

Thanks for posting here!
great point with whistler and all skill level.

and crank it up is fun, first run everyday :)
 

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
There are plans for some XC which I like riding as well. It will be a few years out though. We are going to focus on lift access stuff first. We do have zone we are looking at that would be great for some XC style trails. Can't give you much more than that.

FM - We have a trail building plan in place the volunteer thing for us may be tough due to legal issues but we will see. I will say that the plan is to use local builders and put them on the payroll. I agree that variety is key. We are focusing on the intermediate to advanced first cause we feel that will be the initial pull but we won't leave out the intermediate and beginner.

I have been telling Cindy that her comments are appreciated. She often times gets more complaints that compliments. She has been pretty blown away by the amount of emails coming in. Keep it up!
 

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
Man shut up...
you know as well as I do, that when your riding all day, that when you get on a lift the last thing you want to do is hold onto your -/+ 40 lb bike and worry about that $5000 bucks slipping away if the lift stops and bounces.

Having bike holders would be a big plus to bring people in, and keep them in. I'm speaking from the average consumer point of view.

For the record, sure, I'd hold my bike if I had to, but odds are I wouldnt want anymore after awhile.
Don't worry you will not have to hold your bike!
 

ffonsok

Monkey
Dec 6, 2005
692
0
Not only am I going to buy a bike park seasons pass, but I'm going to be making Steven's my snowboard mountain from now on!

You guys have my support! Can't wait to hear more details on the park.
 

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
Not only am I going to buy a bike park seasons pass, but I'm going to be making Steven's my snowboard mountain from now on!

You guys have my support! Can't wait to hear more details on the park.
Go to the website and you can see some info about the summer plan. This will give you an idea of where we are heading.

Thanks for the support!
 

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA

Stevenspass

Monkey
Sep 6, 2007
103
0
Leavenworth, WA
Progress is still happening... slowly but surely. We are on track for approval from the FS sometime this Fall. Probably too late to start much this Fall but we will get after it in the Spring. Still on track for opening next summer.

As soon as the next public comment period comes up I will update.

Joel
 

Spokompton

Monkey
May 15, 2005
321
0
Spokane WA
Progress is still happening... slowly but surely. We are on track for approval from the FS sometime this Fall. Probably too late to start much this Fall but we will get after it in the Spring. Still on track for opening next summer.

As soon as the next public comment period comes up I will update.

Joel
Are you guys going to offer any perks to those who volunteer trail building time?
 

mtboly

Chimp
May 20, 2009
13
0
all u people who dont want to hold ur bikes r fukn gay cuz just haven lift access is the ****! id hold my bike all day for 1 run down rather then waistn gas and energy walkn up! and that just means i dont half to whait on all u, so more runs for the rest of us who r more then happy with lift access that u half to hold our bikes.