Mountainbikers propose ‘skifield-style’

president Fraser Brown, who was recently crowned New Zealand Mountain Biker of the Year, said the idea had been in the works for years.

‘‘Currently we’ve got this fantastic trail network which is further back in the Wither Hills, and that’s some great trails, but we’re just looking to build a skills park which will essentially be far closer to the main Rifle Range car park, and that will have more of a skills zone,’’ Brown said.

‘‘We’re calling it a progressive skills zone, so we will have five different zones from zone one to zone five, and you will progress through them.

‘‘They will have different levels of features that you can ride.’’

If approved, the skills’ areas and tracks would be developed in and around the Gentle Annie and Rotary Lookout Tracks.

‘‘It’s more of a place where you can go and get some coaching, or you can simply go along and practise a few things. You then take those skills up onto the trails which are further back in the park.

‘‘The idea came from a skifield, which has a beginner slope, and intermediate slope, and then you progress up into the advanced terrain and back country ... that’s the concept behind it really.’’

He said the track would be suitable for everyone – from a ‘‘little kid on a toddler bike’’ to an e-biker.

‘‘There will be features in there for the e-bikers who are new to mountain biking, and they can go in there and say, practise riding a cattle stop.