Q&A: Tamarack

5 Jul 2016

Who are you and what is your involvement with Tamarack Bike Park?

My name is Emily Reinecke and I am the Communications Coordinator for Tamarack Resort, located about 90 miles North of Boise in Donnelly, Idaho. Tamarack is a four seasons resort that offers mountain biking, whitewater rafting, zipline tours, a waterfront cabana, hiking, disc golf, and, of course, skiing and snowboarding all winter long.

Who or what was the driving force behind the decision to re-open the downhill trails after almost a decade of being closed?

Last summer, Tamarack Resort re-opened the bike park in a limited capacity. At that point, the trail system hadn’t really been touched since 2007, so we did some maintenance on popular trails and operated a shuttle to take riders up the mountain, but could only hold 6 people at a time. We were met with so much volume and enthusiasm that re-establishing regular lift service for the 2016 season was a no brainer.

What are the hopes for Tamarack?

Tamarack Resort’s bike park has so much potential and we’re just at the starting point of bringing all that potential to fruition. Our hope is to keep growing and eventually be able to expand the trail system even more, potentially running lifts to the summit, as well as operating lifts more frequently throughout the week, as opposed to just weekends.

How many trails do you have in place right now? Do you plan to build more trails this summer?

Our bike park offers more than 20 miles on 21 downhill-specific, lift-served trails. Our trail system provides over 1,700 vertical feet of unique terrain that ranges from beginner to advanced.

Describe the predominant “style” of riding at your park? (Natural vs. Manmade, DH/Tech/Steep vs. Flow/Features) Typically, what kind of terrain do you have? (Rocky, Dry-dusty, Tacky, Roots)…

We have a mix of terrain that includes high alpine wooded terrain as well as open meadows and grassy areas. Typical soil is decomposed granite and tacky clay depending on area of mountain. Tamarack’s bike park is predominantly man made trail system with a mix of flowing single track with several steep technical sections. Terrain is best accessed with a full suspension bicycle with at least 5 inches of travel. Enduro style is really our type of park.

Do you have any events planned for this 2016 season?

We have several great events going on around the resort all summer long. We’re excited to host the Idaho Enduro Series for a race on September 24^th. We’ve also go several live music events coming up. We’ll be hosting The Huckleberry Jam, a multi-day music festival, August 11-13^th. Headliners for the event include Michael Franti & Spearhead and Brandi Carlile. We’ll also have several other national acts, like Beats Antique & the Shook Twins.

Is there a large riding community? From how far way do you expect your riders to travel to ride at your park?

For this summer, we anticipate that most of our rider base is coming out of Boise and a few from other parts of the Pacific Northwest. We’re hoping as we grow, so will our customer base.

Is there a main place for park riders to hangout? Maybe a restaurant or bar where people can eat lunch or have a post ride drink?

Seven Devils Pub is our on-site restaurant, located in the base area of the resort. We’ve just completed some summer renovations and updates to the patio area, called Devil’s Garden. It is the perfect spot to fuel up for the day with breakfast or brunch or to wind down with dinner or lunch.

What does the future hold for the bike park?

Our ultimate goal is always giving our guests an incredible experience on awesome terrain. Of course, we hope to expand and grow our trail system and customer base but for the time being, we just want to educate and inspire riders on a mountain that we love.