Page 38 - NSAA_Winter_2017_WEB

A rider enjoys the
groomed berms
at Killington’s
Mountain Bike Park.

Courtesy Killington Resort.

trail. The video features pro riders slaying the trail to give percent year over year that it is hoping it can sustain.
viewers an idea of what to expect, and dissuades unskilled Getting the full support of the senior leadership team
riders from attempting it—at least for the time being. Which is also a must due to the required investment in equipment.
leads to another important factor: helping guests see how they It can be difficult to stomach a large dollar amount for a
can eventually become skilled enough to master more diffi- fleet of rental bikes during budgeting season, but the rental
cult trails. “A bike park’s website and social media, the arrival fleet is how you put people into the bike park, said Holme.
experience, the greeters, and signage—all must tell the story People go up, try out the park, then leave, and the bike can
of progression, progression, progression,” said Mutch. be rented again for the next guest, allowing the area to mon-
It’s also critical to create buy-in from the resort employ- etize the park through the rentals. As with the snowsports
ees, says Mutch, who worked at Trestle/Winter Park as the season, there are opportunities to capture as many revenue
head of the rental/retail department before he began working streams as possible via the bike park operation, through lift,
for Gravity Logic. “Starting with the [Winter Park] resort rental, retail, bike school, and food and beverage.
staff—most who had not ridden downhill before—we had to It’s smart to sell the idea of the rental as the correct
make it inclusive and encourage…almost mandate…trial of equipment for having a great day in the bike park, said
the bike park,” he said. “So, we developed opportunities and Holme. For example, many mountain bikers want to use
programs to get our staff on the hill. This not only created their own bike, but a cross-country bike is very different
buy-in with the resort staff, it also created buy-in and advo- from a downhill bike. The comparison of cross-country skis
cates in the local community.” (which are lighter and designed differently) with downhill
skis (which are more durable and stable at higher speeds) is
RENTALS an analogy he’s used countless times with guests at Trestle to
convince them to use the rental gear.

“If you want to get into the bike park business, you are very WOMEN’S PROGRAMMING
much in the rental business,” said Mutch. On average 35
percent of bike park riders rent and 100 percent of these are
beginner riders. Thus, a quality rental experience is crucial to It takes time to build a bike park culture, and one way to
the overall bike park experience. “There are obvious financial help do this is to target women, said Mutch. “Women’s pro-
benefits of being in the rental business, but being in control grams and the push to get more [of them] riding was very
of equipment quality and the guest experience are ultimately much in line with our ‘mandating trial’ of the Trestle bike
the most important reasons,” Mutch said. park. We also knew that if more women rode, more guys
According to Killington’s Joseph, “Our bike shop staff would follow,” he said.
has dialed in the Learn to Ride experience as well—now Holme had another interesting insight about how to get
offering rental bikes for adults and kids, with the young- women interested in downhill mountain biking: pink pro-
est riders ripping around on full-suspension machines with tective equipment. Going back to the earliest days of the
disc brakes just like the big kids…and taking groups out for park, Trestle offered women’s apparel and rented women’s
lessons while still offering private instruction to those who equipment, and soon there was pink body armor in the bike
would prefer that.” Killington has seen steady growth of 25 park and the pink-adorned women stood out. “People in the

36 | NSAA JOURNAL | WINTER 2017