ANGEL FIRE, N.M. — Sweeping berms, jagged rocks, elevated wooden bridges and a gap jump that would make even a seasoned downhill mountain biker think twice.
Angel Fire Resort has it all, and bikers are noticing.
Host to past World Cup events, regional competitions and an annual 12-hour downhill endurance race, cycling enthusiasts say this small-town resort is on the verge of rivaling some of the most renowned mountain bike parks in North America.
A two-man team worked all summer to improve lines that scream down from the top of Angel Fire’s 10,650-foot peak, and management plans to bring the duo back over the next four years to carve even more berms and jump lines through the resort’s privately owned patch of spruce and aspen trees.
“Within three or four years, Angel Fire is just going to explode. It will be a destination spot, for sure,” said Tony Gradillas, a well-traveled downhill aficionado and co-owner of Bike Works in Albuquerque.
The success of Whistler’s bike park north of Vancouver, British Columbia, has encouraged bike parks to sprout up across the United States, from the Galbraith Mountain network north of Seattle and Keystone and Winter Park in Colorado to Highland and Snowshoe in the East.
Angel Fire has hosted mountain bike events for 20 years and has offered chairlift access to bikers for more than a decade. However, marketing director Dave Dekema said this is the first year the resort has hired a trail crew to expand its network and develop trails for a wider audience — not just those decked out in body armor and full-face helmets.
The crew — Hogan Koesis and Patrick West of Texas-based New Gravity Creations — is improving and adding to several trails developed mostly by sponsors of past World Cup and Mountain States Cup races, including a line designed to get racers down the mountain in four minutes.
“These are the first dedicated trail-crew, bike-park builders that I’ve seen here who really level fun and excitement with safety and progression at the same time,” Dekema said. “They’re not building it for them and their friends. They’re building it so people can see what’s up there and work their way up to it.” That’s where Koesis’ “squirrel catcher” comes in.
The wooden structure, finished in the final days of the summer building session, stands just under 10 feet high. A steep curved wall induces some heart pounding, but it soaks up a rider’s momentum and shoots him straight up to a flat landing at the top.
