New bike trails coming to Big Mountain

Construction work on five new mountain biking trails on Big Mountain by Whitefish Mountain Resort that began last fall was underway by May 8.

The five trails are expected to be open in time for the summer tourist season and will more than double the downhill biking experience on the mountain.

Four of the new trails will be added to the upper slopes, including two that run from the summit to the bottom.

The Kashmir will be a 2.54-mile long expert-only trail running west toward a pod of trails near Chair 3. It will intersect with the original Summit Trail, allowing riders to enter or exit.

The 1.7-mile Freebird trail will start at the bottom of the Ptarmigan Bowl ski run and continue down along Chair 1 with berms, jumps and quick descents before intersecting with the bottom of the Runaway Train trail built several years ago.

The quarter-mile long GNR trail will leave the Summit Trail near the top of Big Mountain and descend 1,090 vertical feet into the Connie’s Coulee ski run area.

The Classic Rock trail will connect the Summit Trail to the Kashmir with about a third of a mile of rocky descent,

The Overflow trail will become the main route for numerous older bike trails in the Chair 3 area. It will feature a big jump line and “flowy finish.” The older Dave’s Dive jump line will also be reworked.

Several mountain biking events have been scheduled for this summer. The Double Dip Downhill is a two-race series slated for July 27 and Sept. 7. The USA Cycling-sanctioned All Gravity Series will return to Big Mountain on Aug. 24-25 with technical downhill and enduro downhill racing.

For more information, visit online at http://skiwhitefish.com/mountain_biking_trails.php.