In April, Greg Heil wrote an article about the world’s toughest downhill race — Redbull Hardline — coming to North America. Along with stops in Tasmania and Wales, the DH race series that debuted in 2014 will see a new venue at Cypress Mountain on Vancouver, BC’s North Shore.
While Cypress Mountain is building a course for Hardline at the new venue, they don’t have a bike park. But just wait one year, because the resort just announced the return of the Cypress Bike Park after more than two decades.
A bike park built by Gravity Logic
Who better to build the new bike park than Tom “Pro” Prochazka and Gravity Logic? Pro was the bike park manager at Whistler from 2001 to 2007, where his crew was responsible for many of the iconic Whistler trails — and the naming of them too. He co-founded Gravity Logic in 2005, pushing the trail-building company to full-time in 2007. Pro and his crew are responsible for bike parks across North America and around the world.
According to a press release regarding Cypress Mountain Bike Park, the next project Gravity Logic is undertaking will be exactly that.
Cypress Mountain Resort is the largest mountain resort near Vancouver, BC, located within about 30 minutes of downtown. The resort boasts over 600 acres of terrain and six chairlifts. For the new bike park, it looks like the resort will utilize two of those lifts — Eagle Express and Raven Ridge — both quad lifts.
“Cypress has great vertical, varied terrain, and a baked-in mountain bike culture and history that gives us a really strong starting point,” Pro said. “We’ll be working with the natural terrain as much as practical and will pay close attention to water management to build trails that are fun, progressive, and sustainable.”
The park is slated to open in 2027, with more trails added in 2028 and 2029.
According to the map of the new park, there looks to be a solid mix of green, blue, and black trails opening in 2027. Singletracks reached out to Cypress Mountain Resort to request a more specific trail count and will update the information when available.
“The North Shore’s original bike park”
Grouse Mountain, which opened last year, claimed the title of the “North Shore’s first lift-access bike park.” Well, maybe to clarify, that is the first lift-access park that is currently open. While Grouse might claim to be the current first, Cypress says they are the original.
Mountain biking first got the stamp of approval at Cypress Mountain in 2004. The bike park kicked off the following season with chairs spinning, but later closed to prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Cypress received confirmation from BC Parks to proceed with a new bike park within its existing Controlled Recreation Area Master Plan.
Now, Cypress will reuse some of the original trail corridor riders once rode on in 2005. That said, they also clarify that this will be a modern mountain bike park with both progressive flow and tech options, including “jump lines, rock features, and berms.”
“Welcoming the mountain bike community back to Cypress after more than 20 years will be a special moment for us,” said Matt Davies, general manager, Cypress Mountain. “The redesigned Cypress Bike Park will offer terrain for every kind of rider — flowy, jump trails for those who love to build speed and catch air, technical lines for riders chasing a bigger challenge, and beginner-friendly runs for those just getting started. We’re thankful to our partners at BC Parks, First Nations, and the community groups who have helped shape how we’re bringing it back.”
The Gravity Logic crew — who also built Grouse Mountain — is set to get to work in November of this year. That is, of course, after the Red Bull Hardline competition on October 16 and 17.
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