Mountain Bike Runs To Take Over Ski Slopes In Summer

Last year was a good one for ski resorts around the world. Europe found itself with more snow than it knew what to do with on occasions last year and America shared similar dumps. Canada didn’t get as much snow fall as they wanted but it’s about time they shared a bit of the bad luck of recent years. A great deal of ski area owners breathed a sigh of relief as the economic downturn threatened to wipe out skiers and snowboarders all together. Many already began to think about new ways to make money in the summer months however, as everyone is well aware that they are not out of the woods just yet.

America introduced a bill to Congress recently which would make it easier for local ski areas to build summertime amenities. Many resorts in Europe have expressed and interested in the same idea. A typical ski resort would normally look to make around 15% of its total income during the summer period. If the facilities could be used for more sports and more organised events then this percentage could dramatically increase. The sport that has got the most attention and would be most suitable is mountain biking

There are often mountain bike trails at the base of ski mountains already and shops selling mountain bikes dotted around the areas. This would make the sport very accessible both to locals and visitors alike as they would not be forced to purchase or transport their own gear, just rent it as they would snowboards. The proposed idea however is for mountain biking a little more on the extreme side of things, utilising the ski lifts that are already in place to host downhill mountain biking events and competitions on the steep runs.

Roger Joules who runs one of Lake Tahoe’s ski resorts says “mountain bikers have been looking for some steep and challenging runs and our slopes are perfect for that in the summer. If we charge a small amount for the use of our lifts then it’s a situation where both parties win”. Roger has also said that they are looking into the possibility of building a wave machine on a section of the lake so that people can pitch up with their surfboards and ride some breaks in the summer months. This is still a long way off he points out.