The czar of gnar
There’s a new face talking over the handlebars at Purgatory. The resort announced this week that it has appointed Hogan Koesis as the new czar of MTB trails at Purg and its sister resorts.
The new position was created in an effort to return Purg to its former mountain bike glory and help the resorts play catch up with the explosion of biking options at resorts across the West.
Koesis comes to Purg via Angel Fire, where he is credited with masterminding the largest bike park in the Rocky Mountains. Here he will be tasked with improvements, trail additions, races and more.
“We are thrilled to have someone with Hogan’s knowledge to help us improve our mountain bike trails and host trails and host sanctioned races,” Purgatory owner James Coleman said in a news release. “We want to once again host World Championship races and other events, and put Purgatory back on the map for mountain biking.”
The resort has already taken the first steps this summer, by offering rider uplift on the Six Pack, in addition to the two-person Twilight Chair. In 2015, the resort debuted its Divinity Downhill Flow Trail, which provides a variety of features, including table-top jumps, berms, hits, flyovers, boardwalks and more. The 1.5-mile trail, built with the help of Trails 2000 and the Forest Service, is the area’s longest and only lift-served gravity-powered trail, meaning no pedaling is required.
In addition to buffing up Purg’s trail system, Koesis will also focus on the trails at Pajarito, located near Los Alamos, N.M. Ranked as one of the top-five mountain bike parks in the Southwest by MTBparks, Pajarito is home to 30 miles of lift-served trails including 1,200 feet of vert, and down-hill, xc and “North Shore-style” free-ride trails.
“I’m proud to be part of one of the largest mountain bike initiatives in the U.S.,” Koesis said. “Our goal is to be strategic about what improvements are made at our resorts, while maintaining the uniqueness of each one and providing fun and exciting mountain bike adventures.”
Koesis and his family recently moved to Durango, where they enjoy camping, skiing and – of course – mountain biking.
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