BY GEORGE N. MURRAY

The 2023 mountain bike season on Bald Mountain starts today--Saturday, July 1. And the riders of Sun Valley will certainly flock to the occasion. 

Every year the opening day on Baldy falls at a similar time on the calendar; always around the end of June and beginning of July. Though, whenever it does finally open every year, it immediately offers some of the best riding in the valley. 

Local rider Ben Colbeck is a seasoned and certified rider going back to his boyhood days in Washington, where his dad sparked in him a love for biking. He moved to the Wood River Valley a few years ago, and was quick to talk about how far Baldy has come in the last decade when it comes to bike riding. 

“The first time I biked on Baldy, I'm pretty sure the only trails available to ride were the Cold Springs and Warm Springs trails,” he said. “The charm of Baldy is its long and fast rides that you cannot find at other places like Alden Gulch, Adam’s Gulch or Quigley’s trail network.”

Indeed, Baldy is revered for its incredibly long and consistent downhill pitch.

“Biking on Baldy allows you to ride trails with long distances of downhill for multiple laps that wouldn’t be nearly as possible to ride without the lift,” Colbeck said. 

What trail is he most excited to ride when the trails open today?

“Pale Rider has been a long time favorite of mine because the trail includes both technical riding and jumps. Saddle Up is another favorite of mine due to its difficulty and how much it has made me improve.” 

Pale Rider is considered the hardest trail on the mountain, but Colbeck thinks Saddle Up can  throw off plenty of advanced riders.

“Saddle Up” has these tight turns that lead into speedy sections with shale rock,” he said. 

 As for the easy trails, Colbeck loves the Lupine Trail.

“It’s very fast and flowy with less technicality; you can get to very high speeds on that trail,” he said. “And, of course, I love it for the lupine flowers that line the trail at this time of year.” 

Colbeck says Baldy offers a wide range of terrain, mainly a spectrum between fast flow trails and technical downhill.

“The amount of riding you can do on Baldy in a day is legit,” he said.

That said, he regrets that Baldy is below average in comparison to other lift assist bike parks in terms of doesn’t have the number and variety of trails and skill levels that some other lift-assist bike parks have.

“But Baldy is just coming around to the deep world of mountain biking. And, based on the progress we’ve seen from the development of the mountain in the last eight years, I think Baldy has a bright future as a lift-assist bike park,” he added.

IF YOU GO…

Baldy opens its famous 18 trails again for the 2023 season today—Saturday, July 1. It offers a variety of trails of varying difficulty.

Check out top-rated “easier” difficulty trails such as “Lupine,” “Broadway,” and “Valley View Loop.” The top trails in the “moderate” difficulty rating are “Saddle Up” and “Mindbender.” Baldy’s best trails of the “most difficult” rating are “Pale Rider” and the classic “Warm Springs” trail. 

The mountain will be open with daily lift service from July 1 through September 4. Beginning Aug. 30 lift service will close every Tuesday and Wednesday until the end of the season.  

Lift service options range from day passes for select age groups as well as season passes for select age groups. Hiking day passes for children (3-12) and seniors (65+) start at $26, with adult (13-64) day passes starting at $35.  

Mountain biking day passes for children (3-12) and seniors (65+) start at $35. The adult (13-64) pass starts at $50. 

Adult season passes start at $454 while youth season passes start at $304, both offering unlimited lift access with no blackout dates for the 2023 season. 

One minor drawback this summer is the lift work being done on the Warm Springs side of the Mountain. This won’t interfere with the majority of the trails on Baldy, but it will interfere with access to the classic Warm Springs trail for the foreseeable future. 

Editor’s Note: George N. Murray is a Sun Valley Community School alum who is studying English and Literary Arts at the University of Denver.