The Local Stoke: Vallåsen Bike Park

15 Mar 2014

Q&A: Vallåsen Bike Park!!

Who are you and what do you do at Vallåsen Bike Park?

My name is Kristian, and I´m one of two owners at Vallåsen Bike Park. Me and my friend do everything at the park, though most of the time my work goes to trail maintenance and taking care of the customers while open.

How long ago was Vallåsen Bike Park developed? Who or what was the driving force?

Vallasen started around 2007 with some local guys that thought it was a great place for a bike park. Then the owners of Vallåsen ski area developed the place until 2012, but then the place was sold and the new owners didn´t wanna run the bike park. So now we rent the place with our own company.

How many visitors do you get in a weekend/season at the bike park? What has been your largest day on record?

We are only open sat-sun and one afternoon a week. Usually there´s around 30-40 people on the weekends. And the record is 80 people, set at the premier last year.

What is the most popular trail at your bike park?

I think "Tårtan" is the most popular one, with singletrail in the beggining and machine built with jumps at the end. It’s a trail that suits everyone.

Will there be any new trails added this year or will you be re-developing any existing trails?

It depends on how much time we have and how the weather develops. Hopefully we´ll get the time to build one new red trail and also fix the begining of Tårtan with more jumps and berms.

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)…

Vallåsen is mostly natural singltrail with roots, not to technical. More flowy then steep. We also have some built features, as jumps and bigger berms.

What is the mountain bike scene/culture like at your bike park?

The downhill community is small, and the most of the people know each other. This creates a really friendly feeling at the park.

There´s also a lot of people riding XC and road bikes, so the biking itself is quite big in the area.

Tell me a little bit about Vallåsen town or city. Where do out-of-towners like to stay while visiting the bike park? Are there any restaurants or bars that mtb-ers like to spend their time?

There´s not really a town, just some houses here and there, and since we´re only open at weekends most of the people just go home. But when we arrange competitions and such, some people stay at "Vallåsens Vardshus" witch is a hotel nearby.

Tell us about any big events that are happening this summer at the bike park?

We arrange "Lapierre Downhill Cup" this summer. It´s will be a series of friendly races that everyone can join.

There will be one race at the end of every month from May to September.