Resort to ramp up mountain bike trails

Evolution Bike Park

As the snow peels away from Crested Butte Mountain, the Crested Butte Mountain Resort trails crew is busy at work on existing trails and “scratching in” new trails, preparing the newly dubbed Evolution Bike Park for the upcoming summer.

The trail crew started with its first phase in May, checking on the condition of the current trail system.
“We’re looking back at what we did last year and making sure there are no drainage issues,” says director of Mountain Sports Drew Cesati. “What we’re finding is the trails are draining quite well.”
Furthermore, thanks to recent weather trends, the West Side Trail, Columbine and Meander cross-country trails are “ready to go” and Cesati encourages trail users to get on them.
“Things are good, the trails need traffic,” says Cesati.
Looking ahead, the resort hopes to get started on some new additions to the Evolution Bike Park this summer.
“We still need to do the ground proofing with the Forest Service next week,” says Cesati.
If all goes well, Cesati says, the plan is to join up the top of the West Side Trail to the Horseshoe Trail with another piece of singletrack.
In addition, the resort hopes to add two more gravity fed options to its existing trail system, build out the skills park and build a pump track at the base area.
“We got the ‘A Team’ back out there. We’re getting a saw mill and a mini-excavator for two months,” says Cesati. “There are some good hands in there working so we’ll be able to get stuff done.”
Currently, the three main options for downhillers are Woods Trail, Avery and Luge. The resort hopes to add a downhill course from the top of the Red Lady Express Lift to the bottom of the Painter Boy Lift through Mineral Point.
“It will be a mix of berms and wood features similar to Avery,” says Cesati.
Furthermore, the resort looks to ramp up its downhill options with a track that peels off of Avery and heads down through the Psycho Rocks area.
“There will be extensive bridging, bigger exposure and technical drops,” says Cesati.
 “We hope to have a progression of difficulty as you work across the hill,” adds Mountain Sports Team assistant director Christian Robertson.
“The first big trail push is to go back through Woods Trail, Luge and Avery and put in some tweaks and get that ready,” says Robertson. “We’re putting a lot of focus into Avery for the [Wildflower Rush] race. We’re going to put a big push in to make them better.”
Once the new trails have been put in and ridden this summer, the trail crew will go back to them to see what improvements may be needed.
“We want to keep things fresh and keep it evolving,” says Robertson.
While there are some cross-country trails currently open, the downhill tracks will remain closed until the lifts start spinning on Saturday, June 19.