Biking in Montana Pedaling Hard To Get Ahead

One of Discovery Basin Ski Area’s chair lifts is running this summer, but instead of hauling skiers and snowboarders up the hillside, it is carrying helmeted downhill mountain bikers.

Ski area president Ciche Pitcher has dusted off his normally dormant lift to carry cyclists uphill for a screaming good ride downhill on almost five miles of bermed, boarded and rolling trails. And if the first couple of weeks are any indication, he may have hit on a new summer business.

“It’s been surprising,” he said. “Our strongest market so far has been Bozeman. It seems like Bozeman has the biggest downhill biking community.”

Opening forests

Pitcher’s creation of a mountain biking destination comes in the wake of the Forest Service’s decision this spring to open up federal lands used by ski areas to summer recreation.

Although Discovery Basin is operating on private land, Pitcher said the directives could allow expansion of his summer business in the future if warranted. The Forest Service estimates its new policy could lead to an additional 600,000 summer visits to national forests. The agency said of the 122 ski areas now operating on 180,000 acres of federal land, the change could add 600 full- or part-time jobs and mean a $40 million infusion for mountain communities.

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