Who Needs Snow?: New flow trails at places like Vail may change the face of resort mountain biking. Photo: Courtesy of Vail Resorts
Ask most ski bums in Utah, Colorado and California what they were doing this past December, and they’ll probably tell you they were riding their mountain bike. In a dismally dry start to a particularly moody La Niña winter, it was the only way, outside of grass skiing, for them to get their gravity-fed fix. Increasingly, mountain biking is also providing the mojo for ski areas to extend their cool factor into the summer months, offering far more of a pulse-raising allure than antique car shows and wildflower fests. And thanks to a new law, resorts will be going big when it comes to summer adrenaline sports.
Thanks to the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Nov. 7, 2011, the two-wheeled pedal of opportunity is about to ramp up the cadence. That’s because the act, championed here in Colorado by Senator Mark Udall, essentially opens the ski slopes to all sorts of summer recreation including ziplines, ropes courses and, especially, mountain biking and mountain bike parks (all as long as they are built within the existing boundaries of the trail map). Call it the “keeping it real” category for summer use, because what the bill does not allow for are more golf courses, tennis courts or amusement parks.
As much about utilizing existing infrastructure such as chairlifts and access roads for summer recreation as it is about expanding opportunities for ski areas on federal land (which is predominantly the case in Colorado), the main purpose of what is being called “The Summer Activities Bill” is to help ski towns tap into the same economic engine that drives their business in the winter months. “The law will now give all ski areas more flexibility to offer a broader range of summer activities on their public lands as well, potentially opening new uses for their operations,” Senator Udall told Elevation Outdoors. “More options for year-round activities helps ski areas more fully utilize their lands as they craft long-term development plans.”
Of course mountain biking is nothing new at ski resorts. According to the National Ski Areas Association, 88 U.S. ski areas currently offer lift-served mountain biking, and more than 160 have some sort of mountain biking trail system in place. In British Columbia, Whistler-Blackcomb has been steadily expanding its trail and bike terrain park operations for more than a decade now, and exporting the area’s popular Crankworx festival of all things mountain bike globally—from Winter Park to France. According to Rob McSkimming, Whistler’s vice president of business development, mountain biking provides the single biggest economic impact of all summer activities, including golf, at the resort. He said the sport accounted for 125,000 visitors in 2010, with a 50-50 mix between drive-up and destination traffic. “Demographically a lot like the ski market,” McSkimming said, adding that a significant percentage of the “ridership” is from outside North America, and “much older and wealthier than what most people expect.”
That kind of success north of the border is what has many ski areas dreaming of all of the derailleur-borne possibilities here in the U.S., especially now that the Summer Activities Bill has given them the green light to increase the number of amenities they offer their summer guests. “We think there’s huge potential in the summer, with great weather, scenery, activities, events and lodging, all centrally located in the resort and easily accessible by I-70,” said Laura Parquette, senior communications manager for Keystone Resort, which has been offering a mix of lift-served freeride and single track terrain since the early 1990s. “We’re looking to attract not only drive-to destination guests from within the state, but destination guests coming from winter markets like Texas and Kansas.”
Terrain park popping snowboarders are certainly more likely than most to come back and sky off those terrain park hits. But summer activities also open a wider door in terms of what kind of customers the snow sports industry might hope to reach. According to SnowSports Industries America, more than 20.5 million Americans consider themselves “participants in snow sports,” compared to the 39.3 million Americans age seven and older who ride bikes (according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association). In that spinning tire of opportunity, getting more cyclists into the mountains in the summer might also help convince them to come back when the snow is on the slopes.
“There is a lot of crossover between the two markets, but there is also the potential for mountain biking to help ski areas reach people who aren’t as familiar with snow sports,” said Troy Hawks, National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) communications manager. In October of 2011, just as Congress first signed the Summer Activities Bill, NSAA signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) with “the shared aim of increasing visitation and improving summer mountain biking experiences at U.S. ski areas,” according to a statement. Key to the agreement is IMBA providing ski resorts with their expertise on everything from trail design to signage to risk management, as well as marketing IMBA’s Destinations online, which helps resort-bound riders locate bike-friendly accommodations and local shops.
