Try Mountain Biking in Chongli This Summer at Thaiwoo Mountain Bike Park

Nancy Lee | Jul 6, 2023 3:00 pm | Add a comment | 459 reads

If you’re looking for a family-friendly summer retreat while staying active, look no further. Your favorite ski town Thaiwoo has an equally thrilling summer sport to offer.

Thaiwoo Mountain Bike Park was first constructed in 2016, under a partnership between Yibu Park and Gravity Logic, one of the world's top biking trail design companies, known best for Whistler Mountain Bike Park in Canada.

And now, after months of tweaking and maintenance along the trails, it's an even safer and also more optimized training and recreational experience. In addition to the original trails, a new 4 km trail has been added to the routes for this summer.

I visited Scottish expat Simon Adams, who works with Yibu Parks, and shadowed him on the green trail and found myself more relaxed, yet vigilant refining my swerves according to his careful instructions.

Where did Yibu Parks come from? And what made Yibu Parks stand out in the industry?
Yibu Parks was created in 2010 by myself and Andrea Coatti from Italy. I had a background working in the outdoor education industry around China, while Andrea’s been involved in the industry for as long as he started working. He was brought to China in 2006 as a technical consultant for a ski resort that opened in Chongli.

We saw strong growth in the development of the ski industry in China. They have all the basics like lifts and slopes, but they didn’t have the diverse terrain development and activity options seen in other resorts abroad, and we thought with our experience and expertise we can provide the products for them.

Over the years, we’ve been building terrain, snow parks, and mountain bike trails for Chinese ski resorts and competition courses for international freestyle skiing and snowboarding in China because of our previous project working with the FIS (Fédération Internationale de Ski) that organizes these competitions at a Northern Italy ski resort near Andrea’s hometown.

After several years doing competition courses in China, including the Aaron Styles competitions in Beijing, then came the Olympics, where we maintained the big air venue in Shougang, which sought two gold medals for China by Su Yiming and Eileen Gu.

What is Yibu Park’s relation to Thaiwoo, and what kind of work do you usually do?
We work with resorts on a contract basis. Thaiwoo was one of the earliest resorts to develop a more comprehensive mountain bike trail network, which all started as a collaboration with us in the summer of 2017.

In 2022, we were called back to upgrade the trail system. The trails had fallen into disrepair, so we were tasked with renewing and expanding the existing trail network in Thaiwoo last summer.

Usually, we use dirt-moving machinery and landscaping tools like excavators, compressors, chainsaws, shovels, and rakes to deal with rocks, wood, and dirt. The excavator does most of the work up front and the handwork team tidy up behind. We reshape the terrain and redesign it in a way so that it's not going to be too affected by the environment.

This allows the trails to be resilient and able to take a beating from all the riders that'll use them from here on out.

Water management is one of our main concerns as well. We need to make sure that all the drainage is clear, that there are fewer loose rocks on the trail, and that the shape of the trail is comfortable to ride on, providing challenging support for the riders in the right places.

What age and skill range are the biking paths best suited for?
We have two main areas at Thaiwoo. A tarmac pump track (for ages two and up) at the foot of the mountain, which is a circular track with lots of bumps we built on level ground. And gravity trails (for more experienced riders age five and up) on the mountain, where you take the lift up with your bike and ride down on the trails.

The trail system on the mountain has three different levels, just like the ski slopes. You can choose the trail depending on your skill level and how much you want to challenge yourself.

This is a sport that can get very extreme, but also a sport that can be accessible to everyone. The physical barrier to entry can be lower than cross-country cycling. You get the exhilarating part of cruising down the mountain without an uphill ride to save up all your energy for after the descent, just like skiing.

What is the instructor-to-participant ratio? Are there safety protocols in place?
We highly recommend new participants hire an instructor from the resort. The instructor-to-participant ratio really depends on your ability levels. It’s advised to wear proper protective gear including a full-face helmet, some sort of padding or body armor (knee and elbow pads, chest and back protector). Gloves, goggles, or glasses are nice too.

All protective equipment and bikes can be found in the bike rental at the resort, or at the Specialized shops. Both can provide instructors and equipment as required.

Regarding the safety protocol, they have a fairly well-tested system. All rental bikes and trail markers come with the contact number of the rescue service and the emergency hotline at the resort.

The resort has a full-time first-aid station with qualified nurses and the instructor team has various ways to evacuate people off the mountain should anything go wrong, although serious injuries with all the proper precautions should be a rarity.

That’s why it’s important to choose the trail type suitable for your skill level. We want everyone to challenge themselves but at the end of the day, carry themselves to a bar, not be brought out on a stretcher.

What are the major draws of Thaiwoo this summer besides mountain biking?
Chongli is much cooler than other parts of China in the height of summer. It’s at least averaging five degrees cooler than Beijing due to the fact that Chongli is a little bit higher in elevation. The base of Thaiwoo Resort is 1,700 meters above sea level and the top of the mountain is 2,160 meters above sea level. Tip for travelers: bring long apparel and waterproof jackets. It can get a bit chilly up here.

The whole area looks stunning in the summer. We have a lovely birch forest and a pine forest on the mountain. First riders always get to see wildlife like rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, and deer.

Besides mountain biking, Thaiwoo has many extra options in terms of activities including golf, archery, trampolining, horseback riding, luge, ATVs and UTVs, karting and obviously you can hike the mountains. It’s a great place to spend the summer for any length of time.