[unskilled]

i actually will be moving about 45 minutos from 7springs and i am pretty stoked about it. I am gonna go ahead and get a season pass and probably go sat/sun each week if i can. i am just not sure what bike i am going to be doing it with. not sure to get a dedicated dh'er or to build up a light fr that i can take to ride other places and types of terrain.

i haven't been to seven springs this past season, i was out west interning, but i loved being there and they are really receptive to building. I know there will be a bunch of people who say that diablo and snowshoe are better, and for certain reasons they are right. Both parks are much larger but i still perfer seven springs because it always seemed to me that it is a more laid back place with rarely a long line (when i've gone, mostly sundays) and you can get in so much vert in a day. that being said if you are looking for a crazy amount of trails and stunts i would say go to diablo. but i have a lot of faith in the guys at seven springs that they are going to continue to make that place awesome and i am really looking forward to riding there.

 

[Arutha]

Where are you moving to? Bought my season pass this weekend, hope the snow starts to melt soon....

i actually will be moving about 45 minutos from 7springs and i am pretty stoked about it. I am gonna go ahead and get a season pass and probably go sat/sun each week if i can. i am just not sure what bike i am going to be doing it with. not sure to get a dedicated dh'er or to build up a light fr that i can take to ride other places and types of terrain.

i haven't been to seven springs this past season, i was out west interning, but i loved being there and they are really receptive to building. I know there will be a bunch of people who say that diablo and snowshoe are better, and for certain reasons they are right. Both parks are much larger but i still perfer seven springs because it always seemed to me that it is a more laid back place with rarely a long line (when i've gone, mostly sundays) and you can get in so much vert in a day. that being said if you are looking for a crazy amount of trails and stunts i would say go to diablo. but i have a lot of faith in the guys at seven springs that they are going to continue to make that place awesome and i am really looking forward to riding there.

 

[unskilled]

greensburg, pa. looking for housing as i type this.

 

[martis]

greensburg, pa. looking for housing as i type this.

score! last season when i was building at seven springs, i was living in greensburg. it's about a 45 minute drive up (let me know if you want directions for an extremely quick back way to the mountain). i've since moved closer to the mountain, but yeah. i was making the drive 5x weekly and it's nothing. let me know if you need some advice looking for apartments, most notably, places to avoid (i used to deliver pizza in greensburg. there ARE complexes/buildings/areas that seem nice but are in reality, terrible.) send me a PM if need be.

stoked to hear you like the mountain, and that you're getting a pass... thanks to everyone who has picked one up so far, it's definitely furthering our cause for more terrain, a bigger crew, and more facilities. we don't have what diablo or snowshoe can provide (yet), but things are looking bright for the future.

 

[kmart1971]

I've heard some rumors about 7 springs having addtional races besides the Gravity East race. Any news on that??

 

[martis]

I've heard some rumors about 7 springs having addtional races besides the Gravity East race. Any news on that??

I haven't heard anything about this, but keep in mind... we're only just beginning to talk about what's going down during the 2010 season. If I hear anything about this, I'll definitely share it.

 

[martis]

Good news from Ride7Springs.com, especially for all you procrastinators out there:

"So did you forget that the early purchase deadline for your 2010 Bike Park Season Pass was just around the corner? Well no worries if you're still diggin around the couch cushions for the extra couple bucks. We've extended the purchase deadline to April 15, 2010!

So here's the deal. Buy your bike park pass before April 15, 2010, and it's only $189! The prices goes up to $229 April 16 - May 15, 2010. After May 15, 2010 they go up to $249, so now is the time to buy!"

I can personally vouch for the fact that the snow is rapidly melting. I'll be sad to see my winter job on the Terrain Parks crew go by the wayside, but I'm stoked to get to work on the trails. I've been on vacation since Sunday, but as of Saturday afternoon, the ladder on Super Connector is FINALLY visible! Now we just need to fix the damage the snowmelt is going to do to the trails. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

 

[unskilled]

i was researching how long it takes for me to get to springs from my door (45 minutes, score) while driving the other day and i totally forgot about the backside to seven springs. any word if any of that backside lift area will ever get used?

 

[martis]

i was researching how long it takes for me to get to springs from my door (45 minutes, score) while driving the other day and i totally forgot about the backside to seven springs. any word if any of that backside lift area will ever get used?

that's the ultimate goal for a lot of us. before we can go to the backside, however, we need to maximize the space we have on the front.

 

[martis]

HEY. We now have a Facebook page. So, everyone befriend us on there, upload some pictures and videos, tag photos and videos taken here, and don't forget to tell us how awesome we are. Just search: Seven Springs Bike Park.

Cheers.

 

[unskilled]

when is opening day?

 

[martis]

Saturday, May 29 is opening day! We're going to be open from 10-6 on weekends through July 1, when we go 7 days a week, up through September 6. We're going to continue shuttling on Mon-Thurs, 10-5, as it worked out very well last year.

