BikePark Wales has just reopened its most iconic trail, the A470 Line, and this time around its 30% longer, packs in eight new jumps and starts right at the top of the main start ramp. Even though I’m not the world’s best jumper, I know it will be built so well that I’m itching to ride it.

If there was a World’s Most Beautiful Berm competition, the A470 would probably win

A470 need to know

• Red graded jump trail, with tabletops, berms and great flow, an a pushup option
• Now extended right up to the uplift drop-off point, with more tables and berms
• Vicious Valley shared trail also to be reworked, with more techie features

By my reckoning the changes take the tabletop tally to 48 on the A470, and there are new rollers and berms to help carry speed along its 1.4km length. And from the look of the pictures, BPW has added some serious drama to the A470 with a wooden start ramp and qualifier feature right from the off.

BikePark Wales has made a real feature of the revamped trail, with this cool new start ramp

There’s plenty of natural riding around South Wales, it’s home to some of the best mountain bike routes in the UK, but if you want jumps then BikePark Wales is the place to start. The A470’s been around for a decade now, and this is the fifth serious makeover it’s had, following a complete rebuild during Covid.

While plenty of trails at the South Wales bike park are left unchanged from year to year, A470 gets a lot of love and attention from the dig crew because it is just so darned popular. It’s easy to see it as a progression trail, helping riders go from the blue-graded Popty Ping, to the bigger Insufficient Funds-type trails, but it’s probably one of the park’s main draws.

The never-seen sight of trail building in full sunshine – the wet winter explains the slow progress

As far as I can work out, the A470 Line has been closed for the entire winter. BPW says it’s been a battle with the elements to get the job done. It now starts right from the main start ramp, and looks like it snakes down between Vicious Valley and Enter the Dragon. Previously, we would have to bomb down on Vicious Valley first, before joining the A470 in the woods, but now you’re treated to a brand new top section.

“Loads of riders have been asking us questions when we’re at the top of the hill working on it and checking out what we’re up to,” Duncan Ferris from BPW said. “It’s great to hear their excitement and that’s before they’ve even ridden it.”

Jumps this well built deserve to be scrubbed

Meanwhile, the trail builders are now turning their attention to Vicious Valley itself, which is also now getting a brand new top section. BikePark Wales says it will “better fit with the tech style of the rest of that trail.” At present it’s fast, flowy and smooth at the top, before getting more rooty and techie lower down, so presumably the idea is to add some spicier bits into the mix higher up.

Wish you were here

There’s more too, rumours are swirling that the park is to massively expand in size over the coming years, although all BPW would confirm is that there are more trail builds coming and the park will continue to evolve. Watch this space, then.

The original A470 at its launch in 2014