Look long-term though, and there is the sense that there may be a new level of standardization—and ease of access—that summer shredders can expect. That’s because most mountain bike trail design has often been focused on one of two customers: the beginner, and the badass. Access trails for the beginners, and steep bomb drops for the experts (or riders who want to try and prove they are experts), often doesn’t leave much terrain for the rest of us. The mutual mind-meld of NSAA and IMBA may soon change all of that. First up? The emergence of Flow Trails, or Flow Country, a kind of blue slope mix of mountain biking’s best adrenaline and cross-country based aspects.
“It’s basically blue and green level mountain bike runs, and about creating an experience for someone who isn’t a badass downhill rider,” said Mark Eller, IMBA communications director. Eller said some of the elements of Flow Trails include swoopy, bermed turns and little hits where more adventurous riders can catch air, or squeeze the brakes if they want to keep both wheels on the dirt. Eller said that along with the work being done on the mountains themselves, IMBA is also encouraging ski areas to connect their features with existing public access trails, to extend their offerings and also to better intertwine the freeride and cross-country riding experience.
Chris Conroy, president of Colorado’s Yeti Cycles, said that lighter bikes that are bomber enough for big downhill’s, combined with five to six and a half inches of travel is resulting in a faster, more versatile style of riding that reflects the burgeoning resort experience. “Lightweight bikes used to be the domain of cross-country, but now the technology has borne out that you can make a really strong, super lightweight downhill rig,” Conroy said. “If you look at the kids getting into the sport, especially if they’re crossing over from skiing or snowboarding, there’s about a two to one preference for downhill over cross-country riding. They’re also riding faster and faster, and bikes like our 575 are a perfect fit for that.”
At Crested Butte Mountain Resort, the original Mecca of mountain biking, the Summer Activities Bill is only going to accelerate what is already a fairly comprehensive ski area-based riding experience. According to Nick Herrin, director of resort services, the area has been adding two trails a year for bikers, taught nearly 200 mountain bike lessons last year and even offers “twilight rides” on Wednesdays and Fridays during the summer specifically for arriving guests.
“We have had to build a bike patrol, with four of our ski patrollers working on summer bike patrol,” Herrin said. “Which really is one of the most rewarding aspects of growing our summer business—the fact that we can retain more of our best employees, and as soon as the winter ends they don’t have to go find work in Alaska or somewhere on the beach. I think that’s one of the key reasons why so many ski areas are looking at this so closely right now, and why we’re so excited to be able to get people further and further up on the mountain in the summer months.”
Crank It Up
Senator Mark Udall raps on the Summer Activities Bill
Elevation Outdoors: What kind of economic impact do you expect this bill to have on ski areas and mountain towns—especially in a year like this, when the lack of snow early on had such a negative impact on winter business?
Senator Udall: It’s not just the local outdoor enthusiasts who benefit from this change; more recreational opportunities are a bigger draw for tourists, who spur economic development in our mountain areas and inject much-needed revenue during slower shoulder months and otherwise-tight times. Colorado’s ski resorts that operate on national forest land have been telling me for years that they’re prepared to create more jobs if they get more flexibility in the activities they can offer to visitors—and now they have it. I believe that using public lands during the summers and shoulder seasons will help drive local economies in mountain towns, especially those that depend heavily on responsibly using our natural resources. In a year like this, when we haven’t received as much snow as any of us would like, it will help give ski areas more financial stability because they will have a diverse set of attractions, instead of just relying on skiing.
EO: With mountain biking in particular, do you foresee summer downhill activities ever becoming as big as skiing?
Senator Udall: Mountain biking certainly has the potential to become a growing activity in Colorado, especially now that more ski areas will be able to cultivate trails and terrain parks. I look forward to helping our ski areas sustainably capitalize on that potential, get more people enjoying the outdoors and stimulate the local economy.
EO: Any other thoughts on what opportunities this presents for Colorado ski areas?
Senator Udall: This is a significant opportunity for ski areas to get more responsible use out of their lands and for locals and visitors alike to recreate in Colorado. It reduces federal regulations in a way that will help mountain communities and ski areas create stable jobs through the shoulder seasons.