May 29 - July 1: Sat. and Sun. 10-6.
July 1 - September 6: Mon. - Thurs: 10-6, Fri. and Sat: 10-7, Sun. 10-6
September 7 - October 24: Sat. and Sun. 10-6.

 

[craftbrewed]

Why do they not open til 10 am? They're missing about 3+ hours of daylight. If they can not run the lifts until 10, why not open the shop up at 9:30? Last year i showed up early to get my lift pass to get on the lift at 10 and the staff was "running" from the cars at 9:58 to open up. I then ended up getting in line behind about 6 kids getting fitted for bikes that were not even serviced from the previous day. I hope they can work on some stuff like that this year.

 

[martis]

Why do they not open til 10 am? They're missing about 3+ hours of daylight. If they can not run the lifts until 10, why not open the shop up at 9:30? Last year i showed up early to get my lift pass to get on the lift at 10 and the staff was "running" from the cars at 9:58 to open up. I then ended up getting in line behind about 6 kids getting fitted for bikes that were not even serviced from the previous day. I hope they can work on some stuff like that this year.

The lift/shuttle opens at 10:00 am for a number of reasons. We, the Bike Park staff, arrive at 8:45 - 9:00 AM (not to be confused with the Adventure Center staff that sells you a lift ticket, and was seen running in at 9:58. More on that in a bit). Opening the trails is actually a fairly lengthy process since we've built Frankenstein, The Tank, etc. We visually inspect and ride each trail, remove tape that goes up every night in approximately 15 locations, and check to make sure our signage is where it's supposed to be, then we log everything and remove the final "closed" sawhorse at the top of the mountain, usually right at 10:00. This process almost always continues until just before the first riders are making their way up the lift. At 10:00 AM, we can then get to work either patrolling, maintaining, building, or whatever else needs done that day.

Now...the Adventure Center staff is mainly made up of local college students, home on summer vacation (the number of employees thins out significantly in early September). With the exception of our mechanic, none of them are riders, and don't really seem to have any training regarding the bike park, and have made many errors regarding rental bikes, etc. Their main job is to work the climbing tower, euro-bungy, and to sell tickets for these activities. Unfortunately, they have different management, and I agree, something needs to happen to make things work a lot better on their end. I've personally witnessed some of these employees running from the parking lot to open late, and at times haven't been able to get my bike out of their building when I needed to. I'm sorry that this staff had to be your first impression of the place, and I'll pass this along. I agree that it's a major issue that needs to be fixed.

As far as opening earlier, I think it would be feasible to open at 9:00 AM or earlier, but I doubt we'd see enough traffic to make it profitable. Then there's the issue of paying the staff overtime. As of now, on a weekend, we clock in around 8:45 AM, and leave around 6:30 PM. 7:30 when we reach extended hours. The same goes for lift operators, as well. The expense of running the lift for an extra hour, plus paying 4 or 5 employees that much more overtime... not to mention the staff working multiple consecutive 11+ hour days... it's something I'm assuming was decided upon sometime in 2008. As of now, unfortunately, I don't see the hours changing, but you never know.

 

[dump]

snow looks to be gone

 

[martis]

the snow is MOSTLY gone. still some covered sections on 007 and r 'n r.

 

[craftbrewed]

Thanks, for the reply. I understand what the bike park crew is doing as far as your inspection and its greatly appreciated. So I guess the problem lies with the adventure center. It's a shame that the trails are open at 10 but its not possible to be riding by then. Hope something can change but still looking forward to riding at seven springs this year. Too bad you can't open up at the beginning of may instead of the end but i understand the need for the next month to work on trails.

 

[martis]

Thanks, for the reply. I understand what the bike park crew is doing as far as your inspection and its greatly appreciated. So I guess the problem lies with the adventure center. It's a shame that the trails are open at 10 but its not possible to be riding by then. Hope something can change but still looking forward to riding at seven springs this year. Too bad you can't open up at the beginning of may instead of the end but i understand the need for the next month to work on trails.

i'm not trying to put anyone down that works at the adventure center, it's simply the fact of the matter that most of the employees there have no idea about what the bike park actually is. i might bring up the possibility of opening the adventure center at 9:45 or so, but i don't think it will happen, really. like i said, they're a completely seperate entity from the bike park, even though we work together with them at times.

regarding the opening in late may: there's many reasons for it. the snow needed to melt off the trails. the runoff from the snowmelt needed to be gone. work needs to be done on many sections of trail, some of it involves a skid steer or excavator... regardless... everything should be in top shape by opening day.

 

[rav400]

I remember arriving many times before the lift opened and usually being able to buy my lift ticket before the life opened. Also, I thought the park use to open at 11am? The move up to 10am is great imo. I always like to get to the mountains as early as possible. Aaahhh, refreshing!!!!

