Chestnut Mt. in Galena IL is offering summer weekend lift service for Mt.bikers

[skadamo]

Prick back in pants. Ice bath over. Apologizes sent. Hug time.

Degrasse get a real phone.

[mikeo]

What we need is people who want DH in IL.

I want IL DH.

[Rosol777]

I want IL DH.

I want IL DH. to

[aramid]

The mistake these resorts make is that they run the lifts and have 1-2 "DH" trails and they market to the small DH population.  What they need to do is have a couple "DH" trails and then have a kick ass network of XC trails.  That actually 'bring' people out there and then those people try the DH trails and the chairlifts and fall in love with lift assisted riding.  But they'll also be able to mix in XC riding.  Look how many visitors a place like Kettle gets every weekend.  Probably 50x more than the ski resorts get in WI that run their lifts occasionally for DHers get.  If Chestnut hired a crew to develop 15-20 miles of killer singletrack it would become a go to destination.  Being that it's private land they could build some really great stuff.  With tech sections in the XC course that have easy/hard lines and other cool trail features.  They could also install a couple DH tracks and run the lifts.  They could host both Iowa MTB series XC races and IL series XC races.  And maybe one DH race a year.  People WOULD make the effort to fill that place if that were the case.   

this is recipe for success and if you want a proof of that go to Copper Harbor. You don't even need lift chair for this formula to work.

[Huckster McPlush]

commit your time elsewhere. This may be a lost cause.

Sadly, CrAsHaNdBuRn is right. We are wasting our time here.

[kwak79]

I want IL DH. to

count me in for some DH!  but the XC riders bring in the awareness needed for this to be a success. we stand taller together!

[VicRattlehead]

Just chiming in here....

Some of you talked about the need to have Galena locals maintain a trail at Chestnut once it's built.  

I don't know if there is an organized group of bikers in Galena per say, but there is a semi-organized group of riders & maintainers in Dubuque, 20 minutes west of Galena.  They maintain FDR park trails (which are awesome) in Dubuque and have a Facebook page, "Friends of FDR Park."

THOSE folks from FDR park might be willing to regularly maintain a trail out at Chestnut once some folks from Chicago do the initial build.  Or maybe it could be a Dubuque/Chicago joint effort--- Just a thought.    

[Degrasse]

Things are happening!!!!!! Place your vote!!!!!!! This is not just for the gravity riders!!!!! Trust me!!!!!

http://cambr.org/SMF/index.php?topic=22127.0

[Huckster McPlush]

Cant wait to build the courses on the land we gps'ed and scouted. Its gonna be pretty awesome

[adhd-tv]

Things are happening!!!!!! Place your vote!!!!!!! This is not just for the gravity riders!!!!! Trust me!!!!!

http://cambr.org/SMF/index.php?topic=22127.0

Maybe update the Poll?  Might get more responses... just an idea and congrats!

[camomatt]

  Just checked chestnut web page I only see rental bikes.  There is not any mention of
lift service or any other kind of bike activity. 
  Is there any solid news?  Dates?  hell anything??
Matt

[Redbaron]

At the moment there are no specific downhill trails at Chestnut Mountain. You could probably ride down the ski slopes or rough it through the trees if management allow you to. There are trails where you can do general riding.

We are working with multiple clubs as well as the management at Chestnut mountain to design one downhill line to start with. The idea is to have two events per year, one at the beginning of the season and one at the end of the season where the trails will be prepared and built for the event. We are hoping that the management will keep the trails open and clear between the events so that people are able to use them year round.

We are meeting with their management and designing the course late May. There are a few challenges that we need to overcome. Chestnut gets a large source of its revenue from weddings in the summer and they do not want the mountain bikers interfering with the weddings. The natural start of the downhill line is where most of the weddings are held. We will work out a way to get around this when we meet in May. Be patient these agreements do not happen overnight and require a lot of planning, legal work, resource planning and coordination.

Regards
Mike