Stevens Pass Bike Park
Coming to the Leavenworth Area in Summer
2011!
See the Stevens Pass
Official Information page at
http://www.stevenspass.com/Stevens/the-mountain/future-plans.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/stevenspassbikepark
Article on opening day at
http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2011/sep/14/stevens-pass-bike-park-announces-opening-dates/
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The info
you’ve
all been
waiting
for: We
have a
public
opening
date of
October
1st and
2nd!
Yeehaw!
Check
out the
video.
Hooray! The Stevens Pass Bike Park will open to the public October 1st and 2nd, 2011!
Stevens Pass
Mountain Bike Park Recent News
The Forest Service
has issued a "finding of no significant impact" which should let
construction begin this summer of 2011. The first phase of
construction will be on Hogs Back. Two of five trails need
to be built before opening to the public. The first two
trails will be excavated jump lines, one for advanced riders and
one for intermediate riders. While the park was initially
set to open in June of 2010, snow and the environmental impact
process put the park behind a year. After the initial two
trails are built, the second phase of the project will include
building twenty additional trails.
Stevens Pass Bike
Park Master Development Plan
In 2007 Stevens Pass
submitted its Master Development Plan (MDP) to the Mt Baker -
Snoqualmie National Forest, the resort's landlord. The plan is
intended as a blueprint and overall vision for improvements at
Stevens Pass over the next 10 - 15 years and is a requirement of
the resort's Special Use Permit with the US Forest Service. The
Forest Service has begun their initial review of the proposal.
See the PDF of the plan
here.
Downhill Mountain
Biking at Stevens Pass
From the Stevens Pass
Summer Plan
The growth of
mountain biking has been explosive over the past decade.
Comparable
to skiing and snowboarding, the technology behind mountain
biking equipment has
evolved more recently and in greater leaps. Riding focus
and desire have changed; as a
result, the sport itself has progressed. A recent industry
trend has been the development
of lift accessed mountain bike terrain that utilizes a similar
footprint as a ski area, but
on a more limited scale. Stevens pass believes there is a
need for a managed downhill
mountain bike area that services western and north central
Washington. This will
provide the growing industry an area to come ride lift accessed,
downhill mountain
bikes. A downhill mountain bike park at Stevens Pass will
be a good complement to
the growing mountain bike demand currently on National Forest
Land.
Conceived in 1999, the lift accessed mountain biking concept has
been implemented
with great success at Whistler/Blackcomb in British Columbia,
helping to advance the
sport to the point it is today. Like a ski visit, a
mountain bike visit entails the purchase
of a lift pass where the rider then travels with his/her bike up
a chairlift outfitted
with special bike racks, and then descends down a series of
skill rated, mountain bike
specific trails.
The sport is proving to be very popular and the growth potential
appears to be
significant. As a result, a variety of resorts throughout
North America have created
similar mountain bike parks by following Whistler/Blackcomb’s
lead. Although there
are not currently many studies chronicling specific statistics,
the response to recent
mountain bike conferences and workshops has been impressive.
(For example, an
International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) Conference in
July 2006 attracted
over 400 delegates from 17 nations). None of the Seattle
market-centered, Pacific
Northwest ski areas have, to this point, developed noteworthy
mountain biking facilities.
Further, an analysis of the visits to Whistler/Blackcomb found
that approximately 9%
of their paid mountain bike park visits originated from
Washington State. Therefore,
it is reasonable to assume that there is considerable
un-serviced demand that Stevens
Pass could satisfy.
Stages of
Development for the Bike Park
From the Stevens Pass
Summer Plan
Initially, the Hogsback Express Chairlift would be the uphill
conveyance for mountain
bikers. The estimated capacity of Hogsback is
approximately 1,200 mountain bikers
per day. As illustrated in Figure 4 a series of trails
would be designed and built to offer
a range of choices for the full spectrum of downhill mountain
biking skills (beginner,
intermediate and expert).
The intent would be to develop three primary, machine built
downhill trails from
the top of Hogsback. They will be built to match the
anticipated market demand (1
beginner, 1 intermediate, 1 advanced). These trails are
generally located within similarly
sloped terrain (8-25% avg.) and accessed from Hogsback
chairlift. The trails would
average between 10% to 15% grade. The difference in skill
class ratings would largely
result from the degree of difficulty, the number of jumps and
stunts, the technical trail
features and the unavoidable obstacles found on each trail.
Complementing this, there
would be a collection of downhill single-track trails developed
in sections as accessed
from the machine built trails.
