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Mountain Operations

NSAA’S MOUNTAIN BIKE smooth trail that provides a slower speed experience for rein-
forcing those newly acquired skills. How low of an angle?
SUMMIT IN REVIEW Mark Hays from Highland Bike Park, New Hamp., recom-
mends as low as 5 percent on average—shallow enough so you
BY EARL SALINE, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION PROGRAMMING don’t go too fast but with enough pitch to keep the momentum
going without pedaling. After all, it’s called downhill biking.
From this first trail experience, the next step should be
NSAA’S 2017 DOWNHILL BIKE PARK SUMMIT, now in its third another trail that allows riders to experiment with speed and
year, took over California’s Northstar California Resort slightly larger features but with the option to go around any-
June 21–23. Bringing together lift-served bike park opera- thing they don’t feel comfortable going over. The panelists’ rec-
tors and other key stakeholders from across North America, ommendation is to provide a manageable, natural progression
the Summit highlighted the creativity and innovative nature of trails, with the transition from the green trail(s) to the least WINTERTIME SUMMERTIME
found in those areas that have embraced the unique oppor- difficult blue trail(s) not requiring a significant leap in skill
tunities bike parks offer. level. Informing guests of this progression is a great way to help
Over the course of three days, panelists, speakers, and reduce the number of riders on trails where they shouldn’t be.
attendees addressed important themes such as growing the An effective way to communicate this system is through
sport, managing the risks, and making operations efficient. a trail progression sign that ranks trails from easiest to hard-
Recognizing that there is much to learn and apply from est. Whistler Bike Park, for example, shows its freeride trails in
decades of winter experience, discussions also reinforced rank order, with a red arrow indicating the trail the rider is on
the fact that summer operations, and bike parks especially, (see photo). Whistler asks their park building and maintenance
can mirror or modify many of the systems and efficiencies team, bike school, patrol, and others to assign a number rank-
already in place from successful winter operations. ing, from 1 to 15 (easiest to hardest). Developing a rank order
One example of this is the new signage and mountain can also help identify gaps in your trail network where the leap
biker’s responsibility code that NSAA is releasing. Rather from one trail to the next may be more than you thought, or
than an entirely new code, this newly unveiled version draws where you may be overbuilt in a certain skill area.
from the venerable Responsibility Code that has been used Other sessions focused on the importance of planning and
across the US for the past 50-plus years. The new code understanding your market, including a session with the US
retains central tenets such as staying in control, knowing Forest Service, one on events, others on rentals, fat, and E-bikes,
how to load and unload lifts, obeying all signs and warnings, marketing, and employee risk management. Friday’s lunchtime
yielding, and stopping in a safe place where you are visible, presentation also drove these concepts home, centering on look-
while bringing in bike specifics, i.e., inspecting and main- ing ahead and trying to find the “sweet spot” for your business.
taining your equipment and inspecting trails and features. And, what would an event at a bike park be without rid-
The session “Guest Education – Using an Integrated ing? Even though Northstar received over 700 inches of
Systems Approach” reinforced the need to provide infor- snow, including 3 inches the week before the event, they
mation in multiple ways and through various channels. were able to open several trails for the attendees. With exclu-
For example, areas should consider posting the new code at sive access to the unique and innovative Northstar Academy
ticket windows, in rental shops, at the bottom of lifts, on the coaching program, attend-
website, and in printed materials such as trail maps and bro- ees enjoyed trail experi-
chures. This is common practice in the winter and provides ences that have helped place IT’S ALL MOUNTAIN TIME
the similar template for summer. Northstar on Top 10 lists of
The need to focus on growing the sport remained a hot bike parks for years. Why not be just as savvy with your summer sales? Whether selling
topic with sessions that focused on programming, teaching Look for copies of the downhill mountain biking, water park tickets, or more, Cloud Store
tactics, and having an appropriate mix of trails. A recurring presentations from this is your year round eCommerce solution.
theme was that areas need to make the process of learning to year’s downhill bike park
ride a bike park as easy and unintimidating as possible. The summit on nsaa.org to get
skills required to ride in a bike park are different than those more details on the range of
learned on a paved trail or a driveway. Having a skills park, discussions and topics cov- Cloud Store has you covered when the snow doesn’t.
or similar, to learn and develop these skills goes a long way ered. And, start your plan-
toward increasing the success of new riders. ning now to attend next Contact us today to start planning your summer product lineup.
In that respect, each area needs a (very) low angle, wide, year’s summit. 1-800-349-0870 | partners@liftopia.com

20 | NSAA JOURNAL | SUMMER 2017