Bike
MTB
A guide to Kisa MTB Park and the story behind it
Get a deeper look at one of Sweden’s most exciting bike parks and the team behind it in the second episode of Swede Shreds season 2.
Oscar Härnström is not afraid to go big - whether on the bike or following his dreams. In autumn of 2020, he bought an old ski hill in the southeast of Sweden and turned it into the bike park of his dreams in a record-breaking three months.
Kisa MTB Parkis a true mountain bikers paradise with six trails ranging from green to black with a focus on blues and reds. A park that suits families and beginners but with a much bigger focus on advanced riders than normal. This hill is packed with fun and challenging features like big jumps, steep rock rolls and a ton of fun side hits making it a huge playground for mountain bikers of all levels.
Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into the park, the building process and the people running it in the 2nd episode of Swede Shreds season 2.
12 min
Swede Shreds S2E2: Sick downhill riding in Kisa MTB Park
Meet Oscar Härnström and his crew at Kisa MTB Park, check out their brand new trails and take a look at how it all began in the 2nd episode of Swede Shreds season 2.
01
The trails at Kisa MTB Park
Nestled into the green hills of Östergötaland is Kisa. A small town surrounded by a vast nature area full of wild animals and big hills. Tolvamannabacken, where the park resides, used to be one of the biggest ski hills in the south of Sweden but has now been transformed into a play area for mountain bikers.
What is really exciting about this park is that even if it currently “only” has six trails, it feels like a lot more because of all its different features; like the huge and steep rock roll that drops from Squamish into Intense or the "foot plant rock" on Goldmine. There are shark fins out of corners, step-ups and step-downs and all kinds of fun features for riders to play on. Also, most trails weave in and out of each other making it easy to create new combinations each lap.
Blue flow or jumpy red?
© Hanna Jonsson
All the trails in the park start from the top of the button lift where a green trail, named SX Transport, takes you down to the start of the blue and red flow and jump trails Goldmine and Intense, as well as the black adventure trails Squamish. Or you dive straight into the woods from the top into the red natural single tracks Old Guys Rules and Dirty Pamela.
You know it's steep when there is a warning sign.
© Hanna Jonsson
Goldmine is a blue flow trail with well-built corners and playful rollers. Not just fun for beginners, this trail has little side hits to make it more interesting for all types of riders. As for Intense, the name suits it perfectly. Full of big hits it definitely keeps you on your toes. As it is a red trail all the jumps are table tops but that doesn’t mean that they are small. It’s the opposite. They are huge. There even is a black jump alternative on the track with a massive gap.
It's a steep one!
© Hanna Jonsson
Having loamy, tight singletrack trails isn’t that common in bike parks, yet Kisa has two. Old Guys Rule and Dirt Pamela are kind of alike flowing down mossy, root sections and over rocky slabs. Of camber sections mixed with well-shaped berms create a nice flow. And of course, there are harder features like sharkfins and gap jumps on the side of the trail to keep it existing for everyone. These kinds of natural tracks will obviously change over time, the more they are ridden, but they will stay fun and exciting long after the loam is gone.
02
The story behind the park
Oscar Härnström is one of Sweden’s best bike riders. The downhill racer turned freerider has a long history of racing both on the world cup circuit and more extreme downhill races like Red Bull Hardline and Red Bull Valparaiso. He's also known for creating sick edits riding gnarly lines both in Sweden and abroad.
The crew behind the park: Oscar, Beatrice, Hampus and Cudo.
© Hanna Jonsson
Together with his partner Beatrice Johansson, Oscar fulfilled a big dream of his in 2020 buying the old ski hill in Kisa and turning it into a bike park. A huge commitment, but one he is stoked about. It's all turned into a bit of a family affair as well, as his brother Hampus Quist has joined to help build the trails and renovate the facilities.
Their plan was to start building the trails over winter but unluckily it was one of the coldest and snowiest winters in a long time, postponing any digging opportunities until late March 2021. With the opening date set for the beginning of summer, the trio worked from sunrise to sunset, sleeping at the bottom of the hill, in order to make it happen. In July 2021, their doors opened and the lift started running for bikers.
Oscar riding one of many rock rolls on the black Squamish trail.
© Hanna Jonsson
So far the team has managed to re-build the reception area, make benches and a fire pit area, sort out a lift and an uplift as well as build six brand new trails. But although the park is now up and running, Oscar's ambitions don't stop here. More and bigger plans are in the pipeline, making Kisa MTB Park one of the most exciting things to happen to Swedish Downhill.