Consideration has been given to connecting some of these trails
to the existing winter
terrain park area. The intent would be to incorporate
these disturbed lands into a
mountain bike terrain park. This terrain park would
consist of a biker cross course,
jump farm, several tabletop jumps and other trail features
(teeter totters, wall rides,
boxes, drop offs, etc.) Doubling up this terrain should provide
operational efficiencies
since summer dirt features can remain as a base for winter snow
features instead of
being leveled and recreated each season. This should also
allow winter terrain park
features to be built with greater ease, with less snow required
than before. The concept
would be to incrementally expand the terrain park as demand
requires.
Skills centers would also be developed throughout the mountain
bike park to promote
technical skill development, teaching and learning
opportunities, and progressions.
Three centers (beginner, intermediate and advanced) would be
developed at various
locations.
Design of the Bike
Park
From the Stevens Pass
Summer Plan
A well-designed mountain biking facility must plan to cater to
the full spectrum of
users, (beginners, intermediates and experts) while having
minimal environmental and
low maintenance costs. A balanced approach to the
development of trails is key to
the success of the bike park. A clear understanding of
carrying capacity is critical
to determining the staging needs, support facilities
(restaurants, rental, retail, patrol,
restrooms, parking etc.), staffing and operational requirements
necessary to deliver an
exceptional guest experience.
Any successful mountain bike facility must pay careful attention
to the layout and
design of the trails. Many of the trails will need to be
machine built, designed to
accommodate a basic skill class of beginner, intermediate or
expert bikers. Many of
these trails would also have “stunts” built into them, again
tied to varying degrees of
difficulty. Complementing the trails, a skills park for
training and instruction, a jump
park and biker-cross course, along with various obstacles and
features to provide a
variety of experiences.
All mountain bike trails on the preliminary plan have been
designed with approximately
10 to 15% average grade over the length of the trail. The ‘10%
guideline’ was developed
by the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) to ensure
that trail concepts
will result in a sustainable trail that will resist erosion and
damage. The 10% guideline
works with most soil types, minimizes erosion, allows detailed
design flexibility, and
accommodates undulations in the terrain. As it is the average
grade, some trail segments
would be either greater or less than 10%, based on detailed
design.
The proposed general trail locations have been identified on the
Summer Plan (Figure
4). Further field surveys will identify positive and
negative “control points” in order
to refine trail locations and incorporate positive flow and
transition between sections.
Control points identify specific areas along the trail that
should be connected (positive –
scenic vistas, turning platforms, unique terrain etc.) or
avoided (negative - watercourses,
soil considerations, wetlands, wildlife habitat etc.
The preliminary trail network consists of the following trail
types.
Downhill mountain bike trails (5-8ft width) – unidirectional,
machine
graded with berms, jumps, stunts, features etc. designed for the
freeride/
downhill mountain bike user within the mountain bike park. These
trails
would incorporate storm water drainage into their design.
Downhill single track mountain bike trails (1-3 ft width) –
unidirectional
trail designed for freeride, downhill users. Hikers and other
users would
be prevented from using these trails due to safety and flow
issues.
Lift Assisted
Sightseeing at Stevens Pass
From the Stevens Pass
Summer Plan
Sightseeing at Stevens Pass has the potential to become a “must
do” regional attraction,
providing a unique alpine experience to the approximately 2.75
million potential guests
traveling Highway 2 from the Seattle area to and from
Leavenworth and eastern
Washington. Providing this service would require base area
staging amenities (ticket
stations, rest-rooms, restaurant/snack bar) to be available, a
landscaping program to
improve the summer look of the amenities, a mountain top
restaurant, the development
of short walking/hiking trails and the hiring of employees to
staff the lifts and facilities.
A mountain top interpretive program and various environmental
and artist oriented
talks could also be incorporated.
Lift serviced sightseeing provides pedestrian lift access to
high elevations. This type of
sightseeing is a relatively passive activity catering to all
ages and abilities. Interpretive
trails, scenic vistas, restaurant facilities and educational
activities would offer various
attractions on the upper mountain. A typical experience
would allow guest access to
the top of the mountain, enjoy lunch or dinner in the restaurant
there, take short hikes,
photograph the scenery and then ride a chairlift or hike down to
the base area.
The Skyline chairlift would provide the best sightseeing
opportunity. The proposed on-mountain lodge (The Solitude
Lodge), with spectacular views of Glacier Peak and the
North Cascades, would present an attractive terminus to these
guests with its outdoor
patio, food and beverage services. In addition, short
interpretive hikes promoting
environmental education and awareness could be offered from the
Solitude Lodge.
