MOUNT BACHELOR — Downhill mountain biking is not necessarily for everybody.

Riding a chairlift up the mountain and then letting gravity take over as you twist around banked turns and fly over man-made jumps takes a certain amount of skill and confidence before taking the plunge.

With that in mind, Mt. Bachelor has added access to some easier trails for visitors to explore during the resort’s second full summer. Trails will open Friday.

In addition to the Pine Marten chairlift, the Sunshine lift will operate within the bike park, giving mountain bikers access to less-intimidating trails such as First Timer Line and lower Lava Flow.

“What I hope people figure out about the park is that if regular trail-riders come and put in a couple days in the park, their downhill skills will improve five years’ worth of trail-riding in two days,” says Tom Lomax, director of mountain operations at Mt. Bachelor. “It’s unreal. Everybody’s riding 5½-inch enduro bikes now, so come up here and learn how to use it.”

I had the chance to take some pre-opening rides with Lomax at Bachelor last month. Because the lifts were not operating yet, we got a few shuttle rides in Lomax’s pickup truck to the top of the Sunshine lift.

The FTL trail features banked turns, several jumps and some man-made wood features as it carves through trees and lava rock to the base of the mountain. Lomax easily went airborne on several jumps, but getting air is not required on the trail. FTL includes many of the same features as more-challenging trails within the park, such as upper Lava Flow, but on a smaller scale. The banked turns, rollers, jumps, paver sections, wood sections and drops are all smaller and less steep than what mountain bikers will experience higher on the mountain.

“It’s all to get you ready to ride up above,” Lomax says. “This whole green pod (easier trails) will be perfect for somebody who has never ridden downhill mountain biking at all. You can come here and maybe spend a whole day. It’s shorter laps, about three-quarters of a mile, so it’s not as tiring. It’s a shorter lift ride. You won’t be way up on the mountain and feel like you don’t know where you’re at.”

Mountain bikers who need even more of an introduction to downhill riding can start in the skills park at the bottom of Pine Marten, where they can practice on sets of progressively more challenging banked turns, rollers and jumps. They can start small and develop confidence before riding the chairlift with their bike. (A pass for just the skills park is $5, while one-day lift passes for the bike park range from $14 to $34.)

Riders can also take lessons or attend bike camps to improve their downhill skills. Jason Montoya, who runs the lessons and camps at Bachelor, says he plans to spend lots of time in the skills park and on trails near the Sunshine lift, working with novice bikers.

“It’s amazing how many people struggle just standing and being able to move the bike independently,” Montoya says. “Lean forward and back and move the bike side to side. … They’re trying to sit with one foot down and trying to go through these features and every time they go over a bump they just get thrown. A full-suspension bike is good, but when you can use your legs as suspension, too, it makes all the difference.”

The FTL, Lava Flow, Rattlesnake, Hanger, Blade Runner and Cone Run trails will be open and accessible Friday, according to Lomax. The Way Out and Last Chance trails will open later this month. Rockfall, an expert-only trail that will be built near the Thunderbird Run, is scheduled to open by late August. Construction of additional trails — some excavated and some hand-built singletrack — will continue into next summer.

About 4 miles of cross-country trails have also been incorporated into the park at the base of the mountain. Bachelor will host its XC Race Series on three Wednesdays at 6 p.m.: July 15, July 29 and Aug. 12. Its Gravity Race Series will be staged on three Fridays at 6 p.m.: July 24, Aug. 7, and Aug. 21.

Biking with Lomax last month, it was easy to forget we were on a ski hill. After riding FTL a couple of times, we took Cone Run across the mountain to the cinder cone. We came across only one patch of snow — a winter of sparse snow is a primary reason why the bike park will open this season 10 days earlier than last season.

Novice riders as well as advanced downhill mountain bikers should be able to find trails to match their skill levels at the Bachelor park.

“It feels like the park is getting mature as far as the amount of trails that we have,” Lomax says. “There’s a lot of different options you’re going to be able to put together. By mid-summer, there’s really going to be a lot of riding available.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0318,

mmorical@bendbulletin.com

Editor’s note: Mountain Bike Trail Guide, by Bulletin outdoors writer Mark Morical, features various trails in Central Oregon and beyond. The trail guide appears in Outdoors on alternating Wednesdays through the riding season.

Mt. Bachelor Bike Park

Schedule: Open to the public beginning Friday; hours Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. After Sept. 7, schedule will be Fridays through Sundays through early October.

Daily lift tickets: $34 for adults from 11 a.m. to close; $19 from 3 p.m. to close on Fridays through Sundays.

Gear: Riders are required to wear a helmet and closed-toe shoes, and mountain bikes must have functional brakes. Bikers are encouraged to ride full-suspension bikes with a minimum of 5 inches of travel and wear a full-face helmet with additional body armor. (Bikes are available for rent at Bachelor.)

Directions: From Bend, drive 20 miles southwest on Century Drive to Mt. Bachelor’s West Village Lodge parking lot. Pine Marten Express and Sunshine chairlifts will serve downhill mountain bikers.

Features: Several different routes of varying difficulty, including excavated trails and hand-built singletrack. Easier trails will be accessible via the Sunshine lift.

Length: Trails and routes range from about 1 to 4 miles. Vertical drop is 1,360 feet.

Rating: Aerobically easy (no climbing!) and technically intermediate, advanced or expert, depending on the trail. Trail signage will be posted.