On Saturday, July 4, Tamarack Resort reopened its bike park after a Memorial Day storm damaged one of the towers on the Tamarack Express lift on May 25. The storm was a significant blow to the resort, halting operations just days after the bike park officially opened for the 2026 season.
A May 26 post to Tamarack’s social media pages shared the frustrating news:
“Following Monday evening’s windstorm, our team identified damage to one of the Tamarack Express lift towers. After working closely with the manufacturer, the tower will need to be fully replaced.
“Here’s where things stand: repair is already in motion as tower replacement begins June 1, with an estimated 3-5 weeks for installation, followed by final inspection and certification. We’re targeting a mid-June to early July reopening and will keep you updated as work progresses.”
And, Tamarack was true to their word, nearly to the day. Reopening on July 4 was less than 6 weeks since the resort closed down operations. Obviously, fixing the damaged lift tower – or just moving it, for that matter – is no easy task. Tamarack worked with different excavation and engineering companies to complete the tower replacement, along with Leitner-Poma, the lift tower manufacturer.
Not only did Leitner-Poma assist with the replacement, but they also ensured that the new tower passed the required inspections. And helping move everything into place was Salmon River Helicopters.
While Tamarack obviously wanted to get the bike park open as soon as possible, they told Singletracks via email that getting things done safely and correctly was the top priority.
“Safety has been our top priority throughout this process,” Kara Finley, Chief Operating Officer, commented. “Our team worked closely with Leitner-Poma to complete every required inspection, and we have received full approval to resume operations. We appreciate the patience of our guests, homeowners, and community, and we’re excited to welcome everyone back to the mountain ahead of schedule.”
Mountain bike races are still happening
The announcement of Tamarack’s reopening is right in the nick of time. This coming weekend, July 11-12, the resort is hosting two major race events. First, for the whole weekend, Tamarack will host the third round of the Big Mountain Enduro race series. Rider and vendor check-in is on Thursday, the 9th, with practice on the following day, and racing on the 11th and 12th.
Tamarack will also host the second stop of the Big Mountain Downhill race series over the same weekend. While they didn’t provide much of a schedule for the DH race weekend beyond announcing the race is on Sunday, we imagine competitors will show up early to walk the track and get in practice runs.
The park’s reopening is good news for both Tamarack and the Big Mountain race series. Two seasons ago, the events were scheduled to come to Tamarack, but smoke from Idaho wildfires forced the event planners to cancel the races.
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