The trails on the Ettelsberg in Willingen have been around for a long time. They have always been somewhat overshadowed by the nearby Winterberg park. Wrongly so, in our opinion, because the freeride run is really fun. Since the chairlift has been replaced by a gondola, you can reach the summit quickly.
The routes
There are two tracks: the freeride track and the former World Cup downhill. The "Freeride" track winds its way down into the valley over 1.6 kilometres and 200 vertical metres as a wide, weatherproof crushed sand track, with well-built table jumps and banked turns. You can have fun here even with little suspension travel, as the track can be ridden at high speed and allows for airtime. Northshore ladders branch off next to the track, with drops up to 1.5 metres high. Everything is solid and well built.
The "downhill" starts over a ramp with gap drops, wide jump combos and double jumps. You have to dare to do that. The downhill is challenging in general - no wonder, as World Cup races and the annual "Wheels of Speed" take place here. But you can also ride around the crazy stuff. If you can, you'll experience a veritable orgy of jumps, as the Willingen World Cup was considered an absolute new-school format and was more like a gigantic fourcross course. Only experts will get their money's worth on this course. Ideal: combine a visit to Willingen with Winterberg.
Information about the Bikepark Willingen:
- Routes: 2
- Lift: Gondola
- Start of season: April
- Opening hours: 9.00-17.00
- Day ticket : 28,50 Euro
- Bike hire: yes
- Driving technique school: no
- Info phone: +49 (0)5632-969820
- E-mail: info@ettelsberg-seilbahn.de
Distances:
- Stuttgart 4.5 hours
- Munich 6 hours
- Frankfurt 2.5 hours
- Berlin 5 hours
- Innsbruck 7.5 hours
- Basel 5.5 hours
Overall rating: 7 out of 10 possible points
On the former downhill course, however, only experts get their money's worth. Nice: the fourcross course down in the valley.
Further information at http://www.ettelsberg-seilbahn.de/
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
