Mountain biking champ Adam Craig is crusading for a higher cause at Sugarloaf

Adam Craig makes a tree-canopied descent at Sugarloaf. (Brooks Curran/Sugarloaf)

The gravitational pull of Maine’s uniquely-challenging mountain biking experience has brought home one of its most successful and supportive disciples. Adam Craig, 18-time U.S. national champion in MTB and cyclocross and a former Olympic team member, has taken over as mountain bike race and event sales manager at Sugarloaf … and he couldn’t be happier.

Originally from Exeter, Maine, Craig grew up riding around the Bangor and Sugarloaf areas, racing cross-country and downhill on weekends as a student at Dexter Regional High School.

He made the Junior National Cross-Country Mountain Biking Team during his junior and senior years and raced his first World Cup in 1999, the same year he graduated.

Turning pro after high school, he raced for Giant Bicycles and represented the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He transitioned from World Cup cross-country racing to compete in the Enduro World Series in 2013, gaining considerable experience in gravity events and trail development — key to the work he’ll be doing at Sugarloaf.

In his new position, Craig is working with organizers to bring races and other MTB events to the resort, as well as spearheading the creation of challenging new enduro and downhill race courses on the mountain. He’s also helping guide development of the resort’s forthcoming lift-accessed mountain bike park. The new lift-serviced park — which will be designed to feature trails for all ability levels — is a key component of the resort’s 2030 Development Road Map. 

Permitting and planning are under way with lift and trail development expected to begin next summer as part of the West Mountain expansion, which over the next 10 years also will include five new or upgraded lifts, new alpine terrain, renovation of Bullwinkle’s restaurant, 75 new residential real estate lots, and investments in technology. 

Craig has already been out on the mountain scouting new trail lines, surveying trail feasibility, raking some of it out and riding it. He sees his gravity-fueled MTB work at Sugarloaf to be complementary with the decade-plus contribution to the sport by the Carrabassett Region of the New England Mountain Bike Association (CR NEMBA). 

Since its founding in 2010, NEMBA has maintained old trails and developed new trails to bring the total around the valley to more than 75 miles on town, state and Penobscot Nation lands.

Craig’s impact for MTB culture at Sugarloaf already is having an impact. He put together a five-stage race when Sugarloaf Bike Park hosted the Maxxis Eastern States Cup Box Showdown in September. The event was a double whammy, featuring both the Maxxis ESC Enduro and the Maxxis ESC Intense DH Series races.

And the big news is that Sugarloaf will host some of the world’s fastest mountain bikers when the Enduro World Series makes a stop in 2022 at Sugarloaf (Aug. 20-21). It will be one of 13 stops on the tour that also includes competitions in Austria, New Zealand, Great Britain, Slovenia, Italy, France, Canada, Switzerland, and Vermont (Burke Mountain on Aug. 13-14).

With all this going on, Craig spoke with New England Ski Journal about coming back to where it all started for him with MTB:

New England Ski Journal: What are some of your fondest memories of mountain biking as a youth in Maine, and how significant was that to your progression to competing nationally and internationally?

Adam Craig: We had such a strong racing scene in Maine when I was growing up. My fondest memories were formed over and over again as we’d travel to the Maine Point Series races throughout the summer, every time arriving at a new venue with a new race course to explore and be inspired by. I was fortunate to succeed in these events and grow that same experience of discovery to a world scale. It’s been an honor traveling far and wide to explore and compete.

NESJ: How do you feel being back in the state and working at Sugarloaf, especially considering all the time you spent here when you were younger?

Craig: When I have a moment up on the mountain to pause and look out across the landscape, it’s sort of surreal, being here and having this opportunity to contribute to a culture that’s been present since the 1990s. It’s a special thing to create something for everyone to enjoy right here at home.

NESJ: Tell us how you are approaching your role with Sugarloaf. What do you hope to accomplish?

Craig: My role at Sugarloaf is two-fold — working with event promoters to bring a variety of mountain bike events here, and continuing to create the trail infrastructure to support those events. With this, we hope to further round out the already great culture of events that the CR NEMBA club has created. Currently, this looks like creating gravity trails up on the mountain! With these trails, we hope to engage another portion of the mountain bike tribe and inspire the next generation of Mainers.

NESJ: What are a couple of your own personal favorite trails in the Sugarloaf network? And tell us what you enjoy most about fall riding, especially here in New England?

Craig: I have such vivid memories of the old Widowmaker Challenge racecourse, and the best part was always the “Widowmaker” trail section. Rocky and rooty and raw, it was a defining factor in the race. Today it’s still the same. And now there is an “extension” above that gives riders more of the same character, but from the top of the Whiffletree lift.

The beauty is, now, to complement the old, rugged trails. There are miles and miles of sustainable singletrack, built carefully by the CR NEMBA chapter and town of Carrabassett Valley trail crew, led by Josh Tauces. Of these modern gems, I really enjoy the turns on Newton’s Revenge, descending from a beautiful viewpoint. The fall foliage scene across the Bigelows is amazing up there, and it’s a treat to be rolling down Newton’s with the cool, crisp air.

NESJ: Can you share a few tips for gravity riders at both the beginner/intermediate and expert levels in order to ensure they have the best experience on Sugarloaf trails — or while riding in general?

Craig: For all skill levels, myself included, the basics are so important for gravity riding. “Heels down, eyes up” translates to a good, neutral posture and focusing your gaze down the trail. Scanning ahead makes reaction and line selection so much easier. My first time down a gravity trail I have a rule — if I can’t see over a drop or around a turn, I slow or stop until the line becomes obvious. There’s always another lap and we can all learn something each time down a trail.

At the higher level, I really try to focus on braking before each turn, to the point of slowing down what feels like too much. Then you’re able to turn with control and accelerate out of said turn, which feels so good.

NESJ: What are some of the ways you plan to help the mountain biking experience improve at Sugarloaf as part of the resort’s 2030 development road map?

Craig: Sugarloaf has ambitious plans for mountain biking this decade. We’re deep in the feasibility process for this and I’m very optimistic about where we’re headed. It’s awesome to already have new trails on the mountain and be building the gravity riding culture here. So far, my improvements are the new trails for specific race events, and I’ll certainly be involved in the planning process for a more diverse supply of trails on the mountain to welcome riders of all skill levels as we move forward.

NESJ: Why is landing an Enduro World Series stop to Sugarloaf so important? Can you share a memory of your own from competing in this series?

Craig: I have so many vivid memories from the Enduro World Series. Mostly, it’s the simple volume of amazing trails the racers get to enjoy at each event. It takes a robust trail system to support multi-stage enduro racing, and bringing the EWS here means we have to build enough trails to also build a culture of gravity riding to share with Maine’s riding community, young and old.

NESJ: Thanks for sharing your passion and your vision with our readers.

Craig: Thanks for the forum. It’s so exciting to be here. I’d like to thank Sugarloaf for the opportunity, CR NEMBA for the good work building mountain bike culture up here, and Giant Bicycles, my longtime sponsor, for supporting the transition from racing to advocacy.