Falls Creek is getting a new DH trail

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Dirt Art has just kicked off the construction of a brand new UCI spec DH course at Falls Creek Resort.

The plan to build a downhill race course was announced in 2021 in the Falls Creek Future Trails plan that also laid out plans for Skyline, Downtown and Heavy Metal. With funding and the required approvals, it has taken until now to get to a stage where construction can begin. This also comes after a couple of seasons disrupted by weather and natural disasters like the landslide on Bogong High Plains Road.

That trio of trails was the fifth stage of the Resort’s long-term development plan. The DH course and some other trail work comprise stage six, and then stage seven is a massive expansion that could see up to 30km of singletrack on the south side of the Resort heading up towards Mount McKay.

We caught up with the folks at Falls Creek Resort and Simon French from Dirt Art to get the lowdown on what they’re working on and what it means for downhill in the alpine.

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What’s happening in Falls Creek?

This has all been bubbling away in the background since the first three trails were constructed, and Bridget Halsall from Falls Creek tells us that it’s been made possible by the Alpine Business Support Package (ABSP), and the new DH trail is one of eight projects funded to help drive green season visitation, and business and job opportunities in the high country.

“The downhill trail has been on our radar since 2021, and we’ve just been ticking off all of the environmental approvals we needed,” she says. “It was a big process and took a fair amount of work, but it’s all gone through, and Dirt Art will be up here building from Monday (February 24).”

With that, highlighting that Falls Creek has made a point of saying this trail will be built to UCI spec, we asked if something like hosting a World Cup was on the cards.

“The trail will be built to UCI spec to give Falls Creek the opportunity to host national and international downhill events in the future,” she says

While there is no doubt Falls is dreaming big with this new trail, given the rearrangement of the DH World Cup and the major rules overhaul that will be implemented from this season, it puts a new significance on having infrastructure like this with the UCI’s push for Continental Series racing around the globe.

What does it actually mean to build a UCI spec DH course?

Contained with the UCI rule book, there are parameters on what a course needs to have to be eligible to host a class one UCI event, encompassing UCI World Championships, UCI World Cup, Continental Championships, Continental Series, and Hors Class.

“It’s typically around race time, elevation and access to uplift and turn around. There’s about a dozen things you have to be able to hit to be capable of hosting that type of event,” explains Dirt Art’s Simon French. “Some of them are course-related, and some of them are more about venue logistics.”

The key ones listed in the UCI rule book states the ‘duration of the event’ must be between two and five minutes and a maximum course length of 3.5km. There are a whole number of rider safety parameters surrounding B Zones, the size of the finishing area and even the floor of the start box, but one of the big ones is that there must be a way to provide transport capable of carrying 250 riders and their bikes per hour to the top of the course — this is an increase from 100 per hour in the 2024 rule book.

While it’s unlikely that Falls Creek could have foreseen the UCI’s rule changes, having a trail that ticks these boxes means it can host the new Continental Series races, Oceania Champs or even something bigger.

What about the course?

Falls Creek isn’t the steepest hill in Australia, but there is still plenty of elevation to play with. The alignment will run from the summit and French tells us it will slot in between Wishing Well and Zipper down to the bottom of the Gully Chair.

This new course at Falls Creek will cover 1.8km and see a 270m vertical drop.

Because of the environmental approvals, the concept design and alignment were already locked in prior to Dirt Art securing the tender for the build, but French tells us they have found some pretty wild features to include.

‘There are a couple of big rock slabs that are going to work well as rock rolls. But because we’re in the alpine environment, we’re a bit constrained in terms of how much width we can use and how many alternative lines we can put within the trail itself,” French says.

“There is some really cool rock up around the top, then it sort of goes into the tree line a bit further down, and there is a section for some big sweeping switchback turns. There is definitely a fair bit to work with up there,” he says.

With the topography of the resort and the terrain surrounding the alignment, French tells us that he doesn’t expect it to be a super high-speed, wide-open course and that it should suit tech-focused riders.

“The rock features through the upper and middle of the course will be the key features, but there is also scope to put in some jumps near the bottom when we’re out of the alpine,” he continues.

When can you ride the new DH trail in Falls Creek?

The Dirt Art team is on the ground as we speak, with Darcy Coutts — who was one of the leading trail builders responsible for the Red Bull Hardline Course at Maydena — running the show.

Halsall tells us the Resort isn’t forecasting the course to be open until at least November, with the team on the ground aiming to have everything cut ahead of winter, to then be tidied up and ready to rock for shredding next season.