For the Mountain Bike Lovers: What’s New at Big White and SilverStar Bike Parks

Mountain bike season is in full swing and for those who partake—the bike parks have loads on offer right now. We’re lucky to have two awesome parks to ride in the Kelowna area: Big White and SilverStar. We caught up with the resorts to fill you in on what’s new and exciting this season. 

What’s New at Bike Big White

The Joker reopens
The double black big jump line The Joker has reopened and is ready for advanced riders to test their skills. Big White has been working on the line since last season and is stoked to have it fully open again, now with improvements that make it more of a progression proline. 

“We wanted Upper Joker to flow a bit better,” says Andrew Daly, sales director at Big White. 

The improvements have also made it more manageable for advanced riders to work on their skills. 

“Previously, you had to pretty much make all of the features. Now, if you come up short, it's really forgiving and more table-toppy, so you can learn and progress even as an advanced rider.”

Double black Upper Joker feeds into Lower Joker, which is a blue that you can also connect to from Squirts (blue). 

“It’s been a work in progress to completely redo that entire line, plus we've got water running and running to it now, so we can control the dirt as well,” says Andrew. “It's a really cool feature for the bike park.” 

Fun fact: The line was first scoped out by Bas van Steenbergen and built for a Red Bull video. 

New Lightning Strike progression zone
Lightning Strike is a 3km blue trail at the park that has a new addition: a three-drop progression zone. 

“People can now session that because it's sort of part of the trail, but just off to the side so you can hit it, hike back up, hit the next one, and progress the size of the drops,” says Andrew. “It’s also a great place for any of our progression lessons.”

Fiv’r Fridays
The Fiv’r race series is back this year with a new format making it more accessible to a range of levels. The Friendly Fiv'r League is geared towards intermediate or blue riders, while the Flat Out Fiv'r League is for more advanced riders to really push themselves. 

“Opening up to a variety of levels of trails means more people can participate and get that racing experience,” says Andrew. “Previously, we've raced mostly black and dark blue trails, so it's been sort of limiting to anyone new trying to get into the sport or into racing.”

Stacked Deck rating change
The park is adding a new wall ride that’s a massive wooden berm on the Stacked Deck trail. The feature allows you to bypass dirt on the trail and choose your own adventure depending on how high you want to ride it. The addition has dropped the trail rating from black to blue. 

“There was a lot of water runoff in that area and we would have to put boards down to protect and preserve the trail where it was still a little bit marshy, but now you can completely skip that whole bit of dirt by going on this wall,” says Andrew. 

“It's nicely built so that you can progress by riding it just gently, or you can go high and hard and fast on it. It adds a really cool feature for our park.”

Upcoming events
Freeride Days Aug. 8-10

The mountain bike festival you look forward to all year. Free entry for spectators to watch world-class riders in five marquee events. Hosted by Tom van Steenbergen, it’s three days of adrenaline, great food, and live music. Get all the details. 

Big White Enduro Aug. 17

Pros and recreational riders alike come together at Big White for the challenge of the season. The Stage Expert Enduro has five downhill stages and two unassisted climbs. For mellower riders, the 3 Stage Intermediate Enduro features three downhill stages and one unassisted climb. Learn more or register today. 

Buzzing bikers
What started as an unofficial mellow ride is back this year every Saturday at 11:00 am from July 13 to Aug 31. Bumble on the Bee is where riders meet outside of the Village Centre Mall dressed in their best bee attire for a casual, beginner-friendly ride on the Bumble Bee trail. 

“People dress up as bees or with wings as little fairies,” Andrew explains. “It's a great opportunity for the community to come together and for local riders who want to do something fun in a fairly safe yet enjoyable environment.”

Bullet chair upgrade
After a minor opening delay in June, Bike Big White has been letting it rip with almost every part of the park open for riding. The delay was for a good cause—smoothing out the final details of the new bullet chair upgrade. 

“The improved chair is running faster and smoother than ever,” says Andrew.  

Andy’s favourite trail
“I absolutely love Ace of Spades. It's a mix of tech and flow, it's super high speed and generally maintains a really good grip throughout. It's a lot of fun.” 

What’s New at SilverStar

30th anniversary
SilverStar’s bike park turns 30 this year, and the celebrations have been underway all season. 

Riders can learn another piece of the SilverStar bike park history every week when another piece of the history is released online. 

For example, learn about the riders who built the park in the “By Riders for Riders” series. Read about some of the pioneers of the park like Cam Sorensen, Pete Zablotny, Crystal Townsend, and more. 

Crankworx for the 30th
“The big thing for the 30th coming up is Crankworx,” says Tom from SilverStar. “We’ve just finished prepping the courses—it’s going to be good times and big jumps.” 

The Crankworx Summer Series is back Aug. 2-5 to celebrate the 30th anniversary and is going to be action-packed, including the brand new Crankworx-first Freeride Mountain Bike (FMB) Gold Level Women's Slopestyle event. 

Other highlights include the Rheeder Slopestyle, an FMB Gold Level Men’s Slopestyle event with the course designed by local athlete Brett Rheeder, and the BC/Canada Cup Downhill and Pump Track challenges.

There’s going to be something for all levels and ages. Come out and celebrate with SilverStar! 

Jedi Mind Trick rework
The progressive blue trail is getting a facelift. The middle section of Jedi Mind Trick is getting completely redone and should be open soon. 

“That's going to be super exciting because the top half was done last year, and it’s been fantastic,” Tom says. “Now, the middle will be fresh and completely new. It’s a very playful flow trail and it's going to be super exciting once it’s open and people can try it out.”

The Vault
SilverStar’s jump line, The Vault, will also be opening shortly, which is great news for riders looking to practice their jumps in a progressive area. 

“It’s super progressive with blue jams right up to a proline, it’s exciting,” he says. “Once that’s open it’s going to draw a lot of people to that area of the mountain to session.”

With multiple jumps in a row, people can head back up the road, keep lapping the jumps, and refine their skills. 

“That's going to be super sweet because you can be heading down the trail, peel off, do a couple of laps of the bowl, and then carry on with the rest of the trails.” 

Party Shirt Fridays
Casual Fridays—but make it bikes. Every Friday, people come out in their party shirts to ride and enjoy the live music. “It’s a fun thing that’s been happening weekly and started totally organically.”

Summer Music Series
Every Saturday from 2-5 pm until Sept. 14 find live music at the village bike park. Check out the schedule and head over for a great time.

Tom’s favourite trail
“That’s a loaded question—I’m going to say Dag’s. I love the weird combo of tech and flow.”  

Quit dreaming, start doing. Our sports stores in Kelowna have everything you need to find your new sport. See what’s in store, then get out and enjoy the Fresh Air!

Share Post: