Crews will spend the summer season building new trails that will be ready by summer 2004, Mount Washington Director of Business Services Don Sharpe said.
“We’ll virtually double our trail system by next summer,” he said. The plan is to transform the Hawk chairlift into the mountain bike lift, and expand some trails into the Lower West Meadows, returning on a 30 per cent grade all the way back to the bottom of the Hawk.This will open up the mountain to beginner and intermediate trails.
“Right now our terrain is pretty much advanced; all black diamond … Basically, we’re creating ‘Mom and Dad’ trails,” Sharpe said.
The mountain has so far developed 12 kilometres of mountain biking trails for summer use. Sharpe figures that number could rise to 20 kms or more next year, depending on the weather.
“Putting in the Hawk last summer for the winter was a huge project,” Resort Director of Public Affairs Dave Hampshire said. “We’d like to exploit that now by putting in some mountain bike trails.” To that end, there are plans for five to seven new trails coming off the Hawk for 2004. The idea is to bring riders either back to the bottom of the Hawk chair, or over to the Eagle or to the Alpine Lodge.
“For this year we have a run coming down the face of the Eagle that was developed at the end of last year, called Hustler,” he said. Crews will continue developing that trail, adding to it, while leaving it open for use.
There are maps available showing all of Mount Washington’s mountain biking trails.
The Resort has developed a weekday mountain biking series that will run every Wednesday in August from 6—8 p.m. The four-week race series will end with a banquet wind-up and awards. Also this year the Resort will host No Limits Mountain Bike Riding Clinics, instructed by professionals. These clinics will be available for beginners through to experts on Aug. 2—3 and Aug. 23—24.
The Island Triple Throw Down, a cycling BC-sanctioned, triple-discipline, off-road mountain bike race is slated for Aug. 16-17. The race includes pro and amateur categories.