Mark Hayes of Highland Bike Park (#55)

02/19/22 • 72 min

Trail EAffect

Trail EAffect Episode 55 Mark Hayes of Highland Bike Park

This episode first aired on January 27th, 2022 on Mountain Bike Radio

Topics Covered:

The Mark Hayes Back Story
How a trip to Whistler Bike Park inspired Mark to create Highland Bike Park
How Mark found the property to build out Highland Bike Park
The details around Highland Bike Park
The Importance of entry level trails for growing the customer base and mountain biking in general
What is a beginner trail and incorporating the lesson component of the business
Getting people into mountain biking
The overview of Highland as a business and a brand
- Platform A – Highland Bike Park
- Platform B – Camps
- Platform C – Highland Trails (Trail Building outside of Highland)
The impact of Covid on Highland in 2020
How Highland Bike Park also serves as a training facility for educating trail builders for Highland Trails
Building the Highland Team
The Evolution of trails from the start of Highland to today
The Evolution of Trails in terms of creating a trail system that constantly progresses as the rider’s progress.
ASSF – Amplitude, Speed, Sightlines and Frequency according to Brian Finestone (former manager of Whistler Bike Park)
Famous Failures / Learning Experiences by Mark Hayes
- The indoor bike park structure
The differences between Private Bike Parks and Public Trails, and what Private Bike Parks offer over public trails
The Foothills Foundation, the public trails non profit that Mark is president of
The 1%er’s
Public Trails and Maintenance
The Upside of great trails in your community
The ingredients that make a great trail community according to Mark
Asphalt Pumptracks
Closing Comments
- Making the sport accessible to everyone
- Continuous Learning
- E-Bikes
Thanking the Team at Highland Bike Park

Links:

Highland Bike Park: https://www.highlandmountain.com/

Highland Trails: https://www.highlandmountain.com/trail-building-services/about/

Highland Training and Camps: https://www.highlandmountain.com/camps-lessons/camps/overview/choose-your-camp/

Highland YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/HighlandMountainBikePark

The Foothills Foundation: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/8684f506713c4b32b144dda45894fb48?item=1

Support for Trail EAffect Comes from Smith’s Bike Shop in La Crosse, WI https://smithsbikes.com/

This show has been edited and produced by Evolution Trail Services, for more information go to:

Evolution Trail Services: www.evotrails.com

Contact Josh at [email protected]

Support the Trail EAffect through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/traileaffect

Trail EAffect Episode 55 Mark Hayes of Highland Bike Park

This episode first aired on January 27th, 2022 on Mountain Bike Radio

Topics Covered:

The Mark Hayes Back Story
How a trip to Whistler Bike Park inspired Mark to create Highland Bike Park
How Mark found the property to build out Highland Bike Park
The details around Highland Bike Park
The Importance of entry level trails for growing the customer base and mountain biking in general
What is a beginner trail and incorporating the lesson component of the business
Getting people into mountain biking
The overview of Highland as a business and a brand
- Platform A – Highland Bike Park
- Platform B – Camps
- Platform C – Highland Trails (Trail Building outside of Highland)
The impact of Covid on Highland in 2020
How Highland Bike Park also serves as a training facility for educating trail builders for Highland Trails
Building the Highland Team
The Evolution of trails from the start of Highland to today
The Evolution of Trails in terms of creating a trail system that constantly progresses as the rider’s progress.
ASSF – Amplitude, Speed, Sightlines and Frequency according to Brian Finestone (former manager of Whistler Bike Park)
Famous Failures / Learning Experiences by Mark Hayes
- The indoor bike park structure
The differences between Private Bike Parks and Public Trails, and what Private Bike Parks offer over public trails
The Foothills Foundation, the public trails non profit that Mark is president of
The 1%er’s
Public Trails and Maintenance
The Upside of great trails in your community
The ingredients that make a great trail community according to Mark
Asphalt Pumptracks
Closing Comments
- Making the sport accessible to everyone
- Continuous Learning
- E-Bikes
Thanking the Team at Highland Bike Park

Links:

Highland Bike Park: https://www.highlandmountain.com/

Highland Trails: https://www.highlandmountain.com/trail-building-services/about/

Highland Training and Camps: https://www.highlandmountain.com/camps-lessons/camps/overview/choose-your-camp/

Highland YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/HighlandMountainBikePark

The Foothills Foundation: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/8684f506713c4b32b144dda45894fb48?item=1

Support for Trail EAffect Comes from Smith’s Bike Shop in La Crosse, WI https://smithsbikes.com/

This show has been edited and produced by Evolution Trail Services, for more information go to:

Evolution Trail Services: www.evotrails.com

Contact Josh at [email protected]

Support the Trail EAffect through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/traileaffect

Previous Episode

Neko Mulally of Ride Kanuga Bike Park (#54)

