After two years since our first visit in Saalfelden Leogang region, encouraged by the press release about new trails in The Epic Bikepark Leogang, I decided to join a group of local Warsaw riders and visit this picturesque place again.
After Maribor I’m not scared of any roots, so I had very positive feeling about this trip. And even very bad weather forecast (unfortunatly true) couldn’t stop us from exploring the trails.
Visibility on upper station wasn’t that bad ;)
This year mountainbikers can use two cablecars. Asitzbahn is the main Bike Park cablecar (upper station on 1758m a.s.l.). Next to it’s middle station you’ll find start of Flying Gangster & Speedster trails. Second one opened for bikers in summer 2019 is Steinbergbahn. It’s located few hundred meters from Asitzbahn in Saalfelden direction and it’s upper station is located right next to Asitzbahn upper station.
The Trails
Let’s start from well known trails near Asitzbahn cablecar. Hot Shots is a fun track with a lot of big tables, berms & rollers, so it’s perfect for a warm up. Last time I was here I did a QOM on Strava, but I lost it to well known Austrian downhill female rider shortly after trail renowation. A lot of jumps are much bigger than two years ago and trailbuilders where working on the start, so the first straight wasn’t rideable for us. Probably they were preparing the trail for upcoming BIKE Festival on 14-15 september.
Hot Shots trail ends in the middle of the mountain and then you can choose Flow Link or Antonius trail. Flow Link goes to the middle station where Hangman II, Flying Gangster & Speedster begins.
I choosed Flow Link to Flying Gangster for a safe run. Flow Link since my last visit wasn’t changed and it’s a short section full of jumps, berms, corners and other small obstacles. It’s fast, easy & flowy!
After that you’ll be at the start of Flying Gangster and well known track from UCI Downhill World Cup – Speedster. Flying Gangster is a more freeride version of Hot Shots. You’ll find here a lot of jumps, berms, wooden wallrides and a lot of other obstacles. Big plus of both trails (Flying Gangster & Hot Shots) are it’s surface. My friends called it as “gravel highway” which is very good in wet conditions. It was raining during our three day trip, but on these trails conditions were still very good.
Different situation is on Speedster. This is the trail used for UCI Downhill World Cup. After first shared with Flying Gangster section, you’re going to parallel line which has a lot of roots & rocks. You can find few jumps here, but they’re not tables, so you must jump it or use a chicken line. In my personal ranking it’s one of my favourite trails ever. It’s tough, exhausting and you have a lot of satisfaction when you ride it.
In the middle part of Speedster / Flying Gangster you can choose other option and turn left. Bongo Bongo is a steep trail full of wooden bridges and a lot of technical stuff. Second trail is one of the newest additions to the bike park. Forsthof Trail in the wet is almost unrideable… at least for me and my downhill bike. It’s a narrow single trail which led through dense forest along a vertical long, with a huge number of roots, wooden bridges and rocks. You’ll find also sketchy 180 degress turns which I hate the most. It should be very fun to ride in the dry conditions.
Check Forsthof Trail by LINES Mag:
Going back to the middle of the mountain where you can find another new track – Antonius Trail. It begins where Hot Shots ends. It’s narrow, technical trail with a lot of wooden features and some tight turns. After the rain you have to fight to maintain your speed on uphill sections. For me this is perfect single trail for enduro enthusiasts.
Check Antonius Trail by LINES Mag:
When you turn right after Flow Link you’ll find funny, full of berms and small jumps trail called Hangman II. This part is very fun to ride and perfect for begginers. Hangman II ends few hundred meters from Asitzbahn, so you have to pedal back to the bike park.
When you’re on top again instead of going to the Hot Shots, you can choose another trail – Hangman I. It’s a narrow single with a lot of roots, turns on ski slope and few big berms. It ends nearby to Flow Link / Antonius connection. For me this is the weakest trail in the whole bike park.
But from this season you have a 3rd option from the top. Steinberg Line by FOX is also new trail which have a lot of… berms and corners. Yes, that’s all what you can find here. It’s perfect for beginners to learn how to turn properly and for more advanced. We had a lot of fun here! It’s also very long with a short shared section with Hangman II and it goes directly to the Steinbergbahn cablecar.
There is one more route – quite controversial in our circle – appears suddenly sideways from Steinberg Line by FOX and it’s name is Matzalm Trail. After the rain it’s very… scary. Very narrow, with wooden bridges, full of slippy roots, steep with tight corners. It reminds me narrow singles from Bike Republic Solden. I didn’t liked it, but we had few fans of it. Matzalm Trail ends far from Steinbergbahn, so you have to pedal back to the cable car.
Matzalm Trail
At the end of the bike park trails you have a beginner area. You’ll find here a lot of different sizes drops, jumps or boner log. There’s also kids area with tiny drops and safe landings. Also dirt jumpers can use airbag to practice some banger tricks.
If you remember big dirt jumps well known from 26TRIX contest than… forget about them. Now there’s a big 5000m^2 asphalt pump track with jump line. Perfect for a hardtail madness!
Summary
New trails are very interesting and existing ones have undergone a slight facelift or remain unchanged. Riding in the bike park on almost end of season have some cons, biggest one is that trials are in poor condition (a lot of huge braking bumps) and very changing weather. At the beginning ofWe had a lot of rain and cold temperatures. Neverthless, thanks to gondola cablecar you can still have a lot of fun riding in the wet.
For dessert, Schwarzleo Trail which is also new addition, but it’s located outside of the bike park area:
Practical informations:
- Chairlift are open daily between 9:00-16:30.
- You can use for free every chairlift in Saalfelden Leogang area with Bike Park pass.
- 1 day lift pass costs 44€, so it’s much better & cheaper to choose longer option.
- Gravity Card are honored in The Epic Bikepark Leogang.
- Lower station of Asitzbahn is the center of The Epic Bikepark Leogang. You’ll find bike service, shop & rental here.
- Food & drinks bar are on lower & upper lift station.
- You can find a lot of places to stay nearby, but we choosed Chalet Leogang.
- If you decide to bring your family here, they won’t be dissapointed. Saalfelden Leogang area has a lot to offer for them.
About Bike Park Leogang
Further information about The Epic Bikepark Leogang can be found on: bikepark-leogang.com, instagram.com/BikeparkLeogang and facebook.com/BikeparkLeogang
To make your biking holiday absolutely perfect, special bike hotels such as Salzburger Hof, Bio Hotel Rupertus, Hotel Bacher, Hotel Riederalm, Hotel Ritzenhof, Mama Thresl, Hotel Saliterhof, Hotel Forsthofalm and Hotel Der Löwe and competent bike shops such as Sport Mitterer or Sport 2000 Simon are at your service: www.saalfelden-leogang.com/en/region-experience/bike/bikehotels
News and information about Saalfelden Leogang can be found on saalfelden-leogang.com, instagram.com/Saalfelden_Leogang or facebook.com/SaalfeldenLeogang.