Bike Parks - Australia

[chamboy]

O.K. So Amazing bike parks are turning up all over the globe, with lift access, amazing trails and infrastructure.
So what has happened to Australia??
Mount Buller?? Lifts are only open for January!
Thredbo is open from Nov to May, which is awesome, but some of us live in Melbourne.
We've got the weather for a nice long bike season, We've some got some potentially amazing areas to ride, Falls Creek, Hotham, Buller, to name just a few but it doesn't seem to be happening.
Lift access bike parks are becoming huge everywhere apart from here.
If anybody knows of anything in the pipeline please share it with the rest of us.
O.K. Rant over!!

 

[No Skid Marks]

I know Thredbo will be stepping it up over the next few years. Not sure about anywhere else. But Hopefully Thredbo will bring in more coin for National parks and they'll learn it might not be ideal, but it gives them funds for more important issues. Not sure what other great MTNs/Ski resorts are in National parks.
What ever happened to the rumor that Stromlo was getting a chairlift?

 

[Yippee_Ki_YayMF]

Couldn't agree more Cham. It frustrates me to no end how slow this country can be. So afraid of failure that the people in positions of power take half measures, rather than doing things properly. Why people accept mediocrity is beyond me. Sometime I wish I lived in NZ. Only sometimes!

 

[buffy]

yeh basically australia sux. move countries like me and many aussies have if you love mountain biking and snowsports

 

[B.utters]

Chair lifts are not the cheapest things in the world to buy and then operate. Considering the number of people who ride downhill in the Australian population the whole idea would be fairly hard to make money out of.

 

[Sjh]

Chair lifts are not the cheapest things in the world to buy and then operate. Considering the number of people who ride downhill in the Australian population the whole idea would be fairly hard to make money out of.

It's not entirely about building chairlifts. It is about utilising the few that we already have.

 

[chamboy]

Arthurs Seat chair lift

Rumours are about regarding the new Arthurs Seat chair lift, that when built may be available for bikes to access the forest trails from the top of the State forest.
I'm not sure if this is true, or even if the chair lift is actually going ahead. Nice to dream though.
Anyone heard any news on this??

 

[Bilza_ridez]

Many resorts at the moment struggle to break even, why should they expand if they can barely make a profit as it is?
If you want the resorts to expand and become better get a couple of mates together and go to the resorts when they're open.
Show them some support and maybe in return they will become heaps better.

The more people that go up and support them, the more the resorts with actually consider adding more trails and stuff.
So this season, go up as much as possible and get as much people to come with you

 

[mxdame]

Would be good to see thredbo with more than 1 track, I have not had a chance to ride it yet & am trying to get there this season. I am sure you would get a lot more people heading there from all over OZ if there was a number of tracks there, but as I have not been there it may not be possible.

 

[Mywifesirrational]

Mt Buller has gotten a lot better over the years, spent a week there over new years and had a great time.

From chatting with locals, they would like to turn the place into a bike park, I was told the ski season is often very short (? I'm not a skier) and the place near a ghost town for most of the year. Problems I can see is most accommodation is retardedly expensive in summer, minimal food option on the mountain and no one seems willing to step it up and market and build the place up the place to its potential - to much on out pitiful ski season.

Buller has effectively 3 DH tracks now, to suit differing levels of riders / bikes, an awesome and growing XC network and the two mega avalanche style tracks with a shuttle from the bottom. In the late 90's only had abom.

Special thanks to Ully (spelling?) and Petri for the great time at the bike lodge.

 

[dunndog]

Many resorts at the moment struggle to break even, why should they expand if they can barely make a profit as it is?
If you want the resorts to expand and become better get a couple of mates together and go to the resorts when they're open.
Show them some support and maybe in return they will become heaps better.

The more people that go up and support them, the more the resorts with actually consider adding more trails and stuff.
So this season, go up as much as possible and get as much people to come with you

why would you go up to a resort that doesn't cater to what you want/need? I'm not going to drive the best part of 5 hrs to falls creek to ride my session 88 across some alpine flower meadow on a shared bike/ walking track. Mt Buller has a pretty large gathering up there from Boxing Day on, but are only open till the end of January and 2 of those weekends are state and national rounds.
So even though the supports there, things are not moving quickly in the expansion department as far as keeping that chair turning and making some sort of season out of it.
Went to queens town earlier this year, now that's progress. We are a nanny country.

