Women mountainbikers will have the trails to themselves at the Wairoa Gorge Mountain Bike Park on January 28.
Wahine at Wairoa is a day aimed at giving both first-time gorge riders and regulars the opportunity to have a women-only day to try out new trails in a more chilled environment, at a reduced fee.
Park manager Greg McIntyre says the park has had a reputation for challenging trails where riders needed to be “rock stars” to ride them. But he says the park includes grade three trails upwards and the women-only day is an opportunity for a wider range of riders to try out some of those trails in their own time.
He says mountainbikers with the ability to ride Codgers trails near Nelson can handle trails at Wairoa Gorge and he is hoping to see a good number of women explore the park during Wahine at Wairoa.
A Nelson women’s mountainbiking group, Hills to Heels, already makes use of the trails and he encourages other women to enjoy the beauty of the park and explore the trails in the company of other women.
In the past couple of years, incremental changes have been made to the park’s operation to make it more appealing to a wider group of riders rather than just hardcore mountainbikers.
“We have a pretty chilled, relaxed vibe here now,” he says. “It allows people to ride down trails at their own time.”
The 860ha park lies deep in the Wairoa Gorge and has 70km of hand-built trails that cover a 1000m descent from top to bottom. American billionaire Ken Dart bought the land in 2010 and employed staff to professionally develop the hand-made trails and build lodges at an estimated cost of $30 million.
Initially it was operated as a private park before being leased to the Nelson Mountain Bike Club. Then, in 2019, he donated the park to New Zealanders via the Department of Conservation, with Nelson Mountain Bike Club securing a 40-year lease.
Club members get a discounted price to ride the trails, though anybody can ride there, use the shuttles to get back up the hills and stay in the bunk house or lodge. Greg concedes the non-member price is not cheap, at $129 for a shuttle pass for the day, but it needs to cover the park’s high costs which not only include the maintenance of the trails, but also grading the road leading up to the park, which is substantial.
In the past, the bulk of the riders tackling the trails have come from outside the region, but Greg says that is slowly changing and it is now about 50:50 as locals realise they can ride many of the trails.
“It’s one of those well-hidden gems, but the number of locals is starting to build up.”
By Anne Hardie.
