Overview of the lunar like location of DirtParkNZ in the hills between Queenstown and Wanaka

Some people (myself included) are very very interested to see what will happen with DirtParkNZ this summer. Last year was the first year of operations and the owners decided to feel out what sort of demand there was for a more freestyle orientated mountain biking venue. This meant there was some issues that needed ironing out if they were going to open for another summer (lack of challenging trails, odd transitions and mis-timed opening hours and season.)

This summer they are having a longer open season, easier to understand pricing structure, evening opening hours, and they are holding the second round of the NZ DH Nationals.

I recently managed to have a quick chat with Clare Jackson from DirtParkNZ about the coming second summer of DirtParkNZ being open. Heres what she had to say...

WD: Whats the plans for the life accessed trails? more development there? ie. 4x track or slopestyle course?
CJ: For the chairlift access trails, there will be more features on the existing tracks plus the addition of an extra track - still to be determined whether a full slopestyle course or more of a glide track.

WD: How much summer grooming is happening for snowpark and how will it affect the dirtpark operations? i heard the skiiers right side is getting a large amount of summer grooming work.
CJ: The plan is to reshape the baby pipe on the skiers right prior to the dirt park season, and even if the construction does spill over into the season it shouldn't get in the way of the mountain bike operation.

WD: Whats the plans for the nationals dh track? mid point down? top to mid way? will there be much work done to exisiting trail on og track in time for nationals. or will there be a new track entirely?
CJ: The plan for the nationals dh track is to build a new track, from the park to the 4km mark on the road.

WD: Thanks for answering our questions. See you on opening day.
CJ: Thanks for the questions, hopefully I have explained enough below for you - although some work is still in the planning stages.

Details:
Dirt Park NZ has introduced a revised pricing schedule for the upcoming 2008 summer season. The new pricing allows riders to choose between paying for chairlift access only or including the use of the downhill track in their day pass price.

adult child
Day Pass – lift access only 25.00 15.00
Day Pass – lift and downhill 35.00 20.00
Twilight Pass (from 4pm)– lift and downhill 20.00 10.00
5 Day concession – lift and downhill 155.00 85.00
Seasons Pass 349.00 199.00
Weekend Warrior 249.00 150.00

Riders who want to only use the downhill track and want to shuttle themselves will be required to pay a $10 honesty box fee.

Dirt Park NZ opens for the summer season on December 27, 2007. The resort will be open from 12 to 7pm, Wednesday to Sunday.

For more information and updates, check out www.dirtparknz.com

POSTED BY SEB

And so slowly but very surely the New Zealand summer is coming together. The weather is playing on-side after alot of unseasonal late snow fall and now it's all about getting the guns out for a spot of tanning.

The players are also falling into town now. the town being Queenstown. I managed to pry myslef away from lovely sleepy Wanaka and relocate here a month ago. Ginger Si is firmly embedded here now even if he sounds like an escaped Downs victim. HUH! Foz, Jamie and there respected other halfs got here one week ago and moved in with Si into the House of Love. Adam managed to surf someones couch all the way here for a second year in a row but strangely this time brought with hima girlfriend, money to survive on, and the organisational capabilities to get a job and house ASAP. Si Miller and Tom Hey are reputed to be voyaging out here in a months time to help John Cowan with his filming duties (you heard it here first), And meanwhile Katie Holden and Paul Pie are overshooting the landing strip and heading to OZ instead. However there is a rescue mission afoot to try and salvage their holiday by bringing them here instead.

