Slovenia, despite being a very small country, has many bike parks. Kope is located near Bike Park Pohorje and it is a relatively new place, and because of that not everybody know about it existence. It do not have many trails yet, but after seeing the video that promotes the bike park I knew that I must visit it and try it myself. In the end, it turned out that here I found one of the best bike park trails that I have ridden in the entire 2018 season!
The ski resort, in which the Bike Park Kope is located, is situated in the same mountain range as the Bike Park Pohorje, however, both the climate of the place itself and the area on which we will ride is completely different. First of all, to reach Kope, we need to go by a small mountain road to get to the mountain pass located quite high in the mountains and away from any cities. Once we are in place, then at first sight we see gentle slopes, instead of the famous steep hills known from the Downhill World Cup trail in Maribor.
At Bike Park Kope we will go up by the chair lift with mounted special hooks for bikes. It is not a super long one, but when we will go up we can already see really big jumps on which we will be able to have fun while going down.
Trails
Flow Line – it is ideal for warming up and, in my opinion really well thought flow trail. On its entire length it has been designed to give everyone a joy of riding. I saw on it a lot of satisfied beginner bikers, or entire families with kids who rode nice rollers, jumping tables, and well shaped berms on a calm descent. On the other hand, when,I was riding it together with my guide Miha, it turned out that when You really focus on it, all the rollers are turning into smooth jumps and this easy trail gets really cool and flowy. At the beginning it is winding with a smooth surface, between the ski slopes, and later it enters the forest, where we will ride on some roots and more natural obstacles.
Pro Line – because of this trail I wanted to visit Kope so much. It is simply a line of big jumps, transfers and drops. It is build only for experienced riders, since from the very beginning there are 8-10 meter jumps with no tables. After first line of big jumps, there are tight berms to control speed and then we have a large wooden drop. From its landing smoothly we go to the section with transfers and another drop, and another set of jumps. With a lot of huge flights we go down to the middle of the slope, and further we are going by with the flow line. This was during my stay at the end of the 2018 season, but the plan is to build up this line in such a pure freeride climate to the very bottom. Already this version of the trail on which I rode gave me a lot of fun and I think it was one of the best lines in my entire 2018 biking season.
Borovicka – another variant of the Flow line, which at the very beginning is going to the forest, where we can ride a fully natural path with gentle bends. The descent is gentle, so it is an easy trail where we will not have any biger obstacles, just a little of roots in some places. It is rejoining Flow line in the middle of the slope.
For now, unfortunately, this is all that You can ride on Bike Park Kope. But considering that this is a new place, the plans for develop are big. On the 2019 season most of last years trails are already reshaped, with adding some new extras, and there will be more completely new trails comming in soon.
My opinion
Of course, for Bike Park Kope is hard to compete with such developed places as Pohorje, Kranjska Gora or Krvavec, but I have to admit that I was having awesome day there. It is partly because of climate of the whole place, thanks to which we can totally cut off from the bustling character of the cities and focus only on active leisure. And the most important thing is, of course, the trails. Yes, at the moment there are not many of them, but on the other hand they gave me a lot of fun. And if someone likes flowy a-line like trails and feels good on bigger jumps, I definitely recommend him to fly the Kope’s Pro Line.
Facilities
On the spot we have everything that should be in a good bike park. Thus, there is a bicycle service, bike wash, and we can also rent a bike on site. When I was riding in Bike Park, my wife went with a guided tour on the Pohorje mountain range on a rented E-bike (LINK). There is also a large restaurant on the site and a very nice touch is that, when we get full-day Bike Park pass (19.90 EUR) we also get a dinner included in the price! There is a lot different meals to choose from, and we only pay extra for the drinks.
Summary
I really want to support whole team that creates Bike Park Kope, because now you can see that they have great ideas and predispositions to create a great place for a mountain bikers. Currently, I will not try to persuade anyone to go especially here, passing by the much more developed Bike Parks along their way. However, if you plan to come to Maribor for a few days, I would recommend You to also come and check Yourself the Bike Park Kope lines.
Practical information
- By car, you can get here by road No. 932 from Slovenj Gradec.
- Bike Park Kope operates only at weekends and holidays so far.
- A full-day pass for Bike Park costs 19.90 EUR and at this price we have dinner included.
- If you are looking for accommodation in the area, I recommend Lukov Dom, which is located about 500 meters from the Bike Park.
It’s worth following the official Bike Park Kope profile on Facebook, where we can find current information on the trails and opening hours: facebook.com/bikeparkkope. Official website: kope.si/poletne-aktivnosti/bike-park-kope.
If you are looking for more information about what to do in the area, or where You can go on a rented E-bike, then I recommend you check our blog – balkanyrudej.pl.
Text: Marek Chabros
Photos: Marek Chabros & Ola Zagórska-Chabros