While the Whistler Mountain Bike Park is a success story, with double digit increases every year in users backing a huge expansion in trails on the mountain, the global gravity-fed mountain bike industry is still not quite there.
Ensuring the long-term success of bike parks means bringing more riders into the sport in a safe, fun and progressive way. To help build that pool of riders, Whistler-Blackcomb launched Gravity Logic earlier this year –essentially a consultant group backed and staffed by the bike park to share ideas, strategies, design and marketing tips, and other lessons picked up over the past seven seasons.
From Sept. 12 to 20, the group will be hosting the first Gravity Logic Forum in Whistler, inviting resorts and ski operators from around the world to learn what makes the park so successful.
"The opportunity to create this forum stems from the fact that there is no other similar forum in the world," said Rob McSkimming, vice president of business development for Whistler-Blackcomb and a key player in the development of the Whistler park.
"Only by sharing our information and encouraging the success of other mountain bike parks will we be able to grow the sport, and ultimately be more successful in what we do."
The forum is divided into three components: management on Sept. 12, trail building Sept. 13-15, and the Whistler Mountain Bike Park Instructor Development Program. The last sessions will run Sept. 13-15 and Sept. 17-20.
The programs will be led by Dave Kelly, Gravity Logic’s trail building and construction manager, and Tom Prochazka, the operations manager. The park instructor program was developed by bike park coaches Tom Radke, Mike Johnstone and Ken Doherty.
For more information visit www.whistlergravitylogic.com.
