for a million quid the forest road could be a tarred dual public road then we could use our own cars 😮
seriously though it would be great to have it esp for young talented riders as a training base,were better at downhill then football in this country!,but it seems unlikely due to costs…but good on folk who want to campain and rally support for it,
a granny ring only costs £22 in the meantime and you can cycle up almost anywhere for free, 😮

Yup Proteus, that's .8 Laggans due to pre-existing bike-equipped gondola and access road, all it needed was the trail. The full nevis range project is I imagine several megaLaggans. Which, I suppose, also kicks it into "It will never be built, it makes no sense, there is no case for it" even though it actually exists.

"a multi million pound visitors centre is pie in the sky – totally unrealistic. The number just make no sense at all."

No it doesn't. At least not the way that project appears to have been "managed". Massively overbudget, long overdue.

And yet it moves.

Which, I suppose, also kicks it into "It will never be built, it makes no sense, there is no case for it" even though it actually exists
are you aware of skiing, snowboarding & tourists*?

* who like a view and a cup of tea/scone. the former of which doesn't exist unless you built a huge 'lift right to the top of Minch Moor. The latter can probaby be served in your £5m tea shoppe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y

And yet it moves.
LOL!

Proteus, Nevis range posts a profit some years, a loss other years, but never enough to justify the capital outlay of the project, and was entirely dependant on the public purse to be built- sound familiar at all?

Joking aside – rather sick of this now / like a stuck record.

Move on, back projects that play to our strengths > those that deliver more bang for our £

Night. I hope your dreams are filled with white elephants.

Hmm, elephant uplift. I'd pay for that.

If we're wrapping it up, all I can say is yes it's a daft idea, yes it's too much money, but if you look around you you'll find any number of daft ideas that cost too much money that have been huge successes, and for which the exact same objections would apply. I don't disagree at all with the logic but the fact is, these projects do happen. Funicular railways, the entire nevis range project (commissioned during a recession at vast cost), the 7 Stanes themselves (£2 million of public money there), and who knows how many others that you could have shot down for exactly the same reasons. So you take a step back and wonder what's wrong with the picture since your completely logical argument doesn't actually seem to transfer into the real world too well. Some of this stuff just doesn't make sense, is the bottom line, and demanding that it should doesn't work.

Thinking about this rationally and living locally and the fact that Ive never been to Morzine , Whistler , Moab or Mackenzie. But I have done Glentress and Innerleithen and being a chubby almost 40 year old surely half the fun Is the torturous climb , I support the idea as It might bring people who spend cash locally and bolster the economony. If I was an Investor the figures dont add up so I wouldn't touch It with a shitty stick.

<too late for an edit- the funicular obviously isn't a huge success, very careless posting, but proves beyond any doubt that a project doesn't have to make sense to go ahead>

What gets me is the current uplift coaches Drive up from Durham every weekend and don't offer me a lift!

I ride a mixture of XC and DH, probably visiting the Tweed valley 4 or 5 times a year with 1 or two of those being overnight stays. Would a chairlift make me go to innerleithen more often? Almost certainly. Would it attract more leisure visitors – probably not. It's hard as the capital costs for the project have undoubtedly increased just as the investors have dried up..

a project doesn't have to make sense to go ahead

I agree, if the coffers are full and the good times look like they'll just keep on rollin'. Edinburgh trams anyone?

However, in this economic climate where the government are canning projects to build SCHOOLS, I doub't you'll find anyone except the enthusiastic minority supporting this. The public sector won't touch it with a barge pole and the private sector have had ample opportunity to get involved and haven't.

Its all about priorities and this project had its chance during the MTB "boom" earlier in the decade. Nobody did anything about it then so they sure as hell aren't going to do anything about it now i'm afraid.

Why not put a lift system somewhere that is epic to get upto?

I dont think it really matters where it is, the cost vs benefit would be prohibitive.

It surprises me that people can even afford a dh bike these days never mind £25+ for lift passes.

I have a pretty reasonable income for a 2 adult + 2 child family with a nice little semi house. I havent got a chance in hell of affording a proper dh bike and all the associated costs involved these days.

I have actually pretty much given up Mountain Biking and taken up football again because i couldnt afford to keep up with biking. Football has cost me about £3-400 for last year including all the after match pints and socialising. I bought a set of boots and shin guards and, well thats it. Biking was costing me 5 times that amount in travel expenses and equipment.

Personally i would expect DH and to a lesser extent all biking to take a big hit over the next few years in participants. All those parents who in the past have funded little johnnies fun sport will be struggling to keep up. I know if my son even mentions the sport i will be sticking my fingers in my ears and ignoring him.

You have two kids and a house. Most Downhillers don't I suspect.

2 kids, two houses, an ex. and 3 DH bikes here!

oh.. and I play football too.. but I've never spent any money on it.

2 kids 4 houses 2 dh bikes, 2 xc bikes, and loads of other bikes, I spend loads on uplifts..

Or DHers are all minted it seems….

Surely the kids will understand they can't have any new stuff until you get you new DH machine? Ungrateful, selfish and childish little gits they are.

Just trying to highlight that joe public might find the burden of thousands of pounds worth of bike and equipment quite a burden in the current climate. Add to that the cost of travelling and lift passes might make DH riding a bit of a minority sport in the future rather than the thriving picture of health people who like it are painting a picture of.

Maybe if there was a cheaper alternative to a chairlift / gondola.

Maybe using a big offroader and a trailer…

Maybe if there was a cheaper alternative to a chairlift / gondola.

Maybe using a big offroader and a trailer…

The Hub did this at inners then stopped it in the end as non profitable due to repair costs to 4x4s taking a beating on the road,fuel and drivers wages..pity as it was alot better than faffing around with lorrys and coaches

Maybe if there was a cheaper alternative to a chairlift / gondola.

A couple of years back UK bike park were seriously looking into installing drag/poma lifts.

can be picked up relatively cheap second hand, much cheaper installation/running costs, and if it breaks down you just unhook your bike and push…

find the right hill and they really could work. as we have discovered at Gawton it would have been far simpler to find a hill that you put the infrastucture and then build tracks than to build some awesome tracks and then realise access for uplift is a nightmare.

Dragging up an old thread but it appears that Wales may get a chair lift first?