For anyone whose heart ached when the Full Tilt course was dismantled back in 2007, gravity riders and supporters, the pain has ended. The long awaited, premiere downhill Mountain Village Bike Park opens Monday, September 14. The community will celebrate the park’s official opening with a 12-hour downhill endurance race the first weekend of October.
The exclusive Mountain Village Bike Park gives downhill riders access to three miles of mountain trails dedicated solely to this sport; nowhere in the Town of Mountain Village or the Town of Telluride could riders practice their skills (legally) until now. With 1,100 feet of vertical drop, about 30 berms, and multiple jumps, the free Mountain Village Bike Park is sure to deliver high-speed frivolity. Further, the town’s free gondola used to access this park makes this a one-of-a-kind downhill biking experience. From the gondola station St. Sophia, the Mountain Village Bike Park entrance is situated about 150 yards south. Once there, riders can indulge their senses as they steer their way through the various trail options, each built to International Mountain Bicycling Association guidelines.
No Brainer: This single blue, three-feet wide, and one-and-a-half-mile trail runs from the top of the park to the bottom with a 12 percent average grade. Expect smooth, rolling, curvy cruisers. It’s family fun for everyone.
T-Bone: This double blue, singletrack trail cuts off from the No Brainer Trail and reconnects after one-third of a mile. T-Bone is a good introduction to singletrack turns while weaving through the trees.
Squirrel Catcher: This trail may be a quickie, only 150 feet long, but with a reason. The Squirrel Catcher is a test track feature. Bottom line, if you’re not sure you want to go down this single black trail, and you’re friends say it’s okay, don’t do it. Instead, ride back to No Brainer and stay there until your heart’s content (and you’ve gained the skills needed to progress).
Pan-Coaster: This brand new single black trail runs a half-mile long and features numerous, meticulously crafted berms that flow in and out of the tress adjacent to the World Cup Trail. There are plenty of opportunities for air on Pan-Coaster.
World Cup: What’s a Mountain Village Bike Park if it doesn’t incorporate a little of the old with a little of the new? As part of the original World Cup downhill race course, this double black, rocky single track stretches a quarter-mile long and incorporates log jumps, steep drops, and berms … a potpourri of a downhill rider’s dream.
“While incorporating all of the natural features making up this trail system, we addressed erosion control and safety concerns,” Mountain Village Recreation Manager Tony Forrest explained. “This means the Mountain Village Bike Park isn’t just for the armored up, gravity junkies. Instead, we hand-selected, and in many cases hand-crafted, five trails that appeal to intermediate downhill bikers on up to expert downhill bikers. This is a rider’s playground, free for the picking. We simply ask that downhill bikers stay on the trails, and if they need to gain access to the Town of Telluride, they load their bikes on the back of a gondola cabin and take the free gondola into Telluride.”
The impetus to building a downhill bike park and devoting specific trails to this kind of riding, aside from the fact that the community asked for it, it will help boost the local economy, and that it’s just plain fun, is to help alleviate user conflict. The town, along with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), a major player in the this project, hopes that through proper trail signage and peer education, illegal trails will become a thing of the past and that trails users – hikers and bikers alike – will enjoy the trails harmoniously. Moreover, the town asks riders and hikers to read and obey all trail signage as signs were erected to keep all trail users safe. Moving forward, the Town of Mountain Village will maintain and inspect the trails daily and determine when conditions are unacceptable for riding. The park’s opening and closing dates will run concurrent with the gondola summer schedule and operational hours are from 7 a.m. to sunset, weather permitting.
To this end, it has taken a (mountain) village to raise the bar and create this multifaceted bike park. Of course it couldn’t have happened without the generosity of the Town of Mountain Village and all its supporters and sponsors: the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association (TMVOA), Telluride Ski & Golf (TSG), S.U.N.R.I.S.E. Inc., the San Miguel Bike Alliance (SMBA), Tracks Café & Bar, Dakine, the Telluride Daily Planet, and the USFS. The USFS got the ball rolling on this project. TSG donated the land that crosses the Misty Maiden, See Forever and Butterfly ski runs. Tracks fed the countless SMBA volunteers who helped build the bike park. TMVOA funded the project, a $23,500 financial contribution which defrayed the costs associated with course design, construction and event production. TMVOA also contributed, in kind, the cost to operate the gondola to service the park. S.U.N.R.I.S.E., Inc. provided the machinery and operators to help construct portions of the trails. This in kind contribution totaled $20,000. The town provided $25,500, also in kind, for labor, signage, administrative work, marketing and event production. The Telluride Daily Planet continues to promote the park on its Web site. And Dakine will cloth and outfit the park’s course workers and bike patrol with backpacks. This all totals more than $70,000 and over 2,000 hours of work by the aforementioned supporters and sponsors.
Fall Tilt Bike Race in Telluride at the Mountain Village Bike Park on Saturday, October 3rd.Almost three weeks after the Mountain Village Bike Park’s soft opening, the town will host the park’s grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, October 2. The Fall Tilt bike race open practice will begin right after the ceremony. Fall Tilt in Telluride at the Mountain Village Bike Park is a 12-hour downhill endurance race that will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, October 3. Race classes include solo, duo teams and four-person teams. Entry fees are based on a rider’s class. For more information about the race, contact Recreation Manager Tony Forrest, tforrest@mtnvillage.org or Community Relations Manger Nichole Zangara, nzangara@mtnvillage.org.
For further info on Mountain Village go to: www.townofmountainvillage.com or contact Buzz Fedorka at Telluride Real Estate Corp. at buzz@fedorka.com.
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