By Dave Iltis –
The fourth annual Global Fat Bike Summit and Festival will be held at Snow King Resort in Jackson, Wyoming from January 23-25, 2015. The event will feature seminars, bat bike demos, new fat bike products, races and clinics. The event will appeal to cyclists wanting to check out the latest fat bike gear, along with land managers, manufacturers, retailers, and fat bike advocates wanting to learn about the latest trends and issues facing fat biking.
“Now that fat bikes have grown from what many people thought was a fad to a significant summer and winter user group, it is more important than ever to communicate current land management best practices as they relate to fat bike use,” says Scott Fitzgerald, owner of Fitzgerald’s Bicycles in Victor, Idaho.
The Summit portion starts on Friday, January 23 with seminars on managing winter fat bike use on public lands. Land managers from federal, state, and local government will be on hand to network with advocates and bike industry.
The fun begins on Friday night with a night time fat bike ride and banquet. It continues through the weekend with races, rides, demos, and an expo. A highlight will be a fat bike tour of the Grand Teton National Park.
The title sponsor is QBP and its fat bike brands Surly, Salsa, Whisky Parts, and 45Nrth. Other exhibitors will include 907, Borealis, Trek, Specialized, among others.
“Our approach here is a ‘big tent’ for all,” said Gary Sjoquist, advocacy director for QBP. “Fat bikes are not a fad – nearly every manufacturer at the recent Interbike trade show featured fat bikes. Growth will continue and access issues will develop, particularly in the Nordic and snow machine trail networks, so we want to address this head-on and help land managers proactively adapt to this new use. We’d like to offer the opportunity for all manufacturers to participate in the Summit.”
The event is organized by Quality Bicycle Products, Fitzgerald’s Bicycles, Hoback Sports, Wyoming Pathways, and Mountain Bike the Tetons/IMBA. For details, and to register, visit www.fatbikesummit.com.
