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From Away.com

Active Travel: Mountain Bike Parks
Northstar-at-Tahoe Mountain Bike Park
Truckee, CA

By Erinn Morgan


Intro | Northstar-at-Tahoe, CA | Diablo Freeride Park, NJ | Angel Fire, NM | Sunday River, ME | Snowshoe, WV | 26 West, NC | Keystone, CO | Tamarack, ID | Whistler, BC | Mammoth, CA

Northstar-at-Tahoe Mountain Bike Park (A. Rosen)
TACKY PERFECTION: Bombing down Northstar-at-Tahoe Mountain Bike Park (A. Rosen/courtesy, Northstar-at-Tahoe Mountain Resort)

This Northern California bike park, which delivers a massive trail network near Lake Tahoe on the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort area, is home to LiveWire, the world's first fully irrigated, lift-accessed downhill trail. A direct link to the resort's snowmaking lines delivers morning and lunchtime watering, which provides precise traction—and a tacky, dustless experience—on this fast and buffed advanced trail, which boasts berms, gap jumps, and tabletops.

While this park's trails are notorious for their gnarly nature (read: jagged rocks, elevated sections, and wicked steeps), this season Northstar is jumping through hoops to also make itself appealing to beginners. As part of a $700,000 bike park improvement plan, a new, two-mile beginner trail called Easy Rider has been opened on the mountain, and free "Meet the Mountain" tours of the beginner terrain are also being offered. A roundup of riding clinics, for the beginner to the expert, are also new for this season, as is a freshly cut jump park, which delivers lines suited to beginner, intermediate, and advanced bikers. More trail irrigation is also on tap at Northstar; look for an intermediate version of LiveWire in 2009 (along with the resort's swanky Ritz Carlton).
www.NorthstarAtTahoe.com



Next Page: Vernon, NJ

Intro | Northstar-at-Tahoe, CA | Diablo Freeride Park, NJ | Angel Fire, NM | Sunday River, ME | Snowshoe, WV | 26 West, NC | Keystone, CO | Tamarack, ID | Whistler, BC | Mammoth, CA