 

[martis]

Slingshot is going to be super sweet this year. Myself and another staff member were throwing some ideas around for the section that is yet incomplete. Once it's finished, you will be able to go from upper 007 to slingshot to the Tanker drop, OR Frankenstein, OR EC, OR 007. Maybe even something else? Time will tell.

 

[Matt 891]

Which bike would you recommend I take? 7 inch freeride bike or my pig heavy DJ hardtail I have set up for trail riding?

Ive heard some trails are flowy and smoooooth

 

[martis]

Which bike would you recommend I take? 7 inch freeride bike or my pig heavy DJ hardtail I have set up for trail riding?

Ive heard some trails are flowy and smoooooth

You can definitely have your fun on either bike, but to get the most out of everything, I'd say your 7 inch bike would be more fun. I love riding a hardtail down 007, but halfway through the day you start wishing you had a big bike. It's a trail similar in spirit to A-Line, so 7 inches of travel is definitely not overkill. When your buddies hop over to Frankenstein and EC1 though, you'd get pretty beat up on a hardtail. But if possible, bring both!

 

[kmart1971]

What is the inside scoop for the GES race? Same courses as last year or changing it up???

 

[martis]

What is the inside scoop for the GES race? Same courses as last year or changing it up???

I'm actually curious myself. From what I understand, though, it's up to the GES guys. They come out, look at our trails a few weeks before the race and make a decision based on that.

For the record, the race should be a blast this year. Last year was awesome.

 

[kmart1971]

Had a great time last year, even though I crashed out on the race run......

 

[martis]

Had a great time last year, even though I crashed out on the race run......

I was 90% sure I was going down on the double-drop on upper EC1 (I raced sport class). Took the upper line too fast and my front end dipped. Nose wheelied out and almost hit a tree... had to re-mount my bike and definitely lost a few seconds.

 

[kmart1971]

last berm before the woods on the sport course caught me out....too fast for the loose conditions..

 

[martis]

last berm before the woods on the sport course caught me out....too fast for the loose conditions..

Yeah, according to some friends who were watching from that section... the last berm claimed a few people. I was just trying to keep some air in my lungs at that point though. I was losing peripheral vision when I exited the woods... I think I should have trained a bit more.

 

[martis]

By the way: Bike Park is accepting applications for a full-time position! Head up to Seven Springs if you're interested.

 

[skatetokil]

I also had a blast even though your jumps blew up my fork...

 

[martis]

Time for a real update, I guess.

Chris, Brandon, Scotty Mac and myself have been out killing it hard on the trails trying to make 2010 our best season by far. Just to give you an idea of what kind of time we're putting in, I had to leave early today, as I hit 40 clocked hours in 3 and a half days.

First and foremost, we marked down all of our many eroded (by water and/or riders) sections, clogged drainage areas, run-down berms, and mellowed-out takeoffs. Our list is easily long enough to keep us busy until opening weekend, and beyond.

Once that was done, we raked most of the trails and cleaned off the hay bales and other items necessitated by winter. At that point, we got to work freshening things up.

First on the list was a section of EC-1, just before it intersects with 007. The berms have seen two years of heavy use and needed to be re-shaped. It took us a day and a half, but the section now looks like something off of a pump track. The pictures look good, but it needs to be seen in person to be appreciated.

We then moved on to the glades in 007. The berms are noticeably less banked than when they were built, so we started from the top one, carving, building them up, and smoothing them. The master plan for 007 is going to have it looking very good by the time we open.

I spent quite a bit of time in the rain the other day cruising around to the areas that needed some drainage revisions, and did what I could with a shovel and Macleod. They're still going to need some work, but for now, serious erosion is being minimized.

As of right now, we still have a lot of work to do. Machinery will be arriving at the beginning of next week for several things that are too big to do by hand.

I'll have the pictures on here soon, or visit our facebook page if you want them now.

 

[martis]

Trails are open and all good. Gravity East next week, we should have a new section of trail (not being used in the race, but new nonetheless) finished by then!

Big turnout last weekend, crap weather this weekend. After Gravity East, it's onward to more build projects!

 

[cecil]

martis we are planing on coming down friday night, where is a clean cheap hotel (i know clean and cheap dont go hand in hand) near a watering hole? then we are going to tear up the place all day saturday, thanks

 

[mquehl]

Awesome day I guess, since I just looked at Live Timing for the event

http://live-timing.com/report.php?r=20034&rp=391440&page=6

Geritt Beytaugh 1st
Ethan Quehl 2nd
Gavin Vaughn 3rd
Richie Rude 4th
Jason Memmalar 5th

 

[BikeFan84]

anyone wanna see some vids and pics of the new new trail coming off of Frank>??

http://hopecyclery.blogspot.com/

there will be almost daily updates and product reviews too.

 

[BikeFan84]

double post woops