From the Park Owner Simon French
Welcome to the first of our management team blogs! I’ll be providing a second-monthly update on our development updates and plans, while our park manager, Rhys will be providing a second monthly update on our operations.
As we head into our fifth summer, we’ve never been more excited by everything planned for the coming season. Since opening in 2018, we have battled through floods, fires, and most recently, COVID-19, but this season we feel like we are ready to go (hopefully without any major disruptions).
This season we’ll be launching a number of new and improved trails, along with a number of updates to our base infrastructure. These updates will help us continue to provide great service as we grow, while also readying us for larger events, such as the upcoming EWS round.
Trails Update
This season our trail crews are focusing on beginner trails and new jump trails, along with adding some new advanced technical trails for the upcoming EWS round. We will also be developing a number of new climbing and contouring trails, adding to the trail riding experience at MBP. In total, we expect to launch approximately 10km of new trails across the season, taking us to over 90km of trails.
We will be opening up opportunities to get involved in our technical hand-built trail developments- more info on this very soon.
Trail upgrades have been progressing throughout the park. This winter we redeveloped Tyenna, Super Funk, Homeward, and South Crescent, with works continuing on Pandani through the spring. Lastly, major upgrade works on the lower section of The Local are planned for completion prior to Christmas.
Earth Surfer is one of our bigger projects this season, adding a new all-descending trail option from Midline. We are super excited by the potential of this trail, not just for beginners, but also for more experienced riders wanting a quicker lap from our Midline shuttle drop. Earth Surfer also provides some fun linking options between some of our most technical trails, such as Natures Nectar and Yeah Gnar.
Spruce Moose Extension has extended Spruce Moose by approximately 1.5km, cutting out the steep fire road climb. Traversing through one of the nicest areas of rainforest on our hill, this new trail section manages to make climbing enjoyable (almost!).
Florentine is a new lower mountain beginner trail, replacing Tyenna as the primary green trail through this zone. Big berms and gentle terrain make this a perfect trail for all abilities.
Dirt Circus is our biggest trail project this summer. An intermediate jump and freeride trail from our lower mountain shuttle drop, Dirt Circus will be taking inspiration from Whistler Bike Park’s iconic Crank it Up trail. Dirt Circus will be jam packed with progressive table tops and other trail features, which will be equally enjoyable for both intermediate and advanced riders. We are working towards launching Dirt Circus in early 2023.
Maydena Falls is a brand-new climbing trail, that will also act as a shared-use trail with walkers. Maydena Falls departs from our South Crescent trail head, before gently climbing through the stunning rainforest to a hidden waterfall, before continuing on to our Abbotts Road trail head. The trail will provide an undulating climb, which is a little less direct than our current climbing trails. We expect to open Maydena Falls by March 2023.
Signage Update
We have been working hard on a new signage system for the park. The signage system is nearly complete and is expected to be implemented before Christmas. The new signage system includes all new maps and a new iconography system that will provide a lot more on-trail information to trail users.
Other Projects
Base area
Over the winter we have undertaken major works to our base area. Once completed in the coming weeks, this will include a new uplift pickup and a new uplift shelter. These new works will significantly improve the functionality of our village while creating much more space for events. We have also opened up much better views, providing great spectating opportunities from our base area for the first time.
This season we have also completed works on our street facing dining area, and new indoor and undercover dining spaces. These areas are open now, before they are re-launched in December with our brand-new restaurant, The Local.
Finally, this summer we will be developing a new commercial kitchen. While this sounds a little boring, it is the largest non-trail investment we have made at MBP since opening, and means we can produce even better food, more efficiently. The new kitchen will also allow us to expand our menu options.
As part of this project, we also plan to open up a large space for off street parking.
Camp Ground
Work continues on development approvals for our campground. The campground will provide (subject to council approval) powered and unpowered camping within a few hundred metres of the bike park, with direct access to the Tyenna River. We are working to open the first stage of the campground in autumn.
As part of our campground project, we also plan to launch a sauna and cold plunge operation.
And, that’s a wrap for now! Rhys will provide an operations update in November, before I jump back in to provide a December development update. Thanks again for your ongoing support of MBP, we look forward to showing off all our new projects this summer!