The nice thing about the Okanagan is you can come up to the hill rip a few groomers and then shred your favorite trail in the afternoon. You gotta love this place!
Even with lots of winter fun still to be had we are gearing up for summer. The brochures and posters are in their final stages before heading to the printers, I'm planning a road trip to visit most bike shops in Western Canada, and it won't be long before Cam Forbes sets up the rental and repair shop. Silver Star will be running the Double Diamond repair shop this summer, catering to all your repair needs. This thanks in large part to Cam's many years as a bike tech.
The mountain bike community is in luck this year. We have a full returning trails crew, an almost full returning patrol team. We are adding one more guy to that crew along with six volunteers this summer. With all that fresh meat and a wealth of experience on the trails, it's bound to turn out some great riding!
The crew is excited to be back and looking forward to building a few new thing on the mountain this year. The rumored blue trail that did not get built last year is on the top of the list. If the melt comes fast we should see it early in the season. It is going from Hub One to the village, snaking its way through some of the deep gullies on the front side. It may very well turn into my top pick to get me back to the Saloon.
There will be a bunch of re-routes happening in the park as well this year. They'll be similar to what we did with Rock Star and Pipe Dream. There are curtain sections of trail that could flow better and lessen the need for maintenance from those pesky brake bumps. Watch for some of those to happen on Super Star and other trails through out the season. In addition, Double Dog will get a new pump track. Steve and Jay did such a good job last year I think we will sick them on that task again and I know they are looking to improve on last year (good luck boys, last years was pretty dam fun)!
There is a new hiking trail in the works as well. The nice thing is the aspect of the proposed trail should be the first to melt. The plan is to have it done while the rest of the park is still under snow. It will be a mellow grade to the top of the mountain with some of the best views of the village!
All in all it is starting to shape up to be a good summer season on Silver Star. The vibe is good and people are looking to an early spring. I know that we are planning a couple road trips before the park opens because once it does we can't seem to peel ourselves away from here.
See you out there.
Later!
Cameron SorensenBike Park director
They'd need to be open for a least a 3 day weekend to get me to make the journey.
