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Mountain bike trail strategy moving ahead

RMOW, WORCA trail work underway for 2008
1527trails
Run of River Trail builder Eric Barry walks one of the new elevated bridge sections in the River Runs Through It extension. The new section of trail, which will link up with Rainbow Park, should be completed in the next two weeks

As Whistler’s reputation as a mountain bike paradise grows, so does the paradise.

Far from sitting on our laurels, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, with guidance from the Whistler Cycling Committee and Sea to Sky Trail committee, is taking steps to expand and upgrade the bike trails on municipal lands. At the same time the Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association continues to increase its annual trail budget, focusing efforts on more popular trails, and trails that lie on Crown land. This year alone WORCA has also hosted three volunteer days, contributing hundreds of hours to maintain and rebuild trails.

While the trail network has always been a kind work in progress, the formal strategy has only been in place since late 2006 when the Whistler Cycling Committee released its Recreational Cycling Plan — a list of 90 action items to expand, upgrade, market, and protect Whistler’s mountain bike trails. The plan also included a map, with new sections of trail marked around the valley that would connect other trails and serve new neighbourhoods like Rainbow and Cheakamus Crossing.

Last year was the first year the plan was in place. During that summer, municipal crews expanded the trail network in Lost Lake Park, made an intermediate trail through Cut Yer Bars, and completed a new section of the Sea to Sky Trail to the south of the athletes’ village.

This year municipal crews are working on an extension of A River Runs Through It to bring one of Whistler’s most popular trails closer to Rainbow Park, as well as building another section of Sea to Sky Trail connecting the 2007 section to the Calcheak camping and recreation area. Maintenance will also be completed on several trails, including the popular Zappa trails in Lost Lake.

According to Frank Savage, chair of the Whistler Cycling Committee, trail counters are currently placed on the Zappa trails to log rider numbers and help determine how much maintenance a certain number of riders will require in the future.

“The (trail strategy) is progressing well, we’ve had a number of successful projects already,” said Savage. “Funds are always limited for new trail construction, but our visitor surveys and other indicators show that people are using them, and like what we have to offer, so we are pleased with the direction things are going.

“This is a long-term strategy. We still have a cycling committee and a trails planning group that meets twice a year to coordinate the work that’s been done by WORCA and the municipality, and we’re going to be doing some fine tuning as things go on. So far there have been no major changes to the strategy itself, our plans for the trails haven’t changed.”

On top of the work already underway, the committee also has plans this year to focus on creating a valley singletrack program that would link the trails at Lost Lake to Cut Yer Bars, Emerald Forest and A River runs Through It. That includes creating a map system and adding signs to let visitors know how trails can be linked up for longer riders.

Some improvements to the Emerald Forest trails are also being discussed with other stakeholders who are part of a land conservancy for the area. Most improvements will be to fix wear and tear on the trails that weren’t decommissioned as part of the original conservancy plan.

Savage also gave praise to the Stonebridge developers for their work to redevelop a section of Danimal at the end of last year, diverting the trail around a real estate project while also making the trail longer.

“Whenever we have an opportunity to work with a developer or anyone else to do trail enhancements as part of a project, we’ll look at what’s being proposed,” said Savage. “Danimal is a stellar example of that.”

For WORCA, virtually every trail in the valley gets some attention every year, but major projects are already underway. Completed so far are a new section of Tunnel Vision to replace a section that was becoming eroded, and new bridging on Comfortably Numb in a wetland area. Projects still underway include a new climb up Lower Sproatt for intermediate riders, volunteer work on Cat Scratch Fever and Mandatory Suicide. Volunteer trail days are also being planned for the “No Flow Zone”, improving Emerald trails like Shit Happens, Anal Intrduer and White Knuckles. A proposed reroute for the end of Shit Happens is still on hold until details of a First Nations development above the Rainbow subdivision are worked out.

Jerome David, the trails director for WORCA, is emphasizing volunteer involvement this year and has held three volunteer trail days already. There is another one planned for Saturday, July 5, where he expects to complete improvements on Cat Scratch Fever.

“It’s working really well — we’re getting about 15 people out for each trail day and we’re getting so much done in there,” he said. “I’m going in to put in a new bridge myself in one of the sections, but people have been hard at work roughing in the rest of the trail. We hope to run a Loonie race on it soon to show it off, it’s really amazing.”

The new climb up Lower Sproatt, which is being built by WORCA trail contractors Chris Markle and Dave Fortier, will not replace the existing steep section but will provide an easier and more entertaining option for riders. WORCA has allotted 10 full weeks for the project.

“It’s very much a classic Chris Markle-style of climb, where you do a short punch up and then relax, and then you do another short punch. It really breaks up the climb, and uses all the terrain in the area. It’s going to be a great trail when all the work is done in September and people will be able to ride it.”

According to the Whistler Recreational Cycling Plan, the off-road companion to the municipal Whistler Transportation Cycling Plan, Whistler has more than 300 km of public off-road cycling trails, including 160 km of singletrack, 120 km of doubletrack, and 35 km of paved Valley Trail linking one end of the valley to the other. In total there are more than 70 named trails within riding distance of Whistler Village.

It’s estimated that the economic contribution of mountain biking to Whistler, including the Bike Park and Crankworx festival, is more than $30 million annually.