$500k mountain bike park for Rotorua

Rotorua mountain biking is getting a huge boost.

Mountain biking in Rotorua has received a massive boost after the Government announced funding for a new mountain bike park on the slopes of Mt Ngongotaha.

Prime Minister John Key said the Government will contribute $225,000 from its new Tourism Growth Partnership fund for the development of the Skyline Gravity Park which will offer a year-round, gondola accessed bike park - the only trails accessible by gondola in the North Island.

It will also be the only year-round, all-terrain mountain bike park in Australasia.

The total cost of the project is $520,000.

The park will provide trail options for all skill levels from beginners to advanced riders. Several mountain bike trails are planned, providing at least 12km in total. There will be dedicated gondola cabins designed to take up to four bikes and riders per trip giving initial capacity of 3000 downhill runs per day.

The park is scheduled to open in July and Skyline Rotorua will own and operate the site, working with commercial partners Multi Day Adventures, which has helped project manage the development, and Empire of Dirt which is building and creating the tracks.

Skyline Rotorua general manager Bruce Thomasen said the funding grant was fantastic news, allowing Skyline and its partners to develop a world-class site.

"The ability to potentially host world-class mountain biking competitions, as well as appealing to all levels of riders, from leisure to adrenalin junkies, complements Rotorua's status as a top location for these types of events and its international reputation as a premier mountain biking destination.

"The mountain has previously hosted the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 2006, as well as two successful Rotorua Bike Festival Skyline Sprint Warrior downhill races, and the response we have had from riders and the mountain biking community has been fantastic," Mr Thomasen said.

Multi Day Adventures and Mountain Bike Rotorua co-owner Tak Mutu said the key was not just building a bike park, but a destination.

"Empire of Dirt are pros at building mountain bike tracks, and their lead trail designer is heading over to Colorado to design and build tracks over there for their free-ride festival and is also involved with Crank Works, which is happening in Whistler [Canada] and is the biggest mountain bike event in the world, so they know what they're doing and the trails they are building are amazing.

"This is going to really elevate Rotorua and take us to a new level.

"It will be the world's first all-year-round bike park with gondola access. No one else has that title and it's happening in the home of mountain biking.

"This will be one of the top destinations in the world to go mountain biking and this park will be a really big part in elevating that," Mr Mutu said.