Winter Fatbike Downhill Riding Opportunities in Minnesota

If you're looking to do some fatbike downhill this winter here in Minnesota you have a couple of opportunities.  One of which has a two-day bike celebration in addition to lift-served downhill fatbiking on Sundays through March and the other is a one-time event.

Spirit Mountain

Image Credit: Spirit Mountain

Spirit Mountain in Duluth opened January 13th for their Fat Sundays lift-served downhill fatbiking.  The 2019 season will continue through the end of March, weather and trail conditions permitting.  Sunday hours are from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm for riding on slopes and bike park trails.  A mandatory bike check, helmet, minimum tire width of 3"-3.5" depending on weather or trail conditions and a regular lift ticket ($59) or winter season pass are required to ride.  For updates on conditions visit the Spirit Mountain Snow Report page.

The Frosted Fatty is Spirit Mountain's yearly winter fatbike festival that is to be held the weekend of January 19-20.  Festivities include bike demos, food, beverage and music.  Races include "Fat Bike XC, Staged Downhill and Head to Head Dual Slalom, where bikers, skiers and snowboarders race it out for a $500 cash prize!!" with male and female categories for each race except the Head to Head Dual Slalom which will name one winner as the "King of the Hill!"  Check for updates on the Frosted Fatty Facebook event page.  Online registration for the Frosted Fatty is available until January 18, 2019 at 5 pm.

Mount Kato

Mount Kato and the Mankato Area Mountain Bikers will be bringing back Gravity Fest on February 3rd after a several year hiatus.  This year's event is set to be bigger and better with a dedicated chair lift to haul bikes and riders up to the top, two ski runs and some groomed singletrack to ride, weather permitting. Gravity fest will be from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm for an open free riding session format.  Participants will need to sign a waiver and pay $25 for a lift ticket.

If you've never experienced winter downhill riding on a fatbike, don't miss these chances.  It will be the funnest time you've had on two wheels.

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.

Twin Cities Winter Fatbike Season Wraps Up With King of the Hill Fat Bike Duel

Image Credit: Buck Hill/Penn Cycle

Buck Hill is one of the few spots left in the Twin Cities that still has snow remaining.  This Saturday, March 12th there will be fatbikes racing at Buck Hill for the King of the Hill Fat Bike Duel presented by Penn Cycle & Buck Hill.

Practice riding starts at 10:00am and racing at 11:30am.  Race format will be 4 racers with single elimination with the top two riders advancing.  Entry fee is $30 or $10 with a non-perishable food donation.  After the racing is completed there will be an open free ride until 4:30pm.  This will be your last chance to ride Winter downhill in the Twin Cities before Spring.  Don't miss it.  See the flyer below or visit the Facebook Event Page for full details.

More Ski Resorts Offering Access to Fatbikes

As more cyclists are extending their riding season with fatbikes, ski resorts are taking notice of the sport.  Ski resort access for fatbikes first started a couple of years ago at the Gran Targhee Resort in Alta, Wyoming.  Gran Targhee Resort was the first in the nation "to embrace and endorse winter fat bikes on the Nordic trail system".  As ski resorts see this opportunity for extra revenue during the Winter months, many have opened up their Nordic trails to fatbikes.  But the most exciting trend beginning to happen now is fatbike downhill with lift access.

Last March the Mankato Area Mountain Bikers in coordination with Nicollet Bike Shop and Mount Kato held the first ever Nicollet Bike Fat Bike Gravity Fest.  With over 100 fatbikers in attendance that day, the event was a huge success and promises to be even bigger and better than last year with an exclusive chair lift for bikers only, more distance and different trails.  Fat Bike Gravity Fest 2016 takes place on Sunday, March 6th from 12:00 to 4:00pm with open practice/ride time on the fatbike specific trails and hills from 12pm to 3:30pm and race against the clock in the downhill time trial (Super D format) that starts at 3:30pm.  This is your once-a-year chance to ride Mount Kato so don't miss it.  For more information see my post Fat Bike Gravity Fest Returns To Mount Kato.

