Weather delays bike trail

Photo: Contributed

A new bike park at Big White is expected to open in early August.

An unexpectedly high snowpack and slow melt has caused some delays in construction of a new mountain-bike trail network at Big White.

However, mountain officials say with the turn toward summer weather, they are confident a new opening of Aug. 4 is achievable.

“It’s not often that we wish the snow away, but it has provided us with some challenges this year,” said Big White’s president, Peter Plimmer.

“At the end of the day, we are working towards having an awesome product, and that means dealing with the conditions in the best way possible. The focus is to continue building this season and next season and focus on trail quality and consistency.”

Lift access for the bike park will operate from the Bullet Express, which reaches an elevation of 7,057 feet. On opening day, riders will be able to access a complete top-to-bottom trail in the form of a smooth, machine-groomed flow trail that will be rideable by all skill levels.

With the build continuing throughout the summer, new trail sections will continue to be opened to the public as soon as possible.

“Big White will be one of the first locations where there’s a true family-friendly trail in the high alpine,” says Judd De Vall, principal of Alpine Bike Parks, the company managing the build.

“There will also be some alternative trails available to riders towards the bottom of the mountain on opening day. After that, we’ll incrementally open new sections each week of the season.”

The park will be open from Friday to Sunday, as well as holiday Mondays. Pricing is soon to be released, with the resort planning to set pricing that is reflective of what is ready to ride.

Big White Resort originally started constructing the bike park in the summer of 2016, with Alpine Bike Parks brought in to create a riding destination that would fulfill the goals of enduro, downhill, freeride and youth mountain bikers.