The Whistler Mountain Bike Park crew has had a lot more snow to deal with than usual this spring, but park manager Brian Finestone said his team has been working hard to have trails ready for Friday’s (May 20) opening day.
“Preparations are going well, all things considered,” said Finestone. “There’s been a bit of an unprecedented snow pack below 1,000 metres this year with the good snowfall and cold winter we had, so we’ve had a bit of a challenge.”
Despite that struggle, a Tuesday (May 17) press release said eight of the park’s trails will be ready to ride on Friday — A-Line, Crank It Up, B-Line, Heart of Darkness, Ho Chi Min, Crack Addict, Devils Club and Hornet. The Joyride Jump Park and the Air Dome will also be opened on Friday.
For Finestone, the most exciting addition to the park this year isn’t in the park at all. A demo centre renting out more than three dozen high-performance bikes from eight brands will be opened this season inside the Carleton Lodge at the base of Whistler Mountain.
The additions to the park’s regular rentals now puts it in line with the high-performance gear Whistler Blackcomb offers visitors in the winter, said Finestone.
“You look at how we do in the ski and snowboard rental world and then kind of question why we’re not doing that with bikes as well,” he said. “I think the demand was there, but in some cases, the demanders didn’t even know it was there. Having now done it… I think people are pretty excited about it.”
As far as new trails for 2011, Finestone said park officials will have to complete maintenance and snow removal from existing trails before working on anything new.
However, the park is introducing two new skill development areas, one at Olympic Station and the other on Lower EZ Does It.
“The idea is that people can go to these skill centres, firm up some of the skills you need to ride certain sections of trail, then take those skills out onto the trails and have a better experience,” said Finestone.
One other challenge facing the bike park crew is having less time to prepare for Kokanee Crankworx, which runs July 16 to 24 — three weeks earlier than usual this year.
“We moved the dates because the August schedule for World Cup downhill races has (athletes) over in Europe and we wanted them to come to Crankworx. So by having it in July, some of the high-end downhill racers can put us into their schedules and be here,” explained Finestone. “That definitely puts a different amount of focus and pressure on getting the race courses ready for the event.
“It’s a huge amount of work to get Crankworx off the ground regardless of what happens.”
However, Finestone said pushing the nine-day festival up a few weeks will do more than just draw world-class downhill riders.
“Typically, as you get later into July and August, things start to dry out and we have moisture problems. But with (Crankworx) being three weeks earlier and us being two weeks later with spring, it kind of lines up that time in July to be the best conditions that we have in the bike park. That’s very exciting.”
Opening weekend at the park includes Saturday and Sunday’s (May 21 and 22) Bike Bash.
To celebrate the demo centre’s grand opening, anyone testing one of the new bikes for rent will also receive a free, one-day park pass. Used downhill rental bikes will be up for sale at Garbanzo Bike & Bean.
The Bike Bash also includes an amateur video contest, for which submissions must by in by Friday. Check out www.whistlerbike.com for more information.
