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2021 Winter Woolly Recap: Fat Tires and Good Times
Another Winter Woolly is in the books! And what a Winter Woolly it was. Conditions this year were probably best described as “variable”— certainly they presented much more of a challenge than last year, when we were treated to a deep freeze overnight that kept the terrain firm and crusty. This year Mother Nature was in much more of a “mashed potato fest” mood, and we were all feeling it by the end of the day. (And all day Sunday. No shame.) But variable conditions are all part of the Winter Woolly game, and they never get us down—figuratively, that is. All day long the mountain echoed with the kind of laughter, joking, and sudden expletives that have come to characterize the Winter Woolly soundtrack. Trail Crew stayed out grooming late into the evening on Friday and were back early Saturday morning to put finishing touches on the trails. At…
Park Report | February 2021
Another park report means we’re another month closer to opening! We rang in February last weekend with the annual Winter Woolly, which in addition to being an absolutely wild day of lift-accessed fat biking also marks the approximate midpoint of the off season. We’re in the home stretch now, folks! The 2021 Winter Woolly brought the most enthusiastic crowd of fat bikers we’ve seen yet. The day was packed with chaotic laps, huge laughs, and all-around good times. Whoever thought that lift-accessed downhill fat biking was a good idea…we salute you. We’re already looking forward to the next one. While the DH trails are once again closed until opening day, don’t forget that our XC network is free and open to the public seven days a week. We’ll be grooming what we can as conditions allow. Stop by for some laps Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and you can warm up with…
2021 Highland Camps Scholarship Program | Applications Now Open
Applications for Highland Camps scholarships are now open! The Highland Camps Scholarship Program was created to assist a handful of passionate, motivated young riders in alleviating the financial challenges that may present themselves when enrolling in summer camp. This year we’re excited to announce that in addition to four partial scholarships, we will also be awarding a full ride to one applicant for the first time ever! Use your application as a way to help us get to you better as a person and a rider. What sets you apart from the rest? Why do you want to ride with us, and what can we help you achieve? Scholarships for 2021 $250 Scholarship, awarded to two applicants $500 Scholarship, awarded to two applicants Full Ride*, awarded to one applicant *Good for one session of camp, including (optional) overnight and bike rental add-ons Application Deadline: March 12, 2021 Applications must be…
Park Report | January 2021
Welcome to 2021! We’re crossing our fingers that this time around the sun treats everyone more like the perfect Cat’s Paw run and less like your worst ever public over-the-bars performance on Lower Happy Hour. (Shh, no one saw that.) It’s okay if you didn’t make a resolution, we made one for you: we should all ride our bikes more. So what’s going on at the mountain this month? Along with our usual off-season maintenance and mountain improvement projects, we’re gearing up for the Winter Woolly on February 6! Our annual fat biking event brings you a day packed with lift-accessed downhill laps, miles of groomed trails, a DH fat bike race, and so much more. To answer your most frequently asked questions: This is a fat bikes only event Tires must be 3.8″ or wider Unfortunately, we will not have rentals or demos onsite this year The Winter Woolly…
Park Report | December 2020
Happy December! Another year is almost over, and what a year it was. You can relive some of the highlights in our 2020 Season Recap story. We’ve said it before but we’ll say it again: we’re so grateful to have been able to make this weird and wonderful season happen with all of you. So what’s going on at the mountain now that the lift’s not spinning? Year-round staff who are able to do their off-season work from home have been banished back to their home offices (i.e. basements, kitchen tables, blanket forts….whatever’s clever) to weather out the winter. Our operations team remains onsite, working on ongoing maintenance and some mountain improvement projects for 2021. Take a look: Most of trail crew’s work since closing weekend has focused on end-of-season and early-winter cleanup. (We got hit by our first snowstorm last week, which took down quite a few trees out…
2020 Season Recap: Along for the Ride
What a year 2020 turned out to be. Looking back now at what turned out to be Highland’s busiest season to date, it’s hard to believe that back in the spring we weren’t sure whether we’d be able to open at all. Between unprecedented highs and drastic lows, the Highland Family managed to pull off a season of riding we won’t soon forget. As the year comes to a close, we thought we’d take a moment to review the highlights of the Little Season That Could and the circumstances that set it apart: WINTER At the beginning of the winter, all of our plans for 2020 were still on track. We stayed busy, as we always do, with preparation for the upcoming season. We removed and replaced our old lift chairs, increasing our uphill capacity by 50%. We constructed the new Welcome Center. We knocked down a wall and expanded…
Park Report | November 2020
Hard to believe that it’s already November, but man, those end-of-season trail conditions don’t lie. We’ve seen just about every kind of weather we could expect over the last several days: we just keep spinning the wheel of fortune and hoping for the best. As a general rule this time of year, runs are faster in the morning while the ground is cold. (Lines also tend to be shorter early in the day while most people are still hiding under their blankets.) There are only two weekends left to squeeze in some 2020 laps before we close on the 15th. Please review our COVID-19 guidelines ahead of your visit and remember that day passes must be reserved online in advance. Saturdays and Sundays will sell out, so don’t hesitate! We will be open from 9am to 4pm on Wednesday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day. As a thank you to those…