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I been building a pumptrack...

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,699
Champery, Switzerland
...for free beer all summer!

It is at the bottom of the lift in Morgins, Switzerland where we also build the DH tracks. Check it out.





This berm rips!



I am really bad at driving the excavator!







First laps.





View from the bar





BBQ time



My buddy Julien testing the lips



End of the last building day




The DH tracks up on the mountain held up really well over the winter. I just had a run on the red trail and everything is working well. We will touch it up and get her ready for the season anyway. The blue run is all ready to go and the black run will get some love right after the red is done. Beginning of June the lifts are open!
 
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slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
I was weary of even opening this thread.... I knew it would blow my mind and make me green with envy. I don't just want to travel there every once in a while, I want to that to travel to here so I can ride it all the time.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Im going to say exactly what Ive said on pinkbike. If we finally perfect cloning I petition for you to be the first. That pumptrack makes me want to take my hardtail with me when we visit you but the guys would have probably killed me ;) Im envious of anyone living even remotly close. Good job Ben.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,559
24,181
media blackout
I was weary of even opening this thread.... I knew it would blow my mind and make me green with envy. I don't just want to travel there every once in a while, I want to that to travel to here so I can ride it all the time.
seriously. everytime i open a buckoW thread I want to move to Switzerland.
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,699
Champery, Switzerland
Haha, thanks everyone!

Why don't you guys just start coming over more often? I am sure you'd get along great with my friends and I.

Norbar, I have a hardtail you can borrow if you want.

Here are a couple more pics.

The steam roller was so sketchy!



Spreading the "blanc de Bex"



The digger driver and I after a solid day's work.



I got a call today that I start building the 4X track for Worlds in 2 weeks!
 
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norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Id probably suck at pump tracking since I have like 1 lousy season of ht riding experiance but why the hell not, thanks. Comming more often would be a great idea when I stop working part time part studying.
But we can allways gather all the monkeys and buy a cheese factory in switzerland to start a bike commune somewhere there ;)
 

John P.

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,170
0
Golden, CO
I was weary of even opening this thread.... I knew it would blow my mind and make me green with envy.
seriously. everytime i open a buckoW thread I want to move to Switzerland.
Quoted for truth.

On a related note, I'll be over there for World's with my two bosses. We'll be spectating 4X Friday and DH Sunday, but we're wide open on Saturday. Point us in the right direction for some riding, buckoW!
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,699
Champery, Switzerland
First, WTF is that stuff?

Second, I need to quit my job.
It is called, "blanc de Bex" in French. It is the magic mix for making roads, BMX tracks and stuff like that. I only use it if I want to reduce maintenance and make it perfect. It makes a hard layer and doesn't let the water soak in too much when it rains.

Bex is just down the road and we ride DH train shuttles there.

Bex last weekend



one of the jumps on a trail called "Mythique." I built it with a snow shovel and an ice axe.



Another train shuttle spot we rode over the weekend.







 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,699
Champery, Switzerland
Quoted for truth.

On a related note, I'll be over there for World's with my two bosses. We'll be spectating 4X Friday and DH Sunday, but we're wide open on Saturday. Point us in the right direction for some riding, buckoW!
I'd go ride Morgins or Chatel. I need to give you detailed directions for how to get there on the lifts. You could start from Champery and take a coupe runs here on a new trail I built in Les Crosets with sweet berms then ride down to Morgins and ride there for the afternoon and finish by riding down to a train that brings you right to the tram in Champéry where you started.

Let's have a beer when you are here and I'll point you in the right direction.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
So what happens when you crash on the "blanc de Bex"
The same when you crash on hard ground. Its not concrete. I think they use the same in Winterberg and Leogang. It is great and allows you to ride in really wet conditions even in rain as there will only be puddles, not mud. At least that is my experiance from other euro parks.
 

Routier07

Monkey
Mar 14, 2009
259
0
I'd go ride Morgins or Chatel. I need to give you detailed directions for how to get there on the lifts. You could start from Champery and take a coupe runs here on a new trail I built in Les Crosets with sweet berms then ride down to Morgins and ride there for the afternoon and finish by riding down to a train that brings you right to the tram in Champéry where you started.

Let's have a beer when you are here and I'll point you in the right direction.
So if someone lived in Champery but worked "down the valley", he could commute into work with his downhill bike??

Sounds like I need to move to europe!
 

Tmeyer

Monkey
Mar 26, 2005
585
1
SLC
Killin me, just all the more reason to get over there with a bike SOON! Keep the pics coming if possible!
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,699
Champery, Switzerland
So if someone lived in Champery but worked "down the valley", he could commute into work with his downhill bike??

Sounds like I need to move to europe!
Champery is up a valley and the trails are too flat for a DH bike to get down to the cities. Montreux would be the spot around here for DH riding to and from work. There are lots of other cities in Switzerland with lift accessed DH riding by a train, funiculaire or tram.

Here is a photo from the first day.



70 of these.



train shuttles



The design process during a BBQ, haha. I am terrible at drawing plans.

 
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Fool

The Thing cannot be described
Sep 10, 2001
2,759
1,470
Brooklyn
You don't even own an alarm clock, do you. First, the smile comes, then the eyes open and another awesome day begins for you.

Love these threads. Keep sharing the gold.
 

Huck Banzai

Turbo Monkey
May 8, 2005
2,523
23
Transitory
You don't even own an alarm clock, do you. First, the smile comes, then the eyes open and another awesome day begins for you.

Love these threads. Keep sharing the gold.
The inverse of my day(s).

Change a brewin! Ill be old, poor, and in all likelihood toothless, but I'll smile a lot.
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,699
Champery, Switzerland
Hey Buckow, You there all summer this year? I will be there on and off all of August and part of July with Nigel. Let me know!
Yeah, I am around. I have a lot of building to do between Morgins and getting Champéry ready for World Champs. Come ride Morgins!


On another note, I was checking on this spot I built last year in Plaffein, Switzerland the other day. It's starting to look pretty good with the grass growing in on the sides of the jumps.





and another from the pumptrack build