Trail EAffect Episode 54 Neko Mulally and Ride Kanuga Bike Park

This episode first aired on January 18th, 2022 on Mountain Bike Radio

Topics Covered:

Neko Mulally Back Story and how he got into Professional WC DH Racing
The formation of Neko’s own race program: Frameworks
- Check out the Downtime and Vital MTB Podcast for more depth on the program
How the concept of Ride Kanuga Bike Park got started
Neko’s take on the land and topography that Ride Kanuga offered
2020 the Pandemic created the time needed to build out Ride Kanuga
Building Ride Kanuga
- How Callie’s trail building experience helped shape the diversity of trails at Ride Kanuga
The Layout of Ride Kanuga
How Ride Kanuga offers a diverse trail experience
How Ride Kanuga / bike parks in general offer a different experience than public access trails
- Diverse Trail Experiences
- Regular Trail Maintenance through paid staff
- Ride Kanuga Country Club
User Numbers at Ride Kanuga and how they have exceeded the expectations of Neko, and how this lets to having 5 trail builders on staff for building and maintenance
The differences between Windrock and Ride Kanuga bike parks
How Windrock Bike Park came to be, Neko’s Perspective on this
What makes Windrock great for high level downhill style downhill tracks to train and race on
500’ of vertical elevation makes for a great bike park
What Neko has incorporated into Ride Kanuga that he’s seen and ridden in other places
- SE Style Jumpline
- England Style Rut Tracks – GNCC
What makes a good trail community according to Neko (Hint: AMBC)
The Ride Kanuga Community
- Ride Kanuga Holiday Party
Downhill Southeast and Enduro Southeast
Neko’s 2022 Sponsors

Links:

Ride Kanuga: https://ridekanuga.com/

Neko’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/NekoMulally/featured

Downtime Podcast Episode with Neko: https://www.downtimepodcast.com/nekobike/

Vital MTB Podcast Episode with Neko: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/Neko-Mulally-Will-Race-Handmade-Alloy-DH-Frames-by-Frank-the-Welder,1407

Neko’s Sponsors and Support

Ride Kanuga: https://ridekanuga.com/

Fox Suspension: https://www.ridefox.com/subhome.php?m=bike

Fox Racing: https://www.foxracing.com/

Maxxis Tires: https://www.maxxis.com/us/tires/bicycle/mountain/

Santa Cruz Reserve Rims: https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/reserve-wheels

GoPro: https://gopro.com/en/us

ODI Grips: https://www.odigrips.com/

Handup Gloves: https://handupgloves.com/

WD40 Bike Products: https://www.wd40.com/products/?category=bike

WTB Tire Sealant: https://www.wtb.com/pages/tcstiresealant

Spank Industries: https://spank-ind.com/

Factor Components: https://www.factorcomponents.com/

Kogel Bearings: https://www.kogel.cc/

Worldwide Cyclery: https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/

Support for Trail EAffect Comes from Smith’s Bike Shop in La Crosse, WI https://smithsbikes.com/

This show has been edited and produced by Evolution Trail Services, for more information go to:

Evolution Trail Services: www.evotrails.com

Contact Josh at [email protected]

Support the Trail EAffect through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/traileaffect

Next Episode

Spider Mountain Bike Park (#56)

Trail EAffect Episode 56 Spider Mountain Bike Park with Christiana Hudson and Suzy Bauer

Trail EAffect will be moving off of Mountain Bike Radio to its own Podcast Feed and will be called:

Trail EAffect.

In order to continue to listen to future Trail EAffect Episodes please check out Trail EAffect everywhere Podcasts are consumed.

Topics Covered:

The Christiana Hudson Backstory
The Suzy Bauer Backstory
The Spider Mountain Back Story
- Inspiration from Jackson Hole
- Other Bike Park Resorts: Purgatory and Pajarito
The first chairlift in Texas
The Lift was purchased from Taos Ski Area & moved to Spider Mtn
The Trail Planning behind Spider Mtn
Suzy’s Perspective of Spider Mtn coming from Colorado, and getting new participants into Mountain Biking
The Future of Mountain Biking in Texas
The Trail Maintenance at Spider Mountain
Beginners at Spider Mountain
- New Beginners Skills Park
- Gear Rental
- Complimentary Tips & Tricks to new riders
- Partners with other Bike Camps and Riders in the area
- Incredible staff
Family Friendly Company
- Power Kids: 12 & Under Ride & Ski for Free
Thunderbird Lodge at Spider Mtn
Other Amenities such as water sports on Lake Buchanan
Numbers at Spider Mtn (only open for 3 years and weird years with the Covid Boost)
Growing the numbers
Next Trail – Advanced Flowtech
Famous Failures & Learning through failure
The Community Aspect of Spider Mountain
- Mountain Biking Community
- Community of Locals in Burnet TX
Closing Comments
- Spider rides much bigger than it is
- Committed to awesome trails on the terrain they have