Is the Bike Park world growing or slowing?

WorldBikeParks
Edited Date/Time 8/16/2014 1:33pm
Anyone got any thoughts as to why a bike park the size and standard of Whistler has not established itself in Europe? Many pretenders to the throne but nothing on that scale despite a larger population of riders within the geographical area. Why do we still need to fly to Canada to get facilities that are so good!?
On this topic, check the latest blog post from WorldBikeParks.com...
http://blog.worldbikeparks.com-epic-potential-of-bike-parks/
And check the website to see just how many bike parks are popping up. So surely it's just a matter of time...?
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Big Bird
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Big Bird 8/22/2012 8:48am
8/22/2012 8:48am
It seems to me that the two main factors slowing the growth of the bike park industry are the current state of the economy and the fun police e.g. lawyers and lawmakers.
WorldBikeParks 8/22/2012 5:25pm
8/22/2012 5:25pm Edited Date/Time 4/21/2016 10:21am
Definitely agree with that. Another big problem is land ownership rights. In Europe, land is owned by farmers, and it's been in the family for generations. They are reluctant to accept this 'new' sport.
In the US it's the US Forest Service, and from what I understand there are various legal issues there too.
But if there's a demand then eventually this will change attitudes (I hope...!)
canadmos
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canadmos 8/22/2012 8:23pm
8/22/2012 8:23pm
Theres also only so many downhillers. If too many bike parks pop-up, then a few of them will probably fail.
vics26
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vics26 8/24/2012 7:53am
8/24/2012 7:53am Edited Date/Time 4/21/2016 10:21am
I'm from Canada (from the prairie provinces) and our local ski hill used to be open for mountain biking in the summer but just recently had to shut down as they could not even break even. Although mountain biking is gaining popularity, I think freeride/DH is still a bit of a fringe sport plus its not a sport that a lot of families can do like skiing/snowboarding in the winter where the whole family can participate in so it doesn't make sense for ski hills to invest in summer trails.

I do think that there is a lot of potential for non lift assisted bike parks simply because there is no operating cost associated with these. There seems to be a lot of these popping up all over the county and i think it makes sense as there is just an initial investment and then some minor maintenance each year. Although these aren't as fun as a lift assisted park they still make for a lot of fun as they usually have features like jump lines, skills areas, pump tracks and moderate DH trails.
WorldBikeParks 8/24/2012 7:05pm
8/24/2012 7:05pm
I agree with you about DH and Freeride being a 'fringe' sport, but I also thing that mountain biking itself is still a relatively new sport, and the bike parks industry is even newer. So if bike parks invested more in beginner trails and proper coaching programs, then maybe one day families would go for summer holidays in that way? A good example of this movement is Saalbach Hinterglemm - they developed a "Family" Trail called the Milka Trail. Of course they still have the serious trails, but are now more accessible to a much larger percentage of the market. And the DH riders of today will eventually start families, so bike parks that offer everything could seriously start to profit. I guess only time will tell but I reckon the signs are there!

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