Bad News for Big Bear

Team Big Bear announced today that starting with the 2005 season, Snow Summit Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, will no longer allow downhill mountain bike racing. The news comes as a particularly harsh blow to Team Big Bear, the organizer of the NORBA Nationals at Snow Summit, as well as the local summer economy of the resort itself. Downhill has been a huge draw to not only the Nationals but also Snow Summit's other events, the Fall Classic and the Amateur Cup Series.

Downhill at Big Bear - will lawsuits make it a thing of the past?

Tom Spiegel, co-owner of Team Big Bear, said Snow Summit decided to pull the plug after an unnamed, injured downhill racer filed a lawsuit. But there's another factor too. "The Forest Service has been on us about eliminating downhill trails—the current trails, and the illegal ones that keep popping up. We just can't get a handle on it," Spiegel explained.

"We have requirements that bikers and hikers stay on the trail," said the San Bernardino Forest Service's director of public affairs, Ruth Wentserom. "But we weren't part of the decision." she insisted.

Either way, the added erosion of poorly built illegal trails likely played a role, Spiegel said. The brunt of the blame seems to be placed squarely on riders with big, heavy, long-travel downhill bikes. "They will possibly continue to haul bikes up the chairlifts, but with a weight restriction—maybe around 35-pounds," he said.

"We'll still do the NORBA Nationals at Snow Summit, but it will be cross country and Super D only. And we'll still manage the downhill series around Southern California. Downhill racing is not going to go away. Don Jackson, the Team Southridge director [another Southern California based mountain bike race promoter] is currently talking to the resorts at Mountain High and Waterman. He's done some racing there before with limited success," Spiegel said.

For now, Spiegel is urging downhillers not to go trade in their bikes; the sport isn't doomed, he said. "We're looking for other venues, even shuttling [by truck] venues, but in the mean time, we'll still survive with cross-country racing and Super D. We're still racing," he added.