Spirit Mountain, located in Duluth, Minnesota, announced today that they are opening their lifts for lift-served, downhill winter fat biking, from 10am-4pm every Sunday, beginning January 17th. Ever since fat bikes came on the scene I’ve been waiting for ski resorts to embrace downhill bike riding as they have during the summer, and while we can’t confirm that this is a world (or nation) first, this is definitely the first ski resort that we’ve heard of opening for downhill, lift-served bike access on snow.
It is worth noting that many resorts allow uphill (and subsequently, downhill) access to their slopes before and after lift operating hours, but it’s unheard of to provide lift-served riding access during normal operating hours. We can’t wait to see if this approach catches on, and what facilities Spirit will open to cater to fat bikes (jumps? berms? drops?).
Here are all the details from Spirit Mountain:
- Minimum tire width: 3.5″
- Helmet Required
- Brakes for each wheel are required
- A seat/seat post inspection is required prior to allowing bike on chair lift
- All tickets, parking, inspections happen out of our Grand Avenue Chalet located at 8551 Grand Ave Duluth, MN. Please note: due to winter snow tubing operations, mountain bike parking and access to trails is not available from our Adventure Park.
- Must abide by Bike Responsibility Code & Trail Code
- Terrain open will vary during the season based upon snow pack, conditions, etc. Visit out snow report for updates.
- Planned open trails are Timber Cruiser, Juggler Joe as well as Mountain Bike trails of Candy Land, Happy Camper & Lower Calculated Risk
Ticket Pricing
- Reserve your ticket now by purchasing ON-LINE for $39–spots are limited per day!
- Walk Up tickets at $48 will be based on availability
- A valid 15/16 winter season pass provides access as well
- If you have ordered a 2016 Mountain Bike Pass, these are valid too. You can receive your daily ticket at the Grand Ave Ticket Sales area (season passes are not ready for pick up at this time)
Will you be heading to Spirit to shred the slopes on your fatty? Let us know in the comments section below!
