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Ability Levels

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Not sure about what level you're riding at?

Bike Park Ability Levels

Find out your bike park riding level and discover what trails, lessons, or camps are best suited to you and make your experience in our bike park a memorable one.

DISCOVER: Never-Ever / Beginner

Rider Experience

  • No experience in a downhill (DH) mountain bike park.
  • Limited mileage on city streets and paved bike paths.
  • Little experience on a mountain bike and/or terrain such as dirt roads and man-made gravel bike trails.
  • Average balance and control on a bike and can control the use of hand brakes.
  • Limited to no experience in DH mountain bike parks.
  • Some experience on green technical trails (easy gradient with roots and/or rocky terrain) and are able to ride comfortably at slower speeds.
  • Very limited to no mileage in the Mt. Washington Bike Park.
  • You are able to control your bike but you have challenges with roots, rocks, and/or narrow single track.
  • Good balance and control on a bike and can control the use of hand brakes.

First Time Riders

Discover Lessons and Suggested Riding
Lift tickets at Mt. Washington Bike Park range from a full day, 4-hour afternoon, or a quick 2-hour after work visit. Mount Washington has implemented an RFID lift ticketing system, this makes your ride access through our gates smooth and increase your laps in the bike park. Enjoy riding the only lift access mtn bike park on Vancouver Island.

Suggested Lesson

  • MTB Kids Camps (ages 7 to 12)
  • Alpine Adventure Camp (ages 7 to 12)
  • Learn to Ride (7+)
  • Step Up (7+)
  • Private Ride (all ages)

Suggested Trails / Areas

  • Learning Centre courtyard
  • Skills Park
  • Greenline
  • Panda Garden
  • Hwy 19

LEVEL 1: Novice

Rider Experience

  • Ridden a DH mountain bike park once or twice.
  • Already a capable rider and may have taken a course before.
  • Have a fair amount of experience riding XC but not as much DH.
  • Can ride any green trails and some blue with confidence, although you occasionally find challenging sections.
  • No jumping or drop experience but you can ride, balance, change gears and brake without thinking about it.
  • Looking to learn how to drop and jump safely.
  • Looking to improve your confidence for more technical trails, roots, and rocky sections.

Novice Riders

Level 1 Lessons and Suggested Riding
Lift tickets at Mt. Washington Bike Park range from a full day, 4-hour afternoon, or a quick 2-hour after work visit. Mount Washington has implemented an RFID lift ticketing system, this makes your ride access through our gates smooth and increase your laps in the bike park. Enjoy riding the only lift access mtn bike park on Vancouver Island.

Suggested Lesson

  • MTB Kids Camps (ages 7 to 12)
  • Alpine Adventure Camp (ages 7 to 12)
  • Step Up Ride (7+)
  • For the Groms  (ages 6-9)
  • Private Ride (all ages)
  • Guided Cross-country XC (all ages)

Suggested Trails / Areas

  • Ridden a DH mountain bike park once or twice.
  • Already a capable rider and may have taken a course before.
  • Have a fair amount of experience riding XC but not as much DH.
  • Can ride any green trails and some blue with confidence, although you occasionally find challenging sections.
  • No jumping or drop experience but you can ride, balance, change gears and brake without thinking about it.
  • Looking to learn how to drop and jump safely.
  • Looking to improve your confidence for more technical trails, roots, and rocky sections.

LEVEL 2: Intermediate

Rider Experience

  • Comfortable on all green and blue technical and flowing trails with jumps and drops and can comfortably ride the blue wide flowing blue trails with rollers and easy jumps in the Mt. Washington Bike Park.
  • Comfortable at slower speeds on technical blue trails with roots and loose rocks and tight single track.
  • More experience on a XC Mountain bike than DH bike.
  • Able to ride on green and blue trails with confidence.
  • Comfortable on a variety of terrain including roots, rocks, and technical trail features.
  • Ready to improve your style, get comfortable with steeper more technical trails, doing jumps/drops, and higher speed cornering.
  • Limited jumping or drop experience.

Intermediate Riders

Level 2 Lessons and Suggested Riding
Lift tickets at Mt. Washington Bike Park range from a full day, 4-hour afternoon, or a quick 2-hour after work visit. Mount Washington has implemented an RFID lift ticketing system, this makes your ride access through our gates smooth and increase your laps in the bike park. Enjoy riding the only lift access mtn bike park on Vancouver Island.

Suggested Lesson

  • FreeRide Program (7 to 12 years old)
  • Guided Cross-Country Ride
  • Private Ride (all ages)
  • For the Groms Guided Ride
  • Jump & Drop Clinic

Suggested Trails / Areas

  • Skills Park
  • Blue Hammer
  • Hwy 19
  • Call it In / Mix It Up

LEVEL 3: Advanced

Rider Experience

  • Can ride almost anything, from single track to downhill. You are confident at riding black trails and some double black, both technical and flow trails with jumps and drops.
  • Can ride blue trails and some black XC or technical singletrack. Able to handle small drops, roots, rocks and steeper, descending terrain.
  • Some jumping or drop experience.
  • Able to ride smoothly, retain balance, change gears and brake comfortably at higher speeds and on steeper and rougher terrain.
  • Working towards improving jump, drop and cornering skills to handle the harder blue and black flow trails.
  • Looking to improve your jumping technique, drops, and being able to ride technical trails. You are interested in getting faster, more stylish, and discerning line selection.

Advanced Riders

Level 3 Lessons and Suggested Riding
Lift tickets at Mt. Washington Bike Park range from a full day, 4-hour afternoon, or a quick 2-hour after work visit. Mount Washington has implemented an RFID lift ticketing system, this makes your ride access through our gates smooth and increase your laps in the bike park. Enjoy riding the only lift access mtn bike park on Vancouver Island.

Suggested Lesson

  • Private Ride (all ages)
  • Guided Cross-Country Ride

Suggested Trails / Areas

  • Skills Park
  • Hwy 19
  • Blue Hammer
  • Call It In / Mix It Up
  • Helter Skelter
  • Time Warp
  • The Wiz
  • Back in Black (experts only)
  • Monster Mile (experts only)
  • Straight Shot (experts only)
Information & Waivers
PRINTABLE WAIVER
Print waiver in colour, black and white copies will NOT be accepted.
FAQ's
What happens to my Bike Pass if the Resort does not open or is closed part way through the season due to the Covid-19 pandemic?
A)   The Mt. Washington Bike Park opens for the season Saturday, June 27, 2020. Season passes are valid for the duration of the season purchased for, regardless of the actual season end date, as opening and closing dates are planned but not guaranteed.  If extreme circumstances do arise resulting in an unexpected closure of the resort, Bike Pass Holder policies will be reassessed and communicated as such.

LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS

Not sure about what level you're riding at? Please review our LEVEL Description page to get a better idea of where your riding is at and what course or camp is the best fit for you.

Eco Values Mount washington

Alpine Cam

Tube Cam

Nordic Cam