On the NEWS front, ex scottish champ and now QTown local Paul Angus broke his foot pretty bad and had to have surgeries to get it betterer. Shame becuase he rips the trails up down and boosts the smooth trick style on the biggest jumps. Another Scotty dog Stu Thompson of MTBCUT.tv was in town for a week filming for his site. he came to film with long time friend Pangus but instead had to settle for a bunch of English skidders instead. CLICK HERE TO CHECK THE SITE NOW Watch out for the Queenstown video over the next few months once he can dust off his camera and edit all the footage. Queenstown is also the hot spot for the freeride movement this summer. McGarry, Frew, Finney and Beverland are all together in one spot and feeding off each others gnarlyness. Watch this space. Coronet Peak gave away the Oceania Champs because it needed to build a smarter cafe for the Latte drinking ski fags. Dirt Park got the second round of the DH Nationals after TC pulled out. Dirtpark has plans for a whole new DH track for the race which is bizzarly being held MID WEEK!!! WTF?!?!! Also in store for Dirtpark is more lunar freeride stuntage than last year and longer opening season. Seven Mile is looking H O T this summer after a SHIT LOAD of work has been done in there over the winter. Theres the turniest track ever on the Remarkables. And Gorge Road trails are getting sessioned non stop right now because they are running smoother than a 14 year girls chuff after an explosion in a lube factory.

If little of the above seems to make sense then it is either becuase A) you are not familiar with the riding here in Queenstown or B) My speeling and gramma is worse than ever. So you need to either A) keep reading the site for clarification or B) get your arse to the land down under (and i dont mean the big dry shite one)

POSTED BY SEB KEMP

Its that time of the year again. The once vibrant mountain bike community here in Whistler is no where to be found. All that remains is a few dedicated skiers and the trendy fashion show known as snowboarding. Most Whistler-ites have put away there bikes for the season with any goals or aspirations for the two-wheeled machines to be put on hold till next year. But a small group us have not. A small group of us have refused to put away our beloved mountain cycles and our minds have drifted away from Whistler to a magical place. A place filled with dragons and gnomes and gum drop trees with cassettes and derailleurs flowing from there buds like nectar. A place where green buses travel around the country side dispersing loose and inebriated female Swiss backpackers to those so fortunate. A place where even local quadriplegic mountain bikers are fast enough to dust your average Whistler local. And what is this place I speak off you ask, well it is none other than New Zealand.

Later this month I will join our long lost brother Seb and the Pint Size Racers over in N-zizzle, or as it is going to be called this year NZ Shred 08. Seb has given up his dreams of being a schley prodigy and decided to buy a real race rig. Seems as though his flatties were too flat, one must remember the meticulous characteristic of the complex schleyble top/ Turn bar . He’s even joined the gym and taken up eating his body weight in eggs each day. My prediction? World Champion in 2 months.

Our goal for the season is simple; ride faster than everyone else in both local and national races. And even if we if we lose convince all our fellow racers that we would have won had it not been for, “ my crank arm was wobbling a bit “, or “ the deraullier was skipping,” or, “my girlfriend didn’t toss me salad quite right last night.”

So whenever your getting sick of waiting for the powder to fall (word has its not going to snow this year) or just feel a little two wheel lonely, check out the site. You might just catch a new article telling of how Ginger Si deciding to race all the national wearing nothing but a giraffe suit , or about Seb drunkenly taking home yet another raving mad back packer, or about how we all together opted out of racing to pursue our new dream of opening up the first WILD HYDRO BUNGEE ZORBING ©

I would like to introduce you to an old friend of mine, the e-thirteen Single Ring Security device.

Its been with me now for 5, possibly 6 years. Starting off life when they first came out, the first in the UK i believe. Its spent a couple of years on my Imperial, before moving onto a Tomac 3 years since. There it did 2 years of service before the Tomac met a unsticky demise on A-Line. The it was onto a DHR for a month of chainless action - a virtual chainguide holiday if you will. Its final place of rest is now aboard a Giant Faith.

So what information have I gleaned in these past 6 years?
Certainly that the guide is nigh on indestructable. It may look battered and bruised, and the lower roller may have cracked clean through one side 2 years ago, but it still runs as well as it ever did. The supercharger has been buried an inch into A-Line when my frame snapped, and the boomerang has more 'custom' fitting holes in it than original. But its come out wanting to be fitted once more. In fact this is the longest serving piece of biking gear that I own. It spends most of its life gobbed up in British mud, and yet its still on its original plastics and roller.

So I feel there is only one way i can conclude this review, and that is with the following sentence.

6 years old, abused more than a $200 Thai bride, never dropped a chain, perfection.