I am a freerider from washington state. I ride in canada and locally year round, getting a little burnt out on the same terrain. I am moving to winterpark bike park for the summer. could anyone tell me if its good. I like big drops 8-15 ft range and lots of jumps. Does this bike park live up to the hype I have heard and if not aybe there soe surrounding areas with a freeride local scene. I need soe input cheers and go big. thanx
winter park bike park
- Thread starter dbirds2
- Start date
It's been a few years since I've bike WP, but back then, you had to make friends with the locals to find the best freeride spots. There's 500 miles worth of trails, so the cross-country is awesome and easy to navigate with the free maps. Every other Sunday is a bike race, fyi.
What kinda terrain/obstacles are there at sol vista? I saw a vid on youtube and it didnt look that great.. but then again it may have been a ****ty vid. I only saw nice big doubles.. are the drops, rock gardens, rooty sections etc, or is it just open, flowy, jumpy stuff?
Here in colorado, we don't really know the meaning of roots..... 
There's hype about Winter Park?
I guess they only spread the hype outside of the state
That may be true but it is not creating any hype on the gravity side of the sport.
Winter Park is best described as having potential, but not quite there yet. They are talking big, and are sounding promising, but we've yet to see anything decent or consistent.
I can't believe you're done with the PNW scene, but yeah, there's stuff to do in the CO Rockies. The riding is good, but I think you might be disappointed with the lack of publicly known freeride trails. FR/DH not at the resorts are still under the radar and trails get closed fast. So we have no network that resembles anything close to the freeriding where you're coming from.
I can't believe you're done with the PNW scene, but yeah, there's stuff to do in the CO Rockies. The riding is good, but I think you might be disappointed with the lack of publicly known freeride trails. FR/DH not at the resorts are still under the radar and trails get closed fast. So we have no network that resembles anything close to the freeriding where you're coming from.
thanx dude for some real answers. I still will probally move for the summer and lift access ride for a couple of months. I have been talking with the resort trail builder and he is willing to let me possibly put in one line for starters. I would be bringing my trail building experience, possibly drops 15-20 ft range, skinnys and lots of step ups and downs with bigger doubles. From my building experience you build jumps and always have a small safety net, on drops build em big and build big and forgiving transitions. I f you do these things land managers and whoever have a tendency to look the other way we hope. cheers
Is Winter Park GOOD? Well, as others have said there's potential for sure. Are there big jumps and drops? Save the Slopestyle course that was used for Crankworx Colorado, no there is not. There is only one "downnhill" trail on the front side and for the most part everyone I know that is serious about DH stays away from it as it gets boring after about one day. It is the place I recommend going to for beginning DHers that want to get into it because it's pretty darn safe.
That being said, it looks like WP is actually gonna make good on all the rumours we've all been hearing for the past few years... check out the press release about how they're opening the backside to lift access, opening up a ton of potential trails. Now Mountain Goat will have lift access, and they're planning on running the Crankworx DH race down it. Pretty sick, actually.
http://www.skiwinterpark.com/media/Current_PR/04.08_Olympia_Bike_Express.htm
And I love Keystone and Vail and SolVista as much as every other red-blooded downhilling Coloradan for sure, but if there's any resort that has the potential to REALLY bring DH to the unwashed masses I think it's probably Winter Park. They already have the summer traffic and family visitor numbers in the summer, and boast a ton of other activities already to attract people there in the warmer months. By adding new trails (from easy greens to rough blacks) they can increase their numbers at a fairly minimal risk, it would seem. I doubt they'll become the next Whistler overnight, and they may be wise to add more easy to moderate stuff in the beginning than gnarly DH, but it sure does seem like they're starting to get committed to the bike park idea.
Yeah... it's gonna be a good summer in Colorado.
That being said, it looks like WP is actually gonna make good on all the rumours we've all been hearing for the past few years... check out the press release about how they're opening the backside to lift access, opening up a ton of potential trails. Now Mountain Goat will have lift access, and they're planning on running the Crankworx DH race down it. Pretty sick, actually.
http://www.skiwinterpark.com/media/Current_PR/04.08_Olympia_Bike_Express.htm
And I love Keystone and Vail and SolVista as much as every other red-blooded downhilling Coloradan for sure, but if there's any resort that has the potential to REALLY bring DH to the unwashed masses I think it's probably Winter Park. They already have the summer traffic and family visitor numbers in the summer, and boast a ton of other activities already to attract people there in the warmer months. By adding new trails (from easy greens to rough blacks) they can increase their numbers at a fairly minimal risk, it would seem. I doubt they'll become the next Whistler overnight, and they may be wise to add more easy to moderate stuff in the beginning than gnarly DH, but it sure does seem like they're starting to get committed to the bike park idea.
Yeah... it's gonna be a good summer in Colorado.
they should restrict the front to slow/n00b DH and XC and restrict the back to FFA DH.
So what's the terrain like back there? Keystone-esque? I have still yet to ride WP but have heard that a trail bike/light FR bike is adequate for the existing trails.
Honestly I don't know first-hand, but have been told that the Mountain Goat trail is pretty techy and fun. Although, I get the impression that it isn't anything that couldn't be tackled on a regular non-DH trailbike.
We'll see if they open up and/or build new trails to really realize the potential of the second lift running, or if they stick with what's there.
Did anybody else see the thing they were handing out at Crankworkx CO. last year that said that by 2009 they'd have a set up almost on par w/ Whistler's? You'd think if this was true they'd be hyping the hell out of it, putting ads in mags and on forums like this one.
WP may want to do all that stuff, and may have the plans ready. But the national forest service has the final say. Sol Vista is on private land and Keystone is in a different forest, so its not an even comparison for building new trails between the 3.
But with 3 lift service mountains within an hour of each other, its going to be an awesome summer
But with 3 lift service mountains within an hour of each other, its going to be an awesome summer
It does NOT live up to the hype.
Winter park is an "all-mountain type bike" resort. You will most likely be spending all your time at Keystone (if they stay open during construction). I'm a freerider/downhiller and winter park is usually good for one to two days of riding a year.