August 31, 2007 – Mountain biking enthusiasts from around the globe will gather in Park City, Utah, June 18-21, for the 2008 IMBA World Summit. IMBA Summits bring mountain biking advocates, land managers, ski resort professionals, trailbuilders, tourism officials and the bike industry together for collaboration, planning and celebration.

The 2008 IMBA Summit will be open to the public, and will feature advocacy seminars, trailbuilding workshops, networking, great food, parties, celebrity guest speakers and some big surprises. Topics will include the economic power of trails, sustainable trailbuilding, liability and risk management, urban trail networks, building club capacity and much more.

IMBA’s most recent Summit, held in Whistler, BC, attracted more than 400 delegates from 17 nations for three days of seminars and discussions. A compendium of online resources from that event can be found at IMBA’s website.

Park City Provides Great Trails Story

“We could not be more excited about the location of our 2008 gathering,” said IMBA executive director Mike Van Abel. “Park City is a model trails community and IMBA’s host club, the Mountain Trails Foundation, is a model of shared-use leadership. Non-motorized groups have worked together in Park City to create amazing trails, and maybe more importantly, a tight-knit trails community.”

“Park City was losing its trails to rapid development. In the course of a couple of years, we went from trails being an afterthought in the planning process to where trails are given equal weight with streets and utilities in new development,” said Mountain Trails Foundation founder and IMBA Board Member Tom Clyde. “Practically all of the trail system is on private land, and now there is almost a competition among the development community to see who can build the best trails. This is because an active trails community got behind the cause.”

Partners Shaping Summit Agenda

Many national and international partners are coming together to shape the 2008 Summit. To name a few, Trips for Kids will convene their chapter meeting at the summit with the goal of inspiring more of IMBA’s 750 worldwide clubs to create youth mountain bike programs. The Bureau of Land Management is bringing key planners, and the League of American Bicyclists will provide guidance on how mountain biking can be incorporated into their successful Bicycle Friendly Communities Program. Pre-conference trailbuilding workshops are also planned in conjunction with national and international trail partners.

Join Agenda Advisory Committees

Speakers, seminar topics and sponsorship opportunities for the 2008 IMBA Summit are in development. IMBA’s partners are creating the agenda now through several steering committees to capture the most important issues and secure the best speakers on all things mountain biking.

To make suggestions about about seminars and speakers, write Patti Bonnet patti@imba.com.

Sponsorship inquires should be directed to Rich Cook rich.cook@imba.com. Or call IMBA’s offices in Boulder, Colorado, at 303-545-9011.

Watch for more exciting announcements to come on speakers, events and new partners. For now, save the date and plan to attend the largest international gathering in IMBA’s history.

2008 IMBA World Summit Partners (more coming soon …)

– American Trails
– Bikes Belong
– Federal Highway Administration Recreational Trails Program
– League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Community Program
– National Park Service
– National Park Service, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program
– National Recreation and Parks Association
– National Trails Training Partnership
– Professional Trailbuilders Association
– Trips for Kids
– U.S. Bureau of Land Management
– U.S. Forest Service
– IMBA’s Corporate Partners

Preliminary Schedule of Events

– June 18: Mobile Workshops (day) and Opening Ceremonies (evening)
– June 19-20: Seminars, networking and great afternoon riding and evening parties
– June 21: IMBA Epic Ride – Mid Mountain Trail and Park City Community Party