Very big sticky ones! I went up there this morning for the local consultation and general invitation. Simon and Ceri of Antur Stiniog walked a group of around 25 us around the site, the trails and what will be the freeride area and visitors centre. There will be four downhill trails with a XC trail off-site. Simon was keen to stress this is phase 1 and there are many other XC ideas and trail link-ups being considered. The four downhill trails will range from blues to blacks.
While I’d be hard pushed to call the blues beginner trails (lots of drops offs, rock slabs and step-downs), for anyone with a modicum of handling skills they will flow beautifully. Everyone else will be able to roll down the trail, although a big bike is still required. Yes, it can be minced down, but that really isn’t the point. Among others doing an ace job, Jason Rennie has been working on the trails (reported to be as awesome with a digger as a bike). While armoured and rocky, you can see thought and sensitivity has gone into the trail and feel the potential for flow, glide and speed.
Having walked up the blue we came down what will be the black run. This is less formed than the others, but it will be steep and fast. Trail features have yet to be added but there are already a few natural features which are strictly for the hardcore. There is a rolling drop at the end that is stomach lurching and will deffo be the feature that it becomes infamous for. This said, although there’s plenty to keep the pros on form, the blues and what I saw of the reds open proper DH experiences to the rest of us.
Having only ridden Cwmcarn of the UK’s widely recognised DH trails, it smacks more of the best of Morzine to me, although other visitors were making comparisons with Fort Bill. This is a serious endeavour that is going to Blaenau on the map for DH. This is going to be very good for the area, the sport and… for me, as I live only 30mins away 😀
A big thanks to Antur Stiniog and anyone involved – it’s going to be ace. Roll on July!
Some "work in progress" images:
[b]Blue/Red[/b]
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[b]Black, and very unformed[/b]
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looks really good and would be nice if it helps the town too
I have high hopes. From what they're saying, the idea is that the centre will not cannibalise the town and businesses that serve this influx will be allowed to grow. Profits too are also to be fed back into the local community.
Good report
Thanks for posting that report. Got to say I'm a tad jealous that you're 30 mins away from it and I'm stuck in SE England probably a good 2 1/2 hours drive away. It's looking very good though.
probably a good 2 1/2 hours drive away
More like 4.5; maybe 5h 🙁
Similar for me in the SW England
Make a weekend of it, with C-Y-B 25mins down the road the Marin and Penmachno 30mins, Llandegla 50mins and Snowdon around the corner your pretty spolit for choice.
Cant wait but dont expect it to be dry as Blaenau is the wettest place in Wales and only Fort William is ahead of it 😀
Yes, perhaps a bit far for a single day's riding (as is CyB), but the fact that it sits fairly squarely between Betws, Penmachno and CyB makes it brilliantly positioned for a stunning long weekend away. Nice to see diverse riding too.
Blimey - I live 30 minutes away too.... never mind tyres; time to grow a pair! 🙂
Great post and good to see a lot of thought gone into feeding back into the local community... hopefully a positive feedback loop for the efforts of Antur ‘Stiniog with the community.
im very excited it will be a long haul from london but i plan on doing it a lot!
the only problem with makinga weekend of it is that ill need to take the dh bike and the xc bike to ride the other trails!
Great report, great pictures, even though I will be waiting to hear about the XC stuff.
Looks excellent !!!
That looks amazing, I cannot wait for July.
At last there is a use for that big shiny new road other than taking you somewhere else. Blaenau needed something and this is a start and makes use of the steep landscape and abundance of rock.
Awesome news - esp as we've just booked a house for my old man's 70th birthday celebration in August minutes outside Blaneau!!!!!
Excellent report. I am so excited as I work about 10 minutes away - roll on a summer of evening DH! Quick question though to the original OP. As you drive over the Crimea, somewhere near the top you can see where they are constructing the uplift road (Blaenau side.) Does that mean that the uplift ascent will be mainly on the main road? (Excellent if so!) From the original plans it looked like the uplift was entirely across the fells from the slate mine, but from what I've seen on the ground it looks different.
That rock / slab drop looks awesome BTW - can't wait!
Hi, yes, it will go out onto the main road from Llechwedd car park turning right onto the access road higher up.
Balmy late summer evenings downhilling sounds ace doesn't it?!
(I know, rain rain, but it does get some sun!)
Really looking forward to visiting this place, looks fantastic. Nice that not everyone is as negative about big projects as this place is.
Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere, but here's a video of the blue (in the white):