They closed the bike park. Here's why.

Why did Blue Mountain Resort close the bike park?

Blue Mountain Resort was Ontario's very own version of Whistler. It holds the crown as the biggest and most developed ski resort in the Province. Being less than a two-hour drive from Toronto also means that it draws from a population of more than 6 million people.

But now, it's a shadow of what it once was.

There used to be over 30 lift-access downhill bike trails at Blue. DH riding at Blue dates back to 1998, where there was a sweaty shuttle van rather than a bike lift.

But downhill biking at Blue has had a shaky past. After a 2007 injury and the following lawsuit, the resort "detuned" their jumps.

"The best thing to say is we did some soul searching with regards to the mountain bike business and we just weren't comfortable with the level we were at and the results. The new approach is definitely going to be far more family-oriented, and more catering to the lower end, or the less skilled rider"
- Peter Sutcliffe, director of mountain experience at Blue Mountain back in 2008

Following the injury, Blue Mountain hired the renowned company behind Whistler's bike park, Gravity Logic. And after more than half a million dollars invested, DH riding at Blue had gained new life in 2008.

Downhill riding at Blue exploded and became the place to be for shredders in Ontario. They saw huge events like Sea Otter Canada, the Canadian Enduro Series, along with increased ridership and business at their park.

Fast forward to 2020. COVID-19 forces the park to close, and the executives at Blue Mountain sit down to strategize.

Bike visitation is less than 0.01 percent of total visitation says Dan Skelton, president and COO of Blue Mountain.

"Although they're passionate, bikers are not a large part of our business. An entire summer of biking business is about the same as one mid-winter Saturday of skiing and riding at Blue. DH at Blue did not begin with a business plan. It was developed and organically driven by the passions and skills of the Blue Mountain bike team but was not a profitable offering."

"Early in 2021, we began looking at summer operations once again and the recreation team was working on a plan for biking this summer. There was considerable discussion but the decision to not move forward with lift-access mountain biking was made just a week before our official communication went out. It was not an easy decision, suffice to say the Blue bike team bent over backward to try to make it work.” says Skelton.

And thus, the bike park is closed.

We may never know if there's something that they're not telling us. But, this seems to be accurate to me. When I visited, I saw 3 other bikers over a 3 day weekend, and one of them was a medic. In place of bikers are angry dads busy screaming at the resort staff, along with overpriced attractions and fifteen-dollar beers.

So, what can you expect if you're headed to Blue to bike?

At the top of the mountain are two multi-use XC loops. Cagey and Outer limits offer 3 kilometers of up and down XC riding.

To access the XC trails, you'll need to drive to the top because your bike is not welcome on the gondola.

The trails on the south side of the mountain aren't even worth talking about. If a brutal 20-minute climb, followed by a 30-second descent is what you're into, then the south side is made just for you.

These trails are actually a good deal of fun, but, you'll find no real features other than hikers to weave around. And the resort is a great place to bring your wife and kids for a weekend getaway. It just isn't a bike destination anymore. Just a 10-minute drive south of Blue is a far superior trail network called Three-Stage.

A huge thank you to Colin Field, author of the article "The Loss of Lift-Served Riding Rocks a Canadian Resort Community" where I pulled a lot of my research from.

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