A mountain biker gets airborne on the Redline Trail at the Mt. Bachelor Bike Park.

Mt. Bachelor’s Redline Trail is one of the most renowned expert-level downhill mountain biking trails in the area, but it’s a short season for riders.

The trail opened at the Mt. Bachelor Bike Park on Aug. 5, and will remain open through Oct. 1 on a modified schedule.

“It is a short window,” said Lauren Burke, director of marketing and communications at Bachelor. “Especially in a season like last season when we got late snowfall throughout the spring. There was a significant amount of snow removal required to get to the actual trail maintenance work and rework the irrigation system.

“It definitely takes a lot to open, especially in years like this, but it’s such a core part of our bike park. Once Redline opens you really start to see the level of riders in the park pick up as well.”

The level of riders might be at its highest on Wednesday, when the region’s top downhillers take part in the Redline Rally. The invitation-only event will feature top local riders such as Bend’s Carson Storch, Matt Edelston, Kirt Voreis and Marissa Krawczak. Spectators are welcome and can watch from designated areas on the mountain. Riding is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and run through 2 p.m.

“It’s such special event,” Burke said. “It’s going to be quite the day of riding out there, the best of the best.”

Burke called Redline a “true downhill trail.” The trail features numerous jumps, berms and features for riders to catch serious air and speed as they cruise down the slopes of the volcano.

“There is nothing like it in the area,” Burke said of Redline. “It has a complete irrigation system in order to maintain the dirt and features there. It gets a ton of maintenance to keep it up to that expert-level riding standard.”

Intermediate trails

For those looking for tamer trails, the Bachelor Bike Park has quite a few. The Little Pine Chairlift provides access to beginner terrain, while the Pine Marten lift offers intermediate as well as advanced trails. Riders can progress from beginner trails off of Little Pine to intermediate trails off of Pine Marten such as Lava Flow and Cone Run.

The Gravicross event was staged last Saturday at the bike park, as about 65 riders came out to compete on the variety of trails.

“It was a really solid turnout,” Burke said. “A ton of our local riders came out. It was great to see an event of that level happen again at the bike park.”

Surviving the smoke

As with all outdoor sports and activities pretty much every August and September in Central Oregon, Bachelor’s bike park has been dealing with smoke from wildfires. But Burke said that so far this summer there has only been one afternoon when the resort suspended operations due to poor air quality.

“Some days it’s clear at Bachelor, while it’s really socked in in town, and other days it’s the complete opposite,” Burke said. “So we just continue to monitor it very closely. Obviously, the health of our employees and guests is going to be our no. 1 priority. All in all, we have been able to keep the bike park up and running as the smoke stays relatively moderate.”

The bike park is scheduled to remain open daily through Labor Day (Sept. 4), and then will shift to a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule starting Sept. 7 and ending Oct. 1.

The park will also be affected by construction on the new six-person Skyliner Chairlift, scheduled to open in late December.

Daily bike park passes range from $25 to $69, depending on terrain, age and time of day. A full-day adult ticket can be purchased online for $59.

For more information, visit mtbachelor.com.