Spring is coming! We will be posting bi-weekly status reports with pics through spring so keep checking back to know when the downhill is fully rideable.
Snow melt begins in April and we plan to open May 24th - Memorial Day weekend.
As of April 26th, 2008: “The snowpack is between 2-5ft. depending on sun exposure.This includes from Berger Campground to Butcher trail. Our estimated time for shuttling is still Memorial Day weekend.
~ Greg”
From Yuba Expeditions: TRAIL SHUTTLES AVAILABLE SPRING ‘08 (we hope)
“The Forest Service will start limiting mountain bike use in the Downieville area, starting with YUBA Expeditions. The FS wants to impose a 3% tax on YUBA’s gross revenues from shuttles and bike demos, which is a sizeable amount of the net profit. The funds collected under this program will be used to pay a FS employee to administer the program and to conduct “user-conflict” studies, not for needed trail maintenance or rehabilitation- that task is left to our local non-profit, the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. Under this agreement, the FS would be able to dictate how many customers YUBA caters to in a season, as well as define the days and times of shuttle operations. These new fees and restrictions will no doubt force YUBA to raise prices and reduce the number of trips, which could eventually lead to YUBA closing it’s doors. We’ll keep you posted on how this whole thing pans out, but for now we remain optimistic and are hoping for another great season in Downieville.” www.yubaexpeditions.com
Sunday was a stellar day to ride Downieville. The trail was in great condition - just damp enough so that traction was right on and no dust! The riding weather was really good too - a little cool on top and then just right a little further down the mountain. I think the fall is the most awesome time to ride DVille.
The most important tip is to just get out there and ride your bike on the Downieville Downhill. It’s all fun! Curtis Opperman on the Butcher Ranch trail
The ride at Downieville this weekend was the earliest ever! We had some snow drifts at the top but the rest of the trail was awesome riding! The trail hasn’t been cleaned up from the winter so there are lots of rocks, trees and debris; the trail is rough —– so it’s perfect for downhill bikes!
The new jerseys are in! L2R: Joe, Nancy, Erick, Randy, Sean, Cristy & Steve (click to view larger pic)
The snow is melting fast so Downieville should be open in a couple of weeks.
From Downieville Outfitters: ” We will offer a different DH shuttle covering 3000 ft over the course of 6 miles. We have put in many hours to reopen this old logging trail and will have it open in mid-Spring.”
The Downieville DH online registration opens Monday April 16th at 8:00 pm. It usually sells out in a few hours. If you’re gonna race it you gotta get signed up first - so mark this date on your calendar! Sign up at the regular site: http://www.downievilleclassic.com/
DH Race- Sunday July 15th, 2007 17 miles, 5,000′ descent, oh yeah. The Downieville Downhill is the longest and most demanding dh race course in the country (new longer and sweeter course with the addition of Sunrise Trail).
Downieville, California * Sunday November 19th, 2006
The riding is still awesome at Downieville and there are no crowds! The trail was a little wet on top but most of the trail was tacky for mega traction, plus no dust to be seen anywhere!
We rode the Sunrise Trail for the first time this weekend and it is awesome. This new trail (it opened October 14th, 2006) runs from Packer Saddle to the Butcher Ranch trailhead. You can now bypass the ride down the road and rail some fantastic singletrack at the same time! Many thanks to the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship for all the great work on this project!
Cristy mob’n the rocks…. she cleaned it (see next photo)
Shuttles are running to Packer Saddle. Downieville Outfitters says "There will be patches of snow leading up to Butcher Ranch and some small patches at the top of Butcher." According to Yuba Expeditions there is still snow above 6500' ft and Packer Saddle (elev. 7,100) is passable with minimum drifts. Butcher Ranch is the first trail to open and it is looking SWEET with the recent work the SBTS trail crew and volunteers have done.
At the top of the road we’re usually up to our axles in snow this late in November, so this ride was a special treat! Packer Saddle had been snowed in earlier in November but lucky for us it melted and dhReno took full advantage of it!
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Downieville, Rides | Tagged: downieville downhill, downieville outfitters | 
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Posted by dhreno
Shuttles are running to Packer Saddle. 
