TCD will help open Alberta’s 3rd Bike Park
This year marks another milestone in Trail Crew Design operations. We have signed on to design and construct Alberta’s 3rd and largest gravity fed bike park at Northern Alberta’s Nite Hawk Resort. Nite Hawk is nestled in the Wapiti river valley just 15 minutes west of the town of Grande Prairie. In late April we flew into GP and spent time assessing the feasibility of creating a bike park on the banks of the Wapiti River. On this trip we hiked thigh deep snow, trying to uncover what the snow had hidden, what terrain would be revealed. All the snow wasn’t able to hide the tremendous potential that Nite Hawk possessed, and immediately we had flights booked to get back up into Peace country and get our socks dirty. With over 500ft of verticle and a large area in which to build, Nite Hawk will be Alberta’s largest bike park once open.
TCD has commenced construction of the new park and the plan is for an August opening. The first year’s trail system will consist of a Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced trail. The park will only grow from here.
We are firm believers at TCD that no bike trip can be complete without a tour of the local bars. The town is not for the prissy boys with gel’d hair and buckles on their shoes. It’s a roughneck town with big dudes with big trucks. I think we must have smelled like city folk, or maybe it was the shinny new Carharts and the brand new boots that got me(Aaron) heckled in the liquor store the first night of our trip. Either way we learned if we’re gonna spend some time up here we have to adapt to the local customs. The bars up in GP are not like most others we’ve been to. There’s a whole lot going on from mechanical bulls to crack head street fights. We saw it all. Towards the end of our night on the walk back to the hotel we heard some bitching guitar wailing out from a dark alley. There was still some time left before last call so we decided one more beer and a little music wouldn’t hurt. Little did we know the treat we were in for. The place was called the Hotel York, found in a back alley off the main drag. We strolled through the door and it was like one of those movies where everything stops, everyone turns and you have no idea if you should stay or turn around and never come back. The band was rippin on the stage and everyone was givin’r harder then I’ve ever seen. Emerson and I decided we’d dive into the deep end and grab a bottle of Pil. We sat down and started chatting with people. We met the owner who told us that the guy at the table across from us used to play back up for BB King and that the guy next to him was “the best drummer in the world”. Needless to say, the York ruled. Locals will tell you to stay away but if you want a killer rock show and a bar that starts selling more booze after last call then the York is the place.
We’re looking forward to spending the next while up on the banks of the Wapiti river living in an RV and going hard to give these guys a place to shred. Our mission has been to create more quality places to ride your bike and now folks up north will have somewhere to play. Stay tuned to our site for more updates on the progress this summer.