Image Credit: Spirit Mountain

Spirit Mountain in Duluth announced this week that it will start lift-served, downhill, Winter fatbiking on Sundays from 10:00am to 4:00pm.  The fun kicks off Sunday, January 17th during the 2nd Annual Ski Hut Weekend. 

Image Credit: Spirit Mountain

Tickets can be purchased in advance online for the Sunday of your choice through February 28th.  Tickets are limited per day and to reserve your spot it is recommended you purchase them online.

Details from Spirit Mountain:

• Minimum tire width 3.5″
• Helmet Required
• Brakes for each wheel are required
• A seat/seat post inspection  is required prior to allowing bike on chair lift
• All tickets, parking, inspections happen out of our Grand Avenue Chalet located at 8551 Grand Ave Duluth, MN.  Please note: due to winter snow tubing operations, mountain bike parking and access to trails is not available from our Adventure Park.  
• Must abide by Bike Responsibility Code & Trail Code
• Terrain open will vary during the season based upon snow pack, conditions, etc.  Visit out snow report for updates.
• Planned open trails are Timber Cruiser, Juggler Joe as well as Mountain Bike trails of Candy Land, Happy Camper & Lower Calculated Risk

Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado just last week announced that it "will allow winter biking before and after ski resort operating hours".  This would allow fatbikers access to the mountain with a similar policy already in place for uphill skiers.  With more ski resorts beginning to allow access to fatbikers, I hope the resorts here in Minnesota will see the value in adopting their own policy allowing fatbikes.  Two Minnesota ski resorts have already granted access to fatbikes on their Nordic trails.

Two Winters ago Giants Ridge in Biwabik was one of the first in Minnesota to allow fatbikers to ride on their groomed Nordic trails.  This Winter they are opening 60km of Nordic trail access to fatbikes.  A proper trail day pass or season pass is required.  Fatbike rentals are also available at the rental shop.

Image Credit: Detroit Mountain Rec. Area

Detroit Mountain Recreation Area in Detroit Lakes will have bike trails open to snowshoeing/fatbiking with "Select Groomed Ski Trails may be available for Fat Biking depending upon Daily Snow Conditions."   Fatbike rentals are available at the Detroit Mountain Lodge.

New this year as part of the Detroit Lakes Polar Fest, Detroit Mountain will be hosting the SNOway But Round Fat Bike Race on February 7th.  "The SNOway But Round Fat Bike Race is Detroit Mountain's first winter fat bake race. A specially designed 5 mile course will wind it's way around the base area and through our Nordic ski and XC flow trails. Choose from one or two laps."

Fatbikes are not a fad that is going away and as more ski resorts offer access to them it is my hope that other resorts will also join in.  Please be sure to always follow IMBA's Fat Bike Best Practices to ensure a good relationship with the landowners granting access as these practices will help open more riding opportunities in the future.

Fat Bike Gravity Fest Returns To Mount Kato-CANCELLED

Fat Bike Gravity Fest is coming to Mount Kato in Mankato on Sunday, March 6th.  This will be the second year of this event hosted by Nicollet Bike Shop and the Mankato Area Mountain Bikers (MAMB).  I had a chance to make it to last year's event and had the time of my life.  What could be better than riding fatbikes down ski slopes?

This year promises to be even bigger and better than last year with an exclusive chair lift for bikers only, more distance and different trails.

Come early for the open practice/ride time on the fatbike specific trails and hills from 12pm to 3:30pm and race against the clock in the downhill time trial (Super D format) that starts at 3:30pm.  After your done, watch your friends try to beat your time during their runs and either cheer them on or throw a few heckles their way.

$30 gets you an unlimited lift ticket for the open practice/ride time and downhill time trial race.  A portion of the proceeds go back to the Mankato Area Mountain Bikers for their trail building efforts.  Fatbikes with tires 3.8" or wider are required to attend.

This is definitely one fatbike event you're not going to want to miss.  It's a rare opportunity to ride on some great downhill runs and put your skills to the test.  Last year over 100 riders showed up and this year will bring even more out.  Hopefully the success of Fat Bike Gravity Fest will get other ski resorts thinking about hosting events like this one.

If you would like to see all of my pictures and video from the 2015 Nicollet Bike Fat Bike Gravity Fest visit my Flickr album.