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Revamped bike park to open May 3

The time to trade snowboards and skis for mountain bikes has arrived. Some trails in the Whistler-Blackcomb Mountain Bike Park are now scheduled to open two weeks early, on Saturday, May 3. Park crews began clearing and preparing trails this week.

The time to trade snowboards and skis for mountain bikes has arrived.

Some trails in the Whistler-Blackcomb Mountain Bike Park are now scheduled to open two weeks early, on Saturday, May 3. Park crews began clearing and preparing trails this week. They expect 100 per cent of the park to be open by the previously scheduled opening, on May 17.

Whistler-Blackcomb’s Mountain Bike Park has something for everyone this season, from a new terrain park to a weeklong summer mountain biking festival.

This year even tentative beginners need no longer fear the park. And hard-core old schoolers will also have new heights to test their metal.

Here’s a snapshot of what to look forward to this summer.

Whistler-Blackcomb is introducing a summer terrain park of sorts. The Bone Yard will give mountain bikers who like to perform tricks a place of their own to hone their skills.

The area will showcase "junk" from around the mountains, like old culverts and lift towers, which have been transformed into obstacles.

The pros will be on hand to show how it’s done in the Bone Yard on Saturday, May 17 at 4 p.m. during the first ever Slopestyle Expression Session.

"Basically you can do whatever you want," said Tom Prochazka, Whistler-Blackcomb’s bike park manager.

"That’s why it’s called an expression session... You can style it up however you want."

For the onlookers who can’t even fathom flipping over old lift towers on their own hardtail, there’s a little surprise nestled in the bike park this year.

E-Z Does It is a beginner’s trail that will get riders used to the basic principles of park life.

"We’re starting to get a reputation for the more advanced rider," said Rob McSkimming, director of the park, on the decision to finish E-Z Does It for the 2003 season.

"We’re trying to find a trail that works for first time descenders."

The trail will have a maximum grade of six per cent. It’s designed to get beginners used to the sensations of a single-track downhill course. Wide and machine-groomed E-Z Does It provides no excuse for any mountain biker not to give the park at least one try.

If the Bone Yard and E-Z Does It don’t appeal, there’s more on the offering.

Experienced riders can test out two double black diamond trails, which have been completed or remade for the 2003 season.

Schleyer will be finished this season. Designed by professional mountain biker Richie Schley the trail combines North Shore riding with the park’s own "A-Line style."

Crabapple, another double black diamond, will get a face-lift in its design, along with an extension.

Then there are the 2003 events.

The Crud to Mud race will help kick off what was the scheduled opening weekend, May 17-19. Contestants will ski or snowboard the top half of the mountain and switch onto their mountain bikes halfway down to complete the course.

If you’re not ready to tackle the Crud to Mud event at the beginning of the season, there’s now a chance to perfect your park riding every week throughout the summer.

Every Wednesday night the Whistler Off Road Cycling Association will be hosting a Gravity Series.

WORCA’s weekly evening event will allow riders to get some downhill fun under their belts much like their cross-country events on Thursday nights, known as the Loonie races.

At the season’s peak there’s a brand new concept in mountain biking coming to town from July 14 to 20 – the Whistler Summer Gravity Festival, a seven-day summer festival to celebrate all that is mountain biking.

Set against the backdrop of music concerts and Freeride mountain bike events, the highlight of the festival will be the Tim Hortons Canadian National Mountain Biking Championships.

"It’s going to be a really exciting and diverse event," said McSkimming, who compares the Gravity Festival to the World Ski and Snowboard Festival.

Except, it’ll be a miniature version of the WSSF he said.

But with ever-increasing rider numbers it doesn’t look like anything "mini" will be a part of the future of the sport in Whistler.

Last year there was a 75 per cent increase in rider days in the park – up to 46,000 – compared to rider days in the previous year.

Most of the riders are male, in the 26-35 year age bracket and 60 per cent come from the Whistler/Vancouver area.

With numbers like that the future of the park is to get bigger and better.

Looking in the future, mountain bike staff can see the development of two distinct areas for mountain biking.

The Garbanzo zone directly above the existing park covers 2,200 vertical feet.

The Creekside zone would expand the park to the south and west of the existing park under the Creekside gondola.

If the numbers continue to increase, park developers hope to begin work on these two zones this summer.

The park will be open on weekends only until May 17, when it begins daily operations.

A day pass this year is $35 for an adult, $32 for youth and $17 for children.

Season passes are now on sale for $249. For Whistler-Blackcomb season pass holders the price is $217.