21
Summer 2013
Escarpment Magazine
In the mid 1990s,
a dedicated group of patrolmen and trail crew from the Whistler
Mountain Bike Park planned, constructed and sessioned their trails, pioneering the way
for future trailbuilders. In doing so, they learned valuable information about the flow, fea-
tures and rideability of their builds which they implemented, constructing legendary trails
like A-Line and Dirt Merchant. These game-changing runs instantly grabbed the attention
of the mountain biking community, landing theWhistler Mountain Bike Park on the bucket
list of every hard-core rider. Soon the group was offering trail development advice to re-
sorts throughout North America and Europe.
Gravity Logic was born, and became independent of Whistler Mountain shortly after. No
longer simply consulting on builds, Gravity Logic began traveling the world, building and
providing expert advice on the safety, riskmanagement, mapping, environmental planning
and construction practices of mountain bike parks. Clearly not a group of out-of-touch con-
sultants, eachGravity Logician is a rider in his/her own right and is actively involved in daily
testing of the trails they build, implementing their version of artistry upon the landscape.
Now, these innovators who are behind some of the best-known, world-class bike parks
have arrived at Blue Mountain Resort. Director of Mountain Experience, Peter Sutcliffe
explains, “This is phase one of a three-phase bike park improvement plan. This summer
we are concentrating on a three-trail enhancement: one green trail, a progression blue
trail, and a black trail.” The first two trails are designed to safely introduce beginner and
novice bikers to the downhill mountain biking environment, while the redesign of the ex-
pert trail “Haole” will undoubtedly satisfy the thirst of Blue Mountain’s expert riders.
*
the
ART
of
GRAVITY
T E X T | C A R A W I L L I A M S P H O T O S | C L A Y D O L A N
