Welch Village Mountain Bike Park Season Opener This Weekend

Welch Village's season opener weekend has been postponed due to rain and wet conditions on the trails. "Opening weekend delayed until next weekend...June 23-24. CLOSED Sunday, 6/17. Unfortunately, trails still soft & wet from yesterday’s storms and they are not drying because of the 70 degree dew points & humidity. Plus, more storms in the forecast for this afternoon. We are bummed too but there is a whole lot of summer ahead."   Visit them on Saturday & Sunday, June 23 & 24 for lift served access to their downhill trails.  They'll be open at 10am on Saturday and 11am on Sunday with chairlifts operating until 5pm both days.

Three trails that opened last year, Air Bear (Advanced Riders ONLY, Trail has high risk features, Mandatory jumps, Steep drops with no ride arounds, Your wheels may leave ground, downhill traffic only), Joy Ride (Gentle to moderate climbs and decent, with obstacles such as rock, gravel, berms, bridges, and pot holes. Previous mountain biking experience highly recommended) and Aquaman (Intermediate riders ONLY, Large berms, Large Rollers, optional jumps on trail, downhill traffic only) will be open this weekend, weather dependant.

New this year is their Green Trail, "Squirrel Catcher" (Gentle to moderate climbs and decent, with obstacles such as rock, gravel, berms, bridges, and pot holes. Previous mountain biking experience highly recommended) including a new re-route for all of their trails and the new Blue trail, "Eagle Eye" (Intermediate riders ONLY, Large berms, Large Rollers, optional jumps on trail, downhill traffic only).  According to Welch Village on the status of  of Eagle Eye, "TBD..stay tuned...depends on rain!"

Purchase an all day lift and trail ticket for $25 (13 and older) or $20 (ages 8-12).  New this year is their Sunset Special (last 2 hours of any MTB operations day)  $20 (13 and older) or $15 (ages 8-12).  Season passes are also available for those age 8 and up for the 2018 season for $149.

Hours of operation for the upcoming Summer Season are Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 5pm through September 2nd, including Labor Day, September 3rd and ONLY SATURDAYS September 8th - 29th from 11am-5pm.

After a day of riding make sure to visit the chalet for a cold beer or two and maybe a bite to eat.

Note from Welch Village about the season opener weekend, "All, please check our website and Facebook page approaching this weekend for updates in case the weather doesn't cooperate. Weather folks are predicting chances for storms Friday - Sunday. Thanks!"

For more information about the Welch Village MTB Rules, what to wear and what to ride, visit the Welch Village MTB Orienteering Guide page.  More information about opening weekend can be found by visiting the Welch Village website or their Facebook Event Page.  Updates on the trails are posted at their Facebook page and on their Trail Report page.

Welch Village Mountain Bike Park Brings Downhill Close to the Twin Cities

Image Credit: Clay Haglund

Welch Village will be having their Grand Opening Weekend for their new Mountain Bike Park Friday, July 28th through the 30th with lift served access for their downhill trails.  The chairlift starts at 3pm on Friday to kick off the weekend and will continue to run until 7pm.

As of now they have two trails open, Air Bear (Advanced Riders ONLY, Trail has high risk features, Mandatory jumps, Steep drops with no ride arounds, Your wheels may leave ground, downhill traffic only) and Joy Ride (Gentle to moderate climbs and decent, with obstacles such as rock, gravel, berms, bridges, and pot holes. Previous mountain biking experience highly recommended).  Welch Village hopes to open their third trail, Aquaman (Intermediate riders ONLY, Large berms, Large Rollers, optional jumps on trail, downhill traffic only) sometime over Grand Opening Weekend.

Image Credit: Clay Haglund

Purchase a daily lift ticket for $22 and under their "Try it" promotion if you really love it they will apply the credit paid towards a $99 MTB season pass.

Image Credit: Griff Wigley

Hours of operation for Saturday are 10am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm.  Activities for opening weekend include free mountain bike skills clinics from Valley Bike & Ski, bike rental specials, demos and door prizes.

For more information about opening weekend visit the Welch Village website or the Facebook Event Page.  Updates on the trails can be found at their Facebook page and on their Trail Report page.

Spirit Mountain Bike Park in Duluth Needs Your Vote in the Bell Built Grant for $100,000

Image Credit: C.O.G.G.S.

Voting in the Central Region for the Bell Built Grant which will award $100,000 to the winning finalist for funding a trail building project is on now until May 10th.  The Spirit Mountain Bike Park in Duluth needs your vote to become the Central Region Finalist. Watch the video below to see the World Class mountain biking that Spirit Mountain has to offer and how winning the Bell Built Grant will help finish a trail from their Master Plan.

Of the nine semifinalists, one finalist from the Eastern, Central and Western Region will advance to the National Finals where voting will be held from May 25th through June 5th.  After this voting period one winner of the entire $100,000 trail building grant will be awarded.

Your vote is needed to ensure that the Spirit Mountain Bike Park is the Central Region Finalist.  Winning the $100,000 grant will help the Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores (C.O.G.G.S) turn this great mountain biking destination into something even more amazing.  

"Spirit Mountain already offers the best lift-served riding in the Upper Midwest and the proposed new descent will up the ante by taking advantage of the mountain's abundant bedrock for steep rolldowns, hucks, and rock gardens."

Central Region voting is now live through May 10th.  Get your vote in today and spread the word.