So, as with most MTB rumours this one may not be entirely true, but even if only part of it is, it’s great news either way! (Well, unless it’s entirely untrue…) And it’s especially good news after Coronet have done a no-show with their MTB program.
Queenstown’s Skyline gondola will be trialled for MTB access next summer, possibly operational by November. If you saw our Track Day Tuesday a few weeks back, or you’ve ventured up the hill to check out the trails yourself then you’ll have some idea how awesome this is!
If this is in fact true, the possibilities are endless! World Champs? NZ Champs? World Cup? Wearing out your bike doin’ too many runs? Hopefully the whole lot and then some!
More news as we get it….
it will be very interesting to hear what they are planning.remember that they don’t own the land the trails are on, so how is gonna maintain them? or actually rebuild them so they are sustainable to handle ALOT more tires? currently alot of the trails struggle to stay on the hill (thats not a criticism but rather an observation, as i have spent plenty of time int he past trying to sort out drainage and rerouting up there)
will a certain percent of revenue from mtbers that skyline make go towards the maintainance and expansion of trails?
how ill they organise medical response? will there be a full time medical team on patrol? doubtful. so how takes responsibility when someone goes down?
what about actually getting the bikes up? what system will they be using? will they add carry capacity for bikes or continue to use the ONE service tray that can only hold six bikes max and requires the lift to be slowed to an almost stop each time? surely this will not be able to happen when there is capacity tourists mid summer?
my hunch is don’t go expecting a ‘bikepark’ style experience from this. all they are doing is trialing the funds that can be generated by putting mountian bikers in the gondola versus the hassle of putting mountain bikers in the gondola. All they care about is getting you to the top, what you do on the way down is likely to be none of their business. which will lead to problems if someone doesn’t step in.
make no mistake this is a very sharp double edged sword and there are many questions that need to be addressed. It will be interesting to see what they have to say.
it will be very interesting to hear what they are planning.remember that they don’t own the land the trails are on, so how is gonna maintain them? or actually rebuild them so they are sustainable to handle ALOT more tires? currently alot of the trails struggle to stay on the hill (thats not a criticism but rather an observation, as i have spent plenty of time int he past trying to sort out drainage and rerouting up there)
will a certain percent of revenue from mtbers that skyline make go towards the maintainance and expansion of trails?
how ill they organise medical response? will there be a full time medical team on patrol? doubtful. so how takes responsibility when someone goes down?
what about actually getting the bikes up? what system will they be using? will they add carry capacity for bikes or continue to use the ONE service tray that can only hold six bikes max and requires the lift to be slowed to an almost stop each time? surely this will not be able to happen when there is capacity tourists mid summer?
my hunch is don’t go expecting a ‘bikepark’ style experience from this. all they are doing is trialing the funds that can be generated by putting mountian bikers in the gondola versus the hassle of putting mountain bikers in the gondola. All they care about is getting you to the top, what you do on the way down is likely to be none of their business. which will lead to problems if someone doesn’t step in.
make no mistake this is a very sharp double edged sword and there are many questions that need to be addressed. It will be interesting to see what they have to say.
seb,so long as no one skids up the corners I cant really see a down side to all this….. dig dig.
Yeah there’s plenty to be worked on to get it all running legit (whatever they deem ‘legit’ to be) but all in good time I guess.
seb,so long as no one skids up the corners I cant really see a down side to all this….. dig dig.
Yeah there’s plenty to be worked on to get it all running legit (whatever they deem ‘legit’ to be) but all in good time I guess.