Kicking Horse Bike Park Trail Crew Update #1

Posted: Jul 9, 2008

The straight goods on Kicking Horse Bike Park, straight from the trail crew's fingertips.

Super Berm is now linked! The final section (section 2) of this Kicking Horse Bike Park blue run opened on July 7 to great fanfare (well, ok, two guys high fived – WoodChuck and me). Section 2 was a swamp with a drainage system more complicated than Middle Eastern politics. But one year, three machines and scads of lumber (props to Brett Soles for the cedar and fir) later it is a serpentine blend of berms and bridges. It nicely ties into the rest of Super Berm to create a very long run that has something for every skill level. I think there must be more than 40 berms, which is pretty, ya know, super.

Right now section 2 is really soft though. It needs thousands of tire tracks on it to help firm and shape it. We have already discovered at least half a dozen wet spots that weren’t obvious enough to bridge before. We’ll be dealing with those as they appear. Like all bike trails this is a work in progress – come do your part. Ride!

WoodChuck was LoaderBoy recently too. The black and blue jump lines are back and they are bigger, better and badder (Michael Jackson’s definition, as in “gooder”) than last year. If your friend is riding the Catamount chairlift to see Boo the bear, time it so s/he can take photos of you launching. S/he’ll need the wide angle lens.


A-Dawg and Cote spent last week sorting out the alpine. All trails except Rock Garden are now open. Rock Garden is really close to opening, and soon after that you will probably find A-Dawg there once again crafting his artful rock and wood sculptures. Scott also helped out with the excavator to add and fix berms on the 10 Road in the alpine. Still, there’s not a lot of material other than rocks in the alpine to work with, so please remember to use caution when ripping the 10 Road.



Plans for this summer include two wooden left-hand wall rides on School Marm to balance the three dirt wall rides already there on the right. The concrete supports are already poured and dry. And there is still Stickrock, Kicking Horse's first double black run, to complete. This construction has been delayed due to the extra time it took to complete section 2 of Super Berm. Someone wise once said life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.

Other than that, we are going to continue to tweak the existing trails. Let us know what you like about the Bike Park and what you think needs some love by contacting Guest Services by email at guestservices@kickinghorseresort.com or fill out a comment card. Ask a lifty for a card and fill it out on the way up the gondola. Sending feedback is the best way for us to build a better park for you.

If you are coming here and can bring some old industrial/hotel carpet with you, we’ll happily find it a brake bump section to cover.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Make sure you bring a patch kit, tools and a pump. You don’t want to be like this guy:



(in all fairness, he says he doesn’t want to be like me either).

More info at www.kickinghorseresort.com

Ride on.
Crowe