B.C.’s new bike park offers thrills for new and experienced riders alike | Canada Voices

A new bike park is opening in the B.C. interior at Red Mountain Resort, a playground better known in winter for its terrific powder skiing. Located in Rossland, the Red Mountain Bike Park joins so many other Canadian ski resorts that turn to chairlift-assisted mountain biking in warmer months to become a four-season destination.

Red’s bike park – 11 trails to start – opens June 21. The trails are a mix of former community trails and new builds. All but two of the existing trails have been redesigned, repaired or refurbished. For example, the former uphill Pilgrim climbing trail is now downhill only, and the Paydirt trail includes small route changes and modifications to improve flow. Over the next three years, Red plans to open up more chairlifts and more trails in the alpine.

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“The goal is to include aspirational trails that challenge the most professional mountain biker in Rossland, but also focus on entry-level riders and families,” said Dave Kelly, whose B.C.-based company Gravity Logic was hired to build the new park.

Red previously opened a bike park in 2005/2006, but it did not take off. Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, an influx of families arrived in Rossland for better work-life balance, and the resort management team now feels it has the critical mass needed to try again.

Last summer, Gravity Logic excavators began removing roots and rocks to ensure a smooth surface for the new descents. Machine-built trails are strategically created for skills progression. “You have to understand how to slow people down. What is the maximum speed before you get too scared? That can go from thrilling to terrifying,” Kelly said.

Red’s trails are almost all reachable by chairlift, making it easier to zip back up to the top after a run. There is a mix of narrow, single-track technical trails and some easier, more flowing routes down. Runs are signed for difficulty just like a ski hill, and they include a green trail with rolling hills and berms, a blue trail with jumps, and black trails with more technical features, such as wooden ramps and wall rides.

The chairlift access makes it easier to improve your skills, says Red Mountain Resort’s general manager Andrew Lunt. “It’s that repetition that you get from a bike park or a dirt jump park that you don’t get just from riding a trail.”

Red Mountain Bike Park plans to keep its familiar family-ski-resort vibe, and parents can drop their kids off at day camps, where young ones have a chance to work on their skills with an instructor while their parents shred on their own.

Rossland is equidistant between Calgary and Vancouver in the Monashee Mountain range, about a seven-hour drive from either city. “You have to make an effort to get here,” said Howard Katkov, CEO of Red Mountain Ventures, which owns the laid-back and low-key resort.

“Our resort is a place to take a deep breath, you’ll get your laps and you’ll even have a good conversation with someone you don’t know on the chairlift.”

Local rider Shayne Roberts says the new park is the final piece for Rossland’s avid mountain biking community. He’s created a dizzying series of videos showcasing most of Rossland’s trails on his YouTube channel True Route Research. “It’s a great addition for the town. Just having that in your backyard is so great for kids.”

Rossland’s community trails have long been touted as some of the best in the country. The 35-kilometre Seven Summits trail, with epic panoramic views of the Rossland Range, was once named Trail of the Year by Bike Magazine.

The Seven Summits trail is maintained by the non-profit Kootenay Columbia Trails Society (KCTS), along with over 75 trails on 185 kilometres throughout Rossland and the region.

“Rossland settled in a caldera of a volcano; there’s always been a whole network of trails surrounding the community,” said Stewart Spooner, operations manager for KCTS. When the gold boom finished in the 1920s, a plethora of wagon roads and rail trails remained, which gave mountain biking trail makers a head start. Every year, once the snow is gone, Rossland’s community trails are a playground of routes over rock slabs, twisty tight runs and thigh-burning climbs.

The KCTS is also responsible for a new trail in conjunction with the local Sinixt First Nations community. In 2023, the Mxilp Xewilh (Cedar Trail) was opened with a ceremony of elders and locals; the 13-kilometre moderate trail is an undulating route through old-growth forest.

KCTS trail builders, says Red Mountain’s Katkov, “are a core non-profit operating business for our community who we want to see thrive.”

He points this out because there are some mixed emotions amongst residents: Families with young riders are excited about the opportunity to ride at the park, while others are upset they must pay to ride trails that many consider partially publicly funded.

Both KCTS and Red say they are eager to work together. It’s part of their community vibe: “Rossland is recreation on steroids year-round,” Katkov says with pride.

If you go

Red Bike Park: Adult bike pass from $65 and children 12 and under from $32. Rental shop includes Norco and Transition bikes. Helmets for rent. For details, visit redresort.com/bikepark

One of the best gear shops in town with amazing bike mechanics is Revolution Cycles at 1990 Columbia Ave. revolutioncycles.ca

Refuel at Hooper’s Bakery for croissants that rival those in France (there’s often a lineup). Baker Rebecca Hooper was a former pastry chef in Paris who was trained at Le Cordon Bleu. Or stop by the Rossland Beer Company, a local après-ride hangout patio with excellent beer brewed on site.

Need a place to stay? The Josie Hotel, at the base of Red Mountain, has elegant rooms with an outdoor patio and fine dining at the Velvet Restaurant. thejosie.com

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