Developments during the past three years have shown Queenstown has the potential to be the mountain-biking capital of the southern hemisphere, but without much needed funding, growth could quickly stall.
In 2008, marketing Queenstown as a mountain-biking destination wasn't even a thought.
Now, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent creating trails which have had a notable effect on the number of participants using them.
However, the Queenstown Mountain Bike Club is struggling to maintain what it has achieved during the past three years and is in need of financial assistance.
The club's trail construction and maintenance liaison, Nathan Greenwood, said the biggest setback for them, and mountain-bike development in the region, is funding.
"The council continually turn us down and we struggle for support from anywhere.
The club had unsuccessfully applied for funding for the past three years from the council.
"Anyone that's making money off us, we're constantly asking them for funding and jumping through flaming hoops and getting nothing.
"We are one of the biggest earners in town and have the ability to become ginormous, but we can't do it alone."
The number of users of the tracks had increased with the counter at Wynyard Express reading 8000 during the five-month season, and 9000 users on its Seven Mile track during the summer season.
In the past eight years participation numbers had increased between 10% and 20% annually, Mr Greenwood said.
The introduction of Skyline's gondola-assisted mountain biking was a huge success, with Skyline general manager Blair Deasy estimating 5000 people took on the tracks over four months, completing 58,000 downhill rides.
Another major development was the development of the Wakatipu's trail network - driven by the Wakatipu Trails Trust.
Trust chief executive Kaye Parker said $780,000 had been spent on trail development since July 2009.
The Lake Hayes Loop had been developed, as well as the Jardine Park to Jack's Point track and a full upgrade of the Kelvin Heights Peninsula Trail.
Grants had also been provided to assist with upgrades on the Seven Mile trail, $130,000 for the development of the Gibbston River Trail and "considerable" financial help to the mountain-bike club.
The Queenstown Trail is on track for completion by September 2012.
