Downhill demons rejoice. The Queenstown Mountain Bike Club is looking to reopen two of the Queenstown Bike Park's technical downhill tracks.
The Hobbit and the WC98 double black diamond tracks in the Ben Lomond Forest were closed in 2009 while Ziptrek constructed one of its zip lines through the area.
Ziptrek donated $20,000 to the club to make up for the closure, but with the zip line now long finished and the way cleared, the club is proposing to reopen the tracks.
Club president Tom Hey said a new upper section of the Hobbit would be needed because the original track cuts through what is now a Ziptrek walking track.
Project convener Lance Brown said work on the tracks was hoped to start this week, and the club would most likely hold several volunteer dig days to help get them open again.
"They're nowhere near beginners' tracks, but the locals love ... [them] and some of the people coming into town for the summer will be thrilled," Mr Brown said.
The tracks will pass underneath the Ziptrek lines in several places, and are expected to require mostly clearing, rather than building up.
Mr Brown hoped the tracks would be operating again by Christmas.
Meanwhile, a new pump track is being built by elite downhill rider Justin Leov for Outside Sports as part of its soon-to-be-opened demonstration centre below the Queenstown Bike Park.
A pump track is a continuous loop of rolling bumps and banked corners that can be ridden on a bike without pedalling.
Construction is also under way on the course for the Queenstown round of the National Downhill Series, which will begin on the Remarkables ski area access road on January 8.
