Whitefish Mountain Resort bike park expansion completed
<p>A competitor rounds the corner during the Grizzly Downhill Bike Race at Whitefish Mountain Resort in this file photo.</p>
After five years of planning and several months of construction, the Bike Park expansion project at Whitefish Mountain Resort is completed, with five new trails more than doubling the downhill freeride experience.
All told, the Whitefish Bike Park on Big Mountain offers mountain bikers nearly 30 miles of trails, from expert downhill to intermediate and beginner cross-country terrain.
Construction of the new trails began in October 2012, led by Josh Knight, events and recreation manager at Whitefish Mountain Resort, his trail crew and assisted by renowned local trail builder Pete Costain and his company Terraflow Trails.
After the winter, trail work resumed and included 150 excavator days and 1,200 man hours to build more than 26,000 feet of trail. The new trails have more than 100 berms and more than 50 jumps.
The resort will celebrate the completion with a downhill race and other activities on Saturday, July 27. The event will include the first installment of the inaugural Double Dip downhill race on a section of the Kashmir trail beginning at 2 p.m.
New trails in the 2013 Bike Park expansion include Kashmir, Black Diamond, 2.54 miles long, 1,684 vertical feet elevation loss; Freebird, Black Diamond, 1.7 miles long, 1,517 vertical feet elevation loss; GNR, Double Black Diamond, 0.21 miles long, 190 vertical feet elevation loss, Classic Rock, Double Black Diamond, 0.31 miles long, 200 vertical feet elevation loss; Overflow, Black Diamond, 0.75 miles long, 452 vertical feet elevation loss.