Snow Summit Chaos  
(2 comments) Wednesday, 8-December-2004  5:02 PM - by DOM 
Snow Summit’s
Closure to Downhill Mountain Bike’s

Starting with the 2005 mountain bike season, Snow Summit Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake, CA. will no longer allow the hosting of Downhill Mountain Bike races, and they will no longer load DH bikes during its summer Sky Chair operation. This is a response to a combination of legal and environmental issues.

Snow Summit is no longer willing to except the liability exposure of DH mountain biking and racing. A major lawsuit has been filed against USA Cycling, Snow Summit, and Team Big Bear on behalf of an injured DH racer. This lawsuit is still pending (it has not been settled nor reached the trial stage).

Along with the liability issue, the US Forest Service has been pressuring Snow Summit and Team Big Bear to address the substantial amount of illegal downhill trails that have developed adjacent to Snow Summit’s permit area, primarily as a result of its Sky Chair operation. Various methods have been used to inhibit the development and use of these trails including, signage, fencing, and ticket revocation. These attempts have proved futile. The combination of liability exposure and environmental concerns have led to this decision.

Snow Summit will be loading XC bikes)., but it has yet to determine whether or not they will build a limited number of trails on its permit area. Other wise XC riders will be able to take advantage of the roads and trails adjacent to the resort.

Team Big Bear will be allowed to host XC and Super D races at Snow Summit. ). These events will be restricted to a limited access to the resort (start/finish areas, and a limited amount of service roads. But we will still have access to the National Forest roads and trails that we have been using for races for years, including “Falline”, “Plantation” and all of the FS roads.
Team Big Bear will continue hosting the scheduled NORBA National Mountain bike race but obviously it will be limited to expanded XC and Super D racing. We are currently planning to sustain most of our calendar events including the Cal State Series, including DH races at other venues which we hope to expand. More information will available on our website www.teambigbear.com as events and venues develop.
NOTE: We here at Team Big Bear are extremely disappointed at the loss of DH racing at Snow Summit, but fully appreciate Snow Summit’s decision in light of our litigious society. We would like to thank Snow Summit for its heartfelt decision that will have dramatic effect on the community of Big Bear Lake, and long ranging ramifications in our mountain bike community. We will continue to work hard to support mountain bike racing, including downhill, and we would also like to those athletes who have supported racing.

Tom Spiegel
Patrick Follett





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