Whitefish Mountain Resort is celebrating the completion of the Bike Park expansion project on Saturday, July 27, with a downhill race and other activities from the top of the mountain to the base area.
The event marks the grand opening of the resort’s new trails. It will include the first installment of the inaugural Double Dip downhill competition, which will take place on a section of the Kashmir trail. The race begins at 2 p.m. Viewing will be available by riding down the Summit Trail.
The resort spent five years of planning and several months of building the Bike Park expansion project, adding five new trails and more than doubling the downhill freeride experience.
The new Bike Park offers nearly 30 miles of trails, from expert downhill to intermediate and beginner cross-country terrain. The new trails include over 100 berms and over 50 jumps.
“We are absolutely stoked to offer several new freeride trails offering bikers a chance to experience flow trails, which will be like riding a dirt roller coaster. It is this experience that is driving mountain biking across the world. New technology in bikes, new trail design with the use of chairlifts has set the stage for this trend in mountain biking,” said Josh Knight events and recreation manager at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
With the completion of the new trails, downhill and freeride mountain bikers will have their chance to prove their mettle with additional events this summer. The All Gravity Series returns to Whitefish Mountain Resort, Aug. 24-25.
The All Gravity Series is a USA Cycling sanctioned series of technical downhill and enduro downhill races throughout Eastern Washington, North Idaho, and Montana. The Double Dip Downhill continues on September 14 when racers will race on the new Freebird trail.
Construction of the new trails began in October 2012 led by Knight, his trail crew and assisted by renowned trail builder Pete Costain and his company Terraflow Trails, a member of the Professional Trail Builders Association. After the winter, trail work resumed this spring and included 150 excavator days and 1,200 man hours to build over 26,000 feet of trail.
For more information on these and other summer events visit the resort’s website.