SoCal ski resorts offer mountain biking, with COVID-19 rules
Ski resort runs and trails are the perfect setting for downhill mountain biking, especially when they add features to make rides more challenging. Resorts in Southern California and Mammoth Lakes are open for the season and have made dozens of pandemic-era changes to keep riders and employees safe.
Snow Valley and Rim Nordic Bike Park, which opened in time for Memorial Day weekend, are sticking mostly to weekend operations. Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake and Mammoth Mountain’s bike park operate daily. Here are details on what to expect.
Bike tour operators gear up for summer with a focus on cleanliness and social distancing.
Mammoth Mountain
Mammoth Bike Park at the Mammoth Lakes ski resort kicks off Friday with about 80% of trails open. Park shuttles that carry cyclists between the village and the Main Lodge are operating at half capacity to allow for social distancing.
Bike and gear rentals are available. You can even try out an e-bike on the trails. Rentals are available at the Main Lodge and the Mountain Center in the Village for four hours or full day. Call (800) 626-6684 to make a reservation. Mammoth sanitizes bikes and gear between uses.
The park’s Discovery Chair and Panorama Gondola are operating to take bikers up the slopes. Visitors are urged to buy tickets (with a 20% discount) ahead. Online tickets cost $39 to $44. Info: Mammoth Bike Park
Snow Summit
Big Bear Lake’s downhill Snow Summit Bike Park is open daily for the summer, but with many new rules and some features unavailable.
Its scenic chairlift (one of two park chairlifts that will be open this summer) will be available to bikers and hikers, but its capacity will be limited to two guests per carrier. Cyclists will be responsible for loading their own bikes onto the carriers.
Guests should wear face masks and stay six feet apart, park management said. To help with that, park officials said in a statement that they are using “line maze configuration” to keep lift lines properly spaced. Lessons and rental gear will be available as in previous summers, now with “full sterilization” of gear between uses.
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Eight trails will be open, said spokesman Tim LeRoy, but four beginner-level trails in the park’s base camp area are closed this summer: Average Joes, Globogym, Pump Track and Mulchpit. Other popular kids’ activities at base camp, including a climbing wall, trampoline and panning-for-gold operation, are closed until further notice, LeRoy said.
A ride on Snow Summit’s Scenic Sky Chair costs $20 per adult (discounts for those who buy tickets online at least 72 hours ahead); children and seniors ride free. One-day adult mountain-biking lift tickets cost $36-$59. The resort urges guests to buy passes ahead, online, or by email or phone. Info:
Snow Valley
Snow Valley Mountain Resort, east of Running Springs, opened for the season in late May.
The resort, currently open Friday afternoons, Saturdays and Sundays, is asking visitors to sign an electronic waiver online ahead of visits and reserves the right to revoke the ticket of any guest who does not follow health guidelines (including wearing a face covering when unable to adequately distance).
Bike rentals, as well as food and beverage service, are available. The resort plans to add an expert jump line in August.
Even if you have reservations, all but one Yosemite campground remains closed.
Snow Valley’s chairlift, designed to carry six passengers, will now carry two, with six feet between them. The cost is $25 per adult. A one-day bike-park lift ticket costs $49 on weekends and holidays, $42 on Fridays. (Holders of 2019-20 Snow Valley Snow Passes get free admission.) Info: Snow Valley
Rim Nordic Bike Park
Rim Nordic Bike Park, east of Running Springs, is open weekends only. It is offering bikes for rent (and rental bikes for sale), and its repair shop and snack bar are open, but there is no lift service.
Rim Nordic’s territory includes about 15 miles of single-track paths and fire roads, from beginner to advanced levels. (In winter, it attracts cross-country skiers.) Bike rentals are priced at $10 per hour or $30 for four hours. Its summer season ends Sept. 7. Info: Rim Nordic Bike Park
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