The alpine village of Leogang has long been a household name for ambitious freeriders. Not only in Europe,
also worldwide. Leogang has been the location for high-calibre films such as "New World Disorder", top events such as "26Trix" and "White Style".
events such as "26Trix" or "White Style", and next year the UCI World Championships will even be held here.
will be held here next year. Leogang is therefore not only one of the best-known and most successful bike parks, but also one of the oldest.
but also one of the oldest. The Leogangers are constantly improving their offer and wresting new stunts and routes from the unfortunately very steep terrain.
new stunts and routes from the unfortunately very steep terrain.
The routes
There are four main trails. The "Hangman", "Flying Gangster" and "Bongo Bongo" freeride trails and the
rough, root-infested downhill trail "Speedster". Only "Hangman" starts from the summit station at
1740 metres. It leads through the forest over wooden ladders and root passages, but most of the 420 metres in altitude
metres in altitude, the "Hangman" winds its way down over bumpy, rough berms on the ski slope. In the bends there is
in the bends, which makes it less fun. The gondola ride to the top is therefore not really worth it.
From the middle station, "Hangman" gets a flow shower, where it is recommended for beginners, bikes with less suspension travel or for warming up.
less suspension travel or for warming up. The route is peppered with mini-doubles (not always correctly
dimensioned) and bermed corners. It's a pity that many metres in altitude are lost on forest tracks
on forest tracks.
The centrepiece of Leogang is definitely the fast fun trail "Flying Gangster", the "freest" descent in the park. It starts from the middle station. Its approximately 480 metres in altitude are packed with jumps, wooden berms, wall rides and mostly well-built wooden drops. The course conveys beautiful flight sensations and is therefore an absolute crowd favourite for good reason. Annoying: the strong braking grooves in the last, steep section; anyone who has grabbed a big bike will be delighted. In our eyes, this is the best choice for Leogang anyway. In the valley, the "Flying Gangster" leads into the large slopestyle park with its drop batteries, wall rides and other gimmicks.
"Bongo Bongo" is the name of the newest and shortest trail in Leogang. It branches off from the "Flying Gangster" about halfway down. Just before the bridge, turn left, you need to know that. The "Bongo Bongo" is a technical trail. It leads over root fields, earth steps and Northshore ladders. Unfortunately, they are so wide that you just roll over them - without a kick. We would like to see more gimmicks here, such as low skinnies. In wet conditions, the "Bongo Bongo" quickly becomes "tricky". You don't usually want to ride this trail more than once a day, the fun seismograph is too weak for that.
Big bike purists love the "Speedster" downhill course with its legendary root carpets. It challenges even experts and is therefore a regular tour stop for the Downhill World Cup. In wet conditions, the "Speedster" quickly becomes dangerous and uncontrollable. Unfortunately, it still retains moisture when other tracks have long since dried out. Exemplary: the fast gondola and the large stunt park at the valley station. Here you can practise until sunset - even when the gondola is not in operation. Features: Dual slalom course, logrides, children's course, small and large drop batteries and even a foampit. A bag jump is due to be installed soon. By the way: If you want to look for trails away from the park, you can start the 5-gondola tour from here.
Information about the Bikepark Leogang:
- Routes: 4
- Lift: Gondola
- Start of season: May
- Opening hours: 9.00 - 16.30
- Day ticket adult: 35,50 Euro
- Bike hire: yes
- Driving technique school: yes
- Info phone: +43 (0)6583-8219
- E-mail: info@bikepark-leogang.com
Distances:
- Stuttgart 4.5 hours
- Munich 2 hours
- Frankfurt 6 hours
- Berlin 8 hours
- Innsbruck 2 hours
- Basel 6 hours
Overall rating: 8 out of 10 possible points
A big plus: the beautiful natural trails of Saalbach-Hinterglemm are just a stone's throw away.
Further information at http://www.bikepark-leogang.com/
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
