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Keystone get OK to add seven mountain bike trails

Daily Staff Report

KEYSTONE — Keystone received Forest Service approval last week to start building seven new mountain bike trails on the frontside of Dercum Mountain.

Plans are to open two new expert-only downhill trails during this season and five more trails for next season. That’s in addition to the wildly popular Drop Zone that debuted at the beginning of the 2006 season and features four alleys with big air drops, jumps, rock ledges and rock gardens.



According to Greg Rood, Keystone Bike Park supervisor, the addition of the Drop Zone this season has launched Keystone into the top mountain biking destinations in the country.

“That’s what we’re hearing from the kids and the good riders,” Rood said. “They’re saying that Keystone’s THE place to ride downhill in the states. Keystone’s made a huge commitment to providing the best experience on the hill – with the best jumps, best features, best guest service, best of everything. And, we’re committed to getting even better.”

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Keystone “opened” for mountain biking in 1991 with one beginner single track trail and a 6-mile service road. Now,Keystone offers 39 trails and 59 miles of single track on the mountain for all levels of riders serviced by a high-speed quad chairlift. And, riders want more.

The two new trails opening this season will be expert-only downhill ones combining fast singletrack, gravity and natural or manmade features, such as tabletops, ladders, bridges, berms, jumps and rock gardens. According to Rood, this is the new trend in the biking community. The new downhill bikes are high-tech and feature sophisticated suspensions, brakes and gears.

Riders dress in full-body armor, load their thousand-dollar bikes onto the chairlifts and then descend down the mountain while catching big air and doing tricks. Keystone has the right formula for the ever-growing crew of downhill bikers – technical terrain plus a knowledgeable bike park crew plus “sick” features (the Drop Zone plus tabletops, ladders, bridges and berms on trails such as Paid in Full and TNT).

The resort also has the ASX Skills Park at the base of the mountain with teeter totters, bridges and jumps and offers downhill mountain bike lessons. A women’s-only Yeti Betty downhill workshop is set for August 26-27, 2006. Visit http://www.keystoneresort.com for more information.

Vail Colorado


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