Mountain biking is a young sport, with just over 30 years under its belt. That's a good age to look back. And there are interesting parallels in the development of mountain biking regions over the years: Every tourist region, every city, every agglomeration municipality goes through the same phases. Pioneers have already gone through several of these stages, while the stragglers go through the same process again. In mountain biking, the same music is obviously played over and over again.

A total of nine phases can be identified, and all regions can be assigned to one of them with astonishing accuracy. The progressives are at the forefront in phase eight, having learned from past experience and developed further. However, even after three decades of mountain biking, many regions have not made it past round one. After three decades, the time is ripe to take an analytical look at the development phases of mountain biking. Who recognizes their home region and at what stage?

Phase 1: Indifference

In this phase, mountain bikers are neither recognized nor taken seriously by politicians, authorities, mountain railroads or hotels. They are considered a marginalized group with little relevance. Special infrastructure does not exist and is not planned. In this phase, however, there are often local mountain bikers who believe in the sport and try to promote mountain biking on their own with great enthusiasm. They receive almost no support, but are not restricted or hindered either.

Examples: Aosta and largely the whole of Piedmont are in this phase today. Although these regions have a good network of trails, the sport is officially a no-go. In Aosta, for example, mountain biking is only being promoted by "Aosta Valley Freeride".

Phase 2: Euphoria

As a rule, the initial indifference towards mountain bikers turns seamlessly into euphoria. Politicians and tourism experts are suddenly on fire because they see an opportunity to raise their profile. With little technical understanding, the idea prevails that the sport is sufficiently served with a little marketing budget. The euphoria phase is characterized by an unconventional gold-rush atmosphere.

Phase 3: Planning errors

Now they're here, the mountain bikers you called for. And with them the realization that not everything is so simple after all. So someone is assigned to take care of the issue as a sideline, usually a local hobby biker. The result is DIY mountain bike activism with no strategy or coordination. As a rule, this leads to poor planning due to a lack of specialist knowledge and a lack of concept. The result is usually a general sense of disillusionment and, time and again, a turning away from the sport.

Examples: The South Tyrolean Vinschgau Valley is in this phase. Offers were created here that were based on shuttle rides. This has made a name for itself in the gravity scene, but without considering the consequences in terms of conflict management and trail maintenance.

Phase 4: Prohibitions

The consequences of the poor planning phase are conflicts and damage to the trails. This brings the same people onto the scene who courted mountain bikers during the euphoria phase. Now they are calling for bike bans. Mountain bikers are no longer an opportunity, but a problem that needs to be solved. They need to be channeled and concentrated. Panel discussions and round tables are organized, which usually end inconclusively.

Phase 5: Flow trail

Overcoming the prohibition phase often takes place in the realization that mountain bikers can be better controlled through adequate infrastructure. In other words: Build trails! Mountain railroads are often the driving force behind this because they now see mountain bikers as a source of income. In urban areas, the aim is to "channel" mountain bikers. Flow trails are often built with the idea that they can attract bikers of all levels. Flow trails are the jack of all trails among bike trails.

Examples: Austria's mountain railroads are leading the way in this phase because trail building is the only way for them to offer legal mountain bike trails. However, this phase also includes many urban areas such as the city of Zurich, which try to keep mountain bikers away from other trails by building trails.

Phase 6: Concept

Now it's time to get serious! The importance of mountain biking has been recognized in the region and it has become clear that building individual trails is not enough. This means that desk work is now the order of the day. Strategy concepts, master plans and sustainability studies are created. Due to the holistic view, all those involved are beginning to be integrated into the development processes and often seek the advice of external experts. The aim is to create a solid foundation for all further measures.

Phase 7: Infrastructure

Now comes the further development of phase 6. Up to now, mountain bike trails have only been built selectively, usually flow trails. What is new is the holistic and larger-scale perspective. Trail maintenance is being professionalized with so-called trail crews. The trails are modified so that they can withstand high mountain biker frequencies and can be ridden more smoothly.

Examples: The Lower Engadine with Scuol is in this phase and is currently connecting many of its side valleys for mountain bikers. This is not being done by creating new trails, but by further developing the existing network of trails, many of which are not suitable for mountain bikers. Valais as a whole is also in this phase.

Phase 8: Overtourism

The attractiveness of regions leads to such high demand that the infrastructure reaches its limits. There are long queues at the mountain railroads, hotel capacities are regularly exhausted and there are increasing conflicts of use on the trails due to the sheer volume. It is not about individual complaints (as in the ban phase) but about physical overuse of the infrastructure. New models are needed, as the previous structures no longer work.

Phase 9: Overconfidence

Now it's done! Mountain bike tourism is established, the beds are full, the mountain railroads are operating at full capacity and the money is rolling in. The success of the phases so far is visible and tangible. As promising and worthwhile as this phase is, it is also one of the most dangerous. This is because success often leads to resting on one's laurels and, if need be, to focus on other issues - after all, things happen by themselves. This phase harbors the great risk of being set back several phases because of this arrogance in the MTB sector.

Example: The canton of Graubünden is walking into this phase of arrogance in supra-regional tourism marketing with its eyes wide open. People are wallowing in the success they have achieved, patting each other on the back and losing the momentum that has led to this leading position. Due to the success in mountain bike tourism, other topics are now being prioritized and mountain bike tourism is being deprived of the necessary momentum - after all, it runs itself!

Outlook: Which phases come next

Looking into the crystal ball is tricky, but it is already possible to identify individual elements that will play a role in the future. For example, monetization. To date, only very few companies earn money from mountain bikers. This is one of the big differences to skiing, where there is a very broad value-added base. But there will also be ecological issues. How do I reduce the impact of mountain bike tourism on nature? Only ecologically sustainable concepts will have a future in alpine tourism. Another element of the next phase is likely to be internationalization. Mountain bike tourism is currently strongly geared towards the domestic Alpine market. Will and should the sport be able to appeal to a global guest potential, as surfing destinations have done, for example? Questions like these will decide the next chapter of mountain biking.

It's amazing how precisely different regions can be assigned to one of these phases. They all follow the same eternal pattern, which inevitably raises the question: why doesn't anyone skip a phase? One could learn from the experiences of other regions and would not have to repeat the same mistakes. Unfortunately, this is not the case. With a little expertise, the ban phase, for example, could easily be skipped. In reality, however, each individual region has to experience it for itself. The reason for this is that many decision-makers do not think outside the box. That they do not look at other areas. This is actually something that is common in every other industry. It's called "benchmarking". This means looking at other offers and questioning your own products and strategies. Mistakes are there to be learned from. But you don't always have to go through the ox tour yourself. The sport of mountain biking would be a good deal further developed if everyone wasn't always cooking their own soup.

More blog posts by Thomas Giger

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