The celebration summer at Levi Bike Park will go down in history!

Levi Bike Park, Lapland's first and oldest bike park, saw a huge increase in popularity this summer, 2021, setting a new visitor record. The summer also marked the 15th anniversary of Levi Bike Park, celebrated with a relaxed birthday weekend full of biking. Additionally, Levi's most popular trail, Santa's Cabin, made a return with new changes.

Santa's Cabin captivated the downhill crowd

After the snow melted from the fell at the end of May, the Levi Bike Park Crew began their usual trail maintenance by inspecting the damage caused by melting snow, which guided the repairs made on the fell throughout the summer. The repairs started, as always, with the easiest trails, Village Trail and Blue Groove. The Village Trail, which opened 2020, won the hearts of many bikers and encouraged new riders to try the sport. The Village Trail is Levi’s longest bike park-style trail, over four kilometers long, offering easy turns and thrilling speed along with beautiful scenery. One of Levi Bike Park's most popular trails, Blue Groove, also suffered more damage than other trails this year. Last summer, parts of the Blue Groove trail were moved into the forest to avoid the worst damage, and at the beginning of the summer, a small wooden bridge was built to cover the worst melt damage. Later in the summer, the trail received new planks for the gap jump midway through, turning it into a rideable wooden bridge.

After repairing the Blue Groove trail, the Bike Park Crew moved on to fixing the red-rated trails on the fell, which are by far the most popular. Last summer, the World Cup Red underwent major changes, with the upper section moved to the rocky area. This year, the trail was quickly restored with little effort. The Offgämber enduro trail, built at the end of last summer, also received some minor improvements with the removal of a few large rocks and the maintenance of bridges. Rocky Road also saw the removal of the biggest tire wreckers but remained true to its name.

The biggest changes this summer were made to the revamped Santa's Cabin trail, which reopened at the end of July after a two-year hiatus. The eagerly awaited trail received exciting updates, including larger berms, table jumps, and wooden bridges. The upgrades were very successful, as the trail received a lot of positive feedback. By the end of the summer, it had become the most popular trail of the season. Additionally, the black Levi World Cup Black trail received new variations at the end of the summer, including the old-school version and the much-talked-about Black is the new Black from the Levi Midnight Enduro races.

Trails in celebration condition: Levi Bike Park 15th anniversary and Levi Bike Fest

The absolute highlight of the summer was, of course, the Levi Bike Park 15th-anniversary celebration on the first weekend of July. During the birthday weekend, Levi Bike Park hosted various events, including group rides in the midnight sun, biking in the golden light of a summer evening with the Gondoli2000 lift running until midnight. The weekend featured group rides on the fell, timed pump track competitions, an enduro race organized by Enduro juniors, a Battery Poker Run with checkpoints along the fell trails, and the hugely popular Battery Grass Slalom Challenge.

At the end of July, the fell also hosted a five-day biking event – Levi Bike Fest. The main event was the traditional Levi Midnight Enduro, which for the first time was part of the EWS Gold Qualifier series in the enduro European Championship. In addition to various races, Levi Bike Fest offered other activities, such as family biking orienteering and the popular Puss Camp courses.

The Popularity of Cycling is Reflected in Increased Visitor Numbers and Future Investments

The season at Levi Bike Park, located in the Arctic region, opened at midsummer, and the trails were ready to welcome bikers of all levels. The popularity of biking was evident in the increased visitor numbers at Levi Bike Park this summer, with a staggering 23,500 descents on trails of all levels by the end of August. The sale of lift tickets also grew compared to the previous summer, with a 57% increase in lift ticket sales this summer. It was also encouraging to see beginners and those new to the sport on the trails and in the bike park guides this summer. Group sessions, which were held three times a week in July and August, became particularly popular. The Bike Park team is also planning future projects for the coming summers, aiming to make lift-accessed biking even more accessible with easy trails and a practice area.

At this point, it is time to thank everyone for the past summer, reminisce a little with the Levi Bike Park 15th-anniversary video, and say that we'll see you again next summer!