Review Date
February 13, 2009

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: oldskoolbiker ,  Downhiller

Summary:
This review is of the Downhill and Freeride trail system at Wisp. Wisp offers lift service to several Freeride/DH trails during the summer. They offer rentals and lessons. They also host a DH race series every summer.

The plus side at Wisp is that the trails are fun, not really technical, but very fast with jumps and some intermediate features. A top to bottom run at full speed is only 2 1/2 minutes.

It is a resort area so there is plenty to do after you finish biking for the day.

The major downside is that the lift is extremely slow. It is actually possible to shuttle with a pickup truck faster than riding the lift. We have actually done this on crowded race weekends.

Recommended Route:
Take the lift to the top, there are about 8 or so different combination of routes to get down to the bottom.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Snowshoe a couple of hours south, and Seven Springs a couple of hours north both offer Lift assisted mountain biking in the summer.

Review Date
March 24, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: marsb ,  Downhiller

Summary:
Wisp resort is a ski hill that offers XC, DH, and some freeride terrain. I cut my teeth trying to learn to ride DH there, so most of my review caters to the chairlift dual-suspension set. Only one lift is currently being utilized (Boulder), but most of the terrain can be accessed from the chair with minimal uphill pedaling. The 5-6 or so true downhill runs that I have found (their maps and markers are scketchy, go explore) are nice, and range from the intermediate to burly. Of course, you can also point and shoot down any of the slopes as well (be on the lookout for frisbee golfers and hikers).
Wisp's freeride terrain has some promise, but is still a far cry from Snowshoe. There are a few small Shore-style ladder bridges to boulder drops if you look hard enough, but it is obviously a work in progress. Rumor has it that the mountain managers paid a visit to Snowshoe, and will hopefully be beefing up the FR terrain in '05. There is also a skatepark in the parking lot, with a couple of friendly halfpipes, rails, step-ups and boxes for the park rats.

Recommended Route:
My favorite is a trail I consider an intermediate, and was the site of the MD state downhill championships last summer. It begins with a short run from the chair to a left entrance on the woods, starts relatively flat with a few jumps and berms, and quickly descends into a rooty, rocky singletrack. The trail then cuts across the adjoining slope, and widens into a nice section of berm, tabletop, and whoops before dropping back onto Boulder with a sweet 8ft rollable drop. From here you can take the easy line (turn left and burn down the slope back to the chair), or take the race line cutting accross the slope and down another similar rollable drop into some steeper, more technical single & doubletrack. There are some nice drops, a couple of sweet switchbacks, and a couple of dirt jumps to hit as you descend across the snowtubing field and return to the lift. Other trails include steep drops threading some massive boulder gardens and one wickedly steep descent into a brambled singletrack sphincter-clincher.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
FR/DH: Snowshoe (about 2 hrs west)
sugarloaf
secret Morgantown spots

Review Date
August 11, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Review Date
January 31, 2002

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week