Riding in Hafjell
For the past ~5 years I've had mountain biking as a hobby, mostly riding the excellent trails in Bymarka, in all seasons. However, beyond various local trails and mountains, I haven't visited many bike parks. I've ridden in Åre Bike Park a few times as well as China Camp State Park in Marin County, as part of a San Francisco visit. This summer I decided visiting a bike park in my own country was long overdue.
After considering a few different parks, my choice landed on Hafjell Bike Park. One of Norway's best locations for downhill biking, and the host of multiple downhill world cups. Instead of renting a bike, I wanted to try my own trusty Rocky Mountain Altitude on the trails. While not a proper downhill bike, it's described as an "aggressive trail" bike.
Hafjell offered a great trail selection, varying from single-track nature trails with lots of rocks and roots to speedy banked trails with exciting jumps.
My favorite trails:
- New school and Old school - Single-track nature trails with challenging terrain, without being too gnarly.
- Moetown - Probably the most popular. Not particularly challenging, but lots of fun jumps and banked corners. Smooth enough to ride really fast!
- Buldreløypa - A combination of nature trail and machine-built trail, and jumps.
- Ekspressen - Fast trail with many steep sections. Part of the World Championship trail.
Over the course of three days I rode approximately 46 km of down hill. I also found the threshold for how much continuous riding my grip my could handle as I could barely force my fingers to brake on the last day.
For mountain bike enthusiasts I highly recommend visiting Hafjell, at least once!
See below for a couple of videos captured with my GoPro.
Moetown
(after a beer or two)