Nevados Bike Park, Chile

28 Feb 2014

By David Scorer

Since Bike Park Nevados was opened in 2008 it has gone on to establish itself as the most unique mountain bike location in the country, and the most well-known bike park in the whole of South America. Located in the Bío Bío Region of the Chilean Andes, Nevados de Chillán is a trio of mountainous volcanoes consisting of three peaks, the largest of which reaches an altitude 3,212 m (10,538 ft) and is one of the most active volcanoes in the region! The Mountain Bike Centre was designed to be suitable for all, with an emphasis on welcoming families as well as the more serious riders.

There are 8 downhill trails, and as you would expect from any major bike park, the trail gradings are standardised as green, blue, red, and black as you progress up in difficulty. There are also 2 cross country loops of decent length - 5.8km and 4.3km, so there is terrain for the XC riders as well as the downhill brigade.

There is an epic enduro scene at Nevados and this year they play host to the first round of the Enduro World Series. You can find out everything you need to know by visiting the event website here. Nevados is already pretty experienced at hosting major events, having staged numerous rounds of the Chile DH Cup series, 2 national championships, and a host of other regional and international events. So you can be sure they are well set up to put on an awesome show for the Enduro World Series crowd when they roll in to town.

Nevados set out with the objective of providing a unique bike park experience in Chile and they’ve succeeded in creating a classic gravity bike park. And given it’s location south of the equator, it provides an option to riders in the north - especially those in North America, if you’re struggling to get through the winter without riding the bikes. OK so it's about an 11 and a half hour flight from Denver Colorado, just to give you a benchmark, and flying in direct to the capital Santiago will leave you with a 5 hour drive up to the resort, but this is perfectly manageable when the incentive of shredding the trails waits for you at the end. Plus you'll have some great bragging rights on your local trails when you get back, as not many will be dedicated enough to make the trip! So if you fancy riding somewhere completely different this year then take a serious look at Nevados!

This one's in Spanish but got some great riding...

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