Bike park

Bike park

A resort of graded trails served by a lift or shuttle, so the whole day goes into riding down. Usually a mountain ski resort in summer, with flow, jump and downhill lines.

Also known as: bikepark, mountain bike park, lift-access park

Key facts

Getting up
Lift
Bike types
MTB

What you will find

Trails from green to black, often with a separate pro line, groomed by a trail crew. Most parks mix flow trails, jump lines and rough natural downhill tracks, with a lift pass instead of the climb.

What to bring

  • A full-face helmet, goggles, knee pads and gloves; body armour on the steeper tracks.
  • A bike with 150 mm of travel or more — or rent a downhill bike at the park.
  • Spare brake pads: a day of descending eats them.

A good first day

  1. Warm up on the easiest trail even if you ride harder ones at home.
  2. Move up one colour at a time.
  3. Stop before you are tired: the last run of the day is where most crashes happen.

Related articles

  • Freeride — Riding for the line rather than the clock: big drops, jumps and steep natural terrain, chosen and ridden with style. Judged on creativity and flow when it is raced at all.
  • Downhill (DH) — Racing one steep, rough track from top to bottom, against the clock, on bikes with around 200 mm of travel. A World Cup run lasts three to four minutes and is decided by fractions of a second.
  • Full-face helmet — A helmet with a chin bar that protects the face and jaw as well as the head. Standard for downhill, bike parks and big jumps, and more and more common in enduro.
  • Goggles — Sealed eyewear worn with a full-face helmet that keeps dust, mud, roost and branches out of your eyes at speed. The foam seal is what glasses do not have.
  • Knee pads — Pads that take the hit when you fall on a knee — the most common crash injury on a mountain bike. Modern pads are soft enough to pedal in all day and harden only on impact.
  • Shuttle — Getting to the top of a descent by car, van or pickup instead of pedalling, so you can ride down again and again. A shuttle day is to trails what a lift pass is to a bike park.
  • Jump line — A trail made of jumps in a row, built so that one landing sets you up for the next take-off. Ridden at a steady speed, it feels like one long flight.
  • Flow trail — A trail built to be ridden on momentum: berms, rollers and small tables, one after another, so you barely pedal or brake. The easiest way to feel fast and learn to use the terrain.
  • Trail grades — How hard a trail is, told by colour: green, blue, red and black, orange for pro lines and purple for transfers. Every trail on the Bikeyard map is drawn in its grade.