Mountain biking in the mountains … at ski areas; ski lifts whisk you and your bike up for an exhilarating descent. The ideas is spreading in the West

Sunset, July, 1991

Lodging options range from hotel rooms to four-bedroom townhouses. Resort guests have access to the Copper Mountain Racquet & Athletic Club's tennis and racquetball courts, weight-training room, and lap pool. The resort also has its own stables, and the highest 18-hole golf course in the United States.

Purgatory, Box 3496, Durango 81302; (303) 247-9000, ext. 5102; (800) 5250892. Fat-tire fanatics converged en masse at this San Juan Mountains resort last fall when it hosted the first World Mountain Bike Championships. The courses created for the event have been incorporated into the ski area's chair lift served, 38-mile trail system. Unintimidating marked trails for beginners have also been added at the base of the mountain this year. More than a hundred miles of old stagecoach roads and other backcountry routes fan out from Purgatory. Many of the best are described in a San Juan National Forest booklet available at the resort and at bike shops in Durango. Day tours of varying difficulty are also offered. In addition to hauling bikers, the resort's chair lift serves a bobsled-like alpine slide. Horseback riding, fishing, tennis, and volleyball are among other activities available at the resort. You can stay at the 152-room Purgatory Village Hotel-which has an indoor outdoor pool, steam room, sauna, and hot tubs--or rent one of hundreds of mountainside condominiums. More ski areas for biking vacations Besides the ski areas in California and Colorado described above, these resorts in Montana and British Columbia also cater to mountain biking vacationers: Montana: Big Sky, I Lone Mountain Trail, Box 1, Big Sky 59716; (406) 9952324, (800) 824-7767. A gondola takes riders up Lone Mountain for downhill rides, while other routes lead to waterfalls and lakes in Gailatin National Forest. Golf, tennis, horseback riding, and whitewater rafting and kayaking are also available. Accommodations include hotel rooms in Huntley Lodge and five condominium complexes. British Columbia: Whistier/Blackcomb, 4010 Whistler Way, Whistler, B.C. VON IB4; (604) 932-3928, (800) 634-9622. The astonishing vertical measurements that attract skiers to these adjacent mountains also make for great mountain biking. Cyclists can take a gondola up Whistler or chair lift up Blackcomb for guided or self-guided descents on routes ranging from novice-friendly access roads to technically challenging single-track trails. They can also ride on nearby crosscountry skiing trails, and on hundreds of miles of trails throughout Whistler Valley. The European-style base village contains several hotels and condominiums.