HoliMont Bike Park Opens for the Season
HoliMont Bike Park Opens for the Season
Convenient lift access, new trail features and exciting new summer events!
How cool would it be to have a summer “ski season” at your local ski resort? Now that the HoliMont Bike Park is officially open for the summer season, you’ll be able to find downhill enthusiasts of a different kind on the slopes and trails at the local ski club - mountain bike riders!
And just like during the winter weather, once you get to the bottom of the hill, the chairlift will quickly get you back to the top.
“It’s just like you’re skiing,” commented Chris Perks, HoliMont’s ‘Builder Of Parks’, during a recent tour of his mountain biking playground. “You can bomb down the trails and get right back on the lift and be back at the top again in a few minutes,” he smiled.
Much to the delight of the downhill mountain biking community, HoliMont’s Bike Park entered its second season of operation when the bull-wheel turned on the Sunset chairlift the morning of Saturday, May 28th. HoliMont intends to operate the lift from 10:00am-4:30pm every weekend until June 17th, at which point mountain bikers can get a ride to the top Friday from noon until 7:00pm and Saturday & Sunday from 10:00am-4:30pm.
In order to accommodate the two-wheeled cargo of mountain bikes, the HoliMont lift maintenance crew replaced 12 people carriers for specially-designed platforms that facilitate the quick and easy loading, unloading and safe transport of bikes to the top of the hill. With more bike carriers due to arrive in the next month, Perks expects to double the uphill capacity of the Sunset lift for downhill mountain bike aficionados by the middle of summer. To make things even more user-friendly for all levels of cycling ability, the lift maintenance crew built a new platform for the top of the Sunset chairlift by added more decking to the downhill side of the off-ramp.
Mountain bikes are loaded into carriers at the bottom and arrive at the top just ahead of their owners. This gives lift attendants time to remove the bikes from the carriers and have them waiting in a rack.
Perks explained that he and his small team of trail builders have been working hard since they opened the park last summer, not only to add new trails, but also to shape and sequence berms, jumps and rollers - as well as a vast array of manmade features - with the idea of creating trails that flow perfectly from top to bottom. This includes the current effort to complete another mellow and easy-flowing “green” trail to the bottom, ensuring the park will always be enjoyable for riders of all ages and skill levels.
Like the ski area trail marking system, mountain biking terrain deemed the Most Difficult (at that area) is denoted by the color black on trail maps. More Difficult terrain is marked in blue and the Easier terrain at that area will be marked in green.
HoliMont’s Bike Park already includes several green trails, such as the fun and kid-friendly Sasquatch loop at the top of the hill near Saddle Pond.
Just like skiing and snowboarding in the winter, bike riding is one of the rare outdoor activities where everyone in the entire family can participate together at the same time.
Although all the trails are his creations, Perks is especially proud of Newt’s Tail, a hand-raked and fast course, it’s technically demanding from start to finish and it drops like an elevator shaft to the access road at the bottom at a 17-degree pitch.
As if the allure of a stress-free, scenic ride back up the hill isn’t enough to get you excited, the folks at HoliMont have arranged for live entertainment many weekends throughout the summer and on most Saturdays and select Sundays, there will be food and beverages available.
“We’ve been working hard to get the word out that we’re open to the public,” explained HoliMont’s Events and Marketing Director, Jennah Bradley. “On weekends during the ski season, it’s true that HoliMont is for members only, but for virtually the rest of the year, it’s open to the public,” she added.
In addition to all the improvements being made to the bike park and trails, HoliMont continues its efforts to make use of the truly beautiful natural resources at hand to attract more visitors to the ski area. Work has even begun to convert one end of the Saddle Pond into a small beach - bring a bucket and shovel and build your own sand castle! Dry camping is allowed (details to come), and folks can fish, swim, canoe, kayak and paddleboard in Saddle pond at the top.
HoliMont also has scattered a number of special weekend events throughout the summer and into the fall, including the Saddle Pond Party and Trade Show July 23rd-24th, featuring vendors in the outdoor sports and recreation industry.
Bradley is also looking forward to a pair of August events - The Good Climb Aug. 6th, where bike riders will take part in a five-hour endurance event and the Western New York Mountain Biking Association (WNYMBA) Campout from August 12-14th, with live music, beer tasting by 42 North Brewery and BBQ by Fat Man BBQ.
HoliMont is also collaborating with Dennis Baldwin, the owner of Ellicottville Bike and Bean, for the return of Roots, Rocks and Ridges on Oct. 1st-2nd. It’s a two-day event, featuring excellent cross-country riding onto State Forest land on Saturday and a day of downhill mountain bike racing Sunday.
“We’ll have the start/finish line at HoliMont,” Baldwin explained, “and with what we have planned for the two days, we’re going to try to bring back the feel of the original days of mountain bike racing.”
It has been well-documented that the covid pandemic pushed people out of their homes, into the great outdoors and onto all forms of recreational equipment. Bikes of all kinds were actually in short-supply for a period of time and now the sudden infusion of new interest in the sport translates into more visitors riding bike trails and patronizing local businesses in the Ellicottville area.
As the owner of the go-to bike shop in town and roller of the perfect burrito, Baldwin has also noticed the influx of downhill mountain bike enthusiasts. “The HoliMont Bike Park has definitely brought another group of riders to town,” he admitted with a smile,” he said. “There are lots of different styles of riding that people do now, and this (downhill) version of mountain bike riding seems to complete the (cycling) scene around here,” - referring to an already well-developed local network of more than 35 miles of cross-country mountain biking trails.
On days when the lift is operating for mountain bikes, the Loud Performance Bike & Board Shop of Bemus Point will have a mobile command center just adjacent to the base of the Sunset lift for walk-up repair work and daily mountain bike rentals.
Anyone seeking access to the chairlift must first check-in with the attendant at the small mountain shop hut at the bottom of the hill to sign a release and pay for the lift ticket. You’ll be able to find some necessities, as well as plenty of newly-branded HoliMont apparel and accessories in the mountain shop.
When Perks was asked for an overall assessment of the state of his newly-created mountain bike heaven, the Builder of Parks replied, “This bike park is still in its infancy. Our goal is to create something really special here - but like any good trail, it takes time to build it.”