Queenstown Bike Park

Queenstown Bike Park also known as Skyline Bike Park is a downhill mountain bikers dream. Having opened officially this year, the park features 10 official trails that vary from fast bermed and groomed trails to off-camber goat tracks, rock gardens, and natural single track. Trails are graded green, blue and black for beginners, intermediates and advanced. Not only is the terrain and difficulty different from trail to trail, but each manages to provide a different vibe to the next.

Having lived in Whistler and seen the biking masses lining up for the Whistler Bike Park, we weren’t sure what to expect from the Queenstown Bike Park. When we first arrived to line up for the gondola we were surprised to see 12 riders ahead of us. At the time we assumed it was a quiet day, but after spending the next week or so riding in the park, we quickly realised that a 12 rider queue is about as bad as it gets! More often than not you are back on the gondola within 2 minutes or so.

The Queenstown Bike Park is part of the Ben Lomond Recreational Reserve, and is built on a steep forest covered hill providing some spectacular views. It is 790 vertical metres above sea level with 500 vertical metres of uplift from the bottom to the top of the Skyline Gondola.

So, the trails? Let me start with the beginner trail – Hammy’s Track. Back in the Whistler Bike Park, the beginner trail Easy Does It is pretty damn boring. Why? Because it’s for the beginners. Many of the far more confident and lets face it, often impatient riders do not give beginner mountain bikers enough space on the trails. As a result, Easy Does It was designed to show beginners what the sport is about, while being boring enough for the faster riders, encouraging them to ride elsewhere. Given the small amount of traffic in the Queenstown Bike Park, it’s really not a problem. Hammy’s Track is actually a contender for my favourite trail in the park! There are so many jib lines, skinnies and other cool trail features that make riding Hammy’s Track super fun.

Our most common lap was Vertigo to Original. After talking with a few of the locals, this is certainly the route that you boost your lap count with. Straight through the middle of the park, the majority of this lap is super fast flow trail – lots of berms, lots of smallish jumps with the odd steep or slightly technical section thrown in. Original was pretty blown out when we were in town – to be expected since it was the end of the season. Lots of braking bumps destroyed my girly, “haven’t been riding downhill enough” hands.

A more technical lap in the Queenstown Bike Park was Armageddon to Thingamajig to Single Track Sandwich. For some reason I’d always ride this lap when it was almost dark. I’m not sure if it was the lack of vision or if there are some sketchy sections of trail in there, but it was a good rush – every time I’d let my guard down the trail would try and throw me to the ground. Following onto Thingamajig gives you some nice steep declines and the option of the “Thingamajig” itself – about 40m of elevated north shore. As the trail opens up to the Halfway Hub there is a super nice table top for you to whip it, whip it good.

Single Track Sandwich really reminded me of British Columbia. About as close to loam as you can get on this side of the world, with lots of roots, lots of speed, and the odd loose corner to keep you on your toes. If jumping off of roots puts a dirty grin on your face like it does mine, this is your trail.

Queenstown Bike Park really is a rad place to ride. We both took our downhill bikes on this trip, and while we didn’t really have any other bikes that were suitable, I feel that a long travel trail bike would be perfect for this park. My one gripe with the park was it’s long and often uphill pedal out at the base. There are no alternatives – if you want to get back to the gondola you have to put the hard yards in. If you’re training to race it’s probably a good thing but if you’re just in town to ride yourself haggard, it really sucks the energy out of you. Minor gripe though – there’s no gondola serviced trails in my home town so who am I to complain?

This year full day tickets for the Skyline Gondola with a bike were $60, with half day tickets at $45. If you play your cards right and like to smash laps out non stop, the half day is a top option. The Queenstown Bike Park has closed for the 2011-2012 season – expect the park to re-open to mountain bikers around September this year.

For more information on the Queenstown Bike Park take a look at http://www.queenstownbikepark.co.nz.

For information on the Skyline Gondola Queenstown, head on over to http://www.skyline.co.nz/queenstown/mountain-biking/.