By Shayne Bair | April 15, 2016

Cherry Peak cancels plans to host trials bike tournament

As the sun began to rise over the West Utah desert, a small group of men and women wearing motorcycle-riding gear could be seen clambering among the rocks.

This is the Utah Trials Association.

The riders were there long before dawn, meticulously planning and plotting the courses they would be testing their skills on later that day.

“It’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on,” said one rider, as he scouted his route.

The peculiar-looking bikes used by the participants in this event have no seat and are designed to be stood upon while riding, unlike most other motorcycles commonly found in this part of the world. This European-born event is all about style and technique, as opposed to the fast-and-hard type of motorcycle riding most Americans are associated with.

Unfortunately for the riders though, their plans to host an event like this in Richmond have been canceled — at least for now.

John Chadwick, the owner of Cherry Peak Ski Resort, said Wednesday he has canceled his plans to host the Utah Trials Association at the Beehive State’s newest ski resort this summer.

After he inspected his conditional-use permit, Chadwick said he discovered the county would not let him have any kind of an event involving a motorized vehicle on his property.

“Even though it’s my property, I can’t do things for a profit that the county doesn’t agree with,” Chadwick said. “So in other words, it’s not really my property.”

The county is concerned the motorcycles will tear up the landscape and have a negative environmental impact on the mountain. Chadwick said while he will try to reconcile with the county, the trials aren’t his main priority right now.

“I’ve got to go back and request a new permit and show them video of what a trials looks like,” Chadwick said. “But right now I have bigger fish to fry and I don’t want to muddy the water of something that could make me a big profit, with something that’s just a little thing.”

Pete Schropp is the Richmond resident who was brokering the deal between the resort and the trials association. He said a trials event would have very little impact on the surrounding environment.

“Once the county sees what it really is, I don’t think we will have any trouble getting it up here,” Schropp said.

Mark Von MettenheimMark Von Mettenheim has been a member of the association for 22 years and he said once the snow is gone, Cherry Peak would be the perfect venue for a trials event.

“Ski resorts make awesome places for trials,” Von Mettenheim said. “They generally have parking lots and a chef that can cook lunch for you.”

Von Mettenheim, who lives in St. Anthony, Idaho, said an event at Cherry Peak would be a lot closer for him when compared to Southern Utah, where most of the events are held now.

“It’s really nice to ride in the woods and get a change of scenery,” he said. “If they were to have an event like this here, I would definitely come.”