 

[buffy]

why would you go up to a resort that doesn't cater to what you want/need? I'm not going to drive the best part of 5 hrs to falls creek to ride my session 88 across some alpine flower meadow on a shared bike/ walking track. Mt Buller has a pretty large gathering up there from Boxing Day on, but are only open till the end of January and 2 of those weekends are state and national rounds.
So even though the supports there, things are not moving quickly in the expansion department as far as keeping that chair turning and making some sort of season out of it.
Went to queens town earlier this year, now that's progress. We are a nanny country.

absolutely this.

went to thredbo last year. never again. just totally not worth it.

queenstown, whistler, europe. basically just go overseas.

 

[jrewing]

If the riding infrastructure gets built mOre people will get back into, start and continue the sPort. I reckon thredbo are realising it and good on them.
Look at the redtape shit fight that greenvalleys has had to do...

Again, great country that's run by fuck head oxygen thieves. It's not only mtb but every facet of our lives.

 

[chamboy]

To true..
I'll be hitting Buller as long as the short opening times allow.
Other than that Whistler, Queenstown and Europe here I come.

 

[flamshmizer]

Many resorts at the moment struggle to break even, why should they expand if they can barely make a profit as it is?
If you want the resorts to expand and become better get a couple of mates together and go to the resorts when they're open.
Show them some support and maybe in return they will become heaps better.

The more people that go up and support them, the more the resorts with actually consider adding more trails and stuff.
So this season, go up as much as possible and get as much people to come with you

I'm going to take your argument to a silly level now, theres a hill 3km's south of my house, it has no tracks, no shuttle or lift access. But if you guys come and ride every weekend someone might build a track there.

Or even sillier, why not fly to a ski resort overseas that barely supports mountain biking instead of Whistler?

It doesn't work that way. Build it, and they will come. The customers are not the ones who need to take the risk. Whistler did not have 10,000 riders show up and then decided to make some trails to cater for them.

 

[MARKL]

Many resorts at the moment struggle to break even, why should they expand if they can barely make a profit as it is?
If you want the resorts to expand and become better get a couple of mates together and go to the resorts when they're open.
Show them some support and maybe in return they will become heaps better.

The more people that go up and support them, the more the resorts with actually consider adding more trails and stuff.
So this season, go up as much as possible and get as much people to come with you

Seriously? Why don't I just send them some cash with a note attached encouraging them to set up some mountain bike facilities? Better still send me some cash and I will set up some facilities...promise

Maybe Buller could be arsed to run the chairlift for more than one month???

It will be interesting to see how Thredbo goes this year a second track, really looking forward to it.

 

[topic]

there is plans out there for perisher with the expansion of the resort becoming a village, and summer resort for all other things including DH. A few years still until they actually go ahead with it but ive been told by high up people that IT IS HAPPENING. Thredbo has the right idea and this year will be killer and cant wait for what the place will be like in a few years....

 

[dl79]

Rumours are about regarding the new Arthurs Seat chair lift, that when built may be available for bikes to access the forest trails from the top of the State forest.
I'm not sure if this is true, or even if the chair lift is actually going ahead. Nice to dream though.
Anyone heard any news on this??

The new chairlift is going ahead and should be under construction in the coming 6 months. The local club has had a lot of contact with the company building the chair and they are making bike uplift possible with the design of the gondolas and chairs. The chair requires the demolition of an existing lookout tower on the peak which took a long time to gain approval (hence the delay on construction starting)
Vic Parks and Red Hill Riders are working together towards the development of legal, sustainable trails within the area to be serviced by the chairlift. Check out the forum on www.redhillriders.org.au for info or to join the club and get involved.

Dave

 

[jmpalmer]

Aus

greenvalleys, how'd that work out?
seems people have lost interest...

 

[buffy]

there is plans out there for perisher with the expansion of the resort becoming a village, and summer resort for all other things including DH. A few years still until they actually go ahead with it but ive been told by high up people that IT IS HAPPENING. Thredbo has the right idea and this year will be killer and cant wait for what the place will be like in a few years....

tell em they're dreamin'

thredbo is a ghost town in summer. theres no way that region would ever get anything happening in summer.