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WORCA puts trails first

Annual Trail Daze sweep this Sunday

The Whistler Off Road Cycling Association needs a little extra help getting the mountain bike trails in shape this year.

Last fall’s record rainstorms and flooding took their toll on some of Whistler’s more popular trails, causing erosion and wash-outs. Winter also left its mark as storms knocked down trees and branches.

This Sunday, May 9, WORCA is hoping to have a strong turnout of volunteers for its annual Trail Daze, a yearly sweep of local trails to remove debris, perform some minor maintenance, and spot major problems that will need to be addressed in the future.

The day starts at Gaitors at 9 a.m. with a free pancake breakfast. Afterwards participants will be divided into groups to sweep local trails. Unless it’s a long trail the bikes should be left at home. WORCA will supply tools, but people are welcome to bring extra chainsaws, shovels, picks and clippers.

"People have already been riding a lot of the lower elevation trails and have taken it on themselves to clear trails like Train Wreck, River and Cut Yer Bars, so they’re actually in pretty good shape," said Boyd McTavish, WORCA’s director of trails.

"None of the trails is a priority as far as we know, we just need to take an inventory of what’s good and what needs work. The trails that are a little higher up where the snow has just melted are probably going to need the most work this year, that’s probably where we can make the best use of our time."

In addition to Trail Daze, WORCA’s trail contractor Sean Dickson has already started on more than $8,000 in work budged for this year.

On Train Wreck, he has had to rebuild a bridge and divert a section of trail as a result of the flooding. Other repairs were made to sections of A River Runs Through It, Whistler’s most popular trail, that were also impacted by the flood.

"The flood shifted the river log, took out a few features, wore away some deep divots – it got hit pretty hard, like a lot of the lower trails that have little creeks and things running through them," said McTavish.

WORCA received an additional $3,200 in grant money from the Community Foundation of Whistler to finish the work on River that began last year with a massive $16,000 project. That work was funded by the CFOW’s Environmental Legacies Fund, the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation and the RMOW. The goal was to take steps to reduce the environmental impact of the trail by building fences, laying gravel, protecting root systems, closing off braided routes, and working to make the trial durable enough to handle a high volume of riders.

According to a trail counter that was set up on River in 2002, more than 14,000 people rode the trail in a three-month period. If anything the trail is even more popular now.

The added funding from the CFOW this year will bring WORCA closer to completing work on the trail, says McTavish. He estimates that it will take another $5,000 after that to finish the project, bringing the trail up to the highest environmental standards.

In addition to the funding from the CFOW, WORCA also received a $12,400 Grant-In-Aid from the municipality, $8,000 of which will go towards general trail work around the valley. A large portion of membership fees, half of all Loonie race dues, and the proceeds of most WORCA fundraisers also go towards trail maintenance.

Some of that trail work is already evident on Train Wreck, where flooding took out a small bridge over a creek and piled logs over another section. Dickson rebuilt the bridge to give it more clearance, and re-routed the trail around the log jam.

Another trail that has been repaired after the flooding in Trash, which saw a section alongside the Cheakamus River washed away. The trail has also been re-routed.

More erosion has been reported on trails in the Whistler Interpretive Forest and in the Emerald Forest.

Perhaps the worst flood damage can be found on the popular Flank Trail, says Boyd.

"We did some maintenance on the north end during the flooding to minimize damage, and we haven’t heard any complaints there yet," he said. "On the south Flank I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a big job there, bigger than our whole budget. A whole section has been washed away and there’s a lot of debris piled up.

"It’s happened in that spot before. It seems to be an area of major events, because we find ourselves cleaning up after an avalanche once in a while," said McTavish.

All things considered McTavish said he was impressed by how well the trails stood up to the record rainfall.

"It’s really a testament to the guys that built these trails, I really thought the damage would be a lot worse than what we’ve been seeing," he said.

As well as flood repairs, WORCA is also planning to upgrade a few trails this year. On Kill Me Thrill Me they hope to fix a narrow downhill section with a notoriously deep rut this year.

A new single track section on Tunnel Vision is also being considered where the trail opens up to a double track, and new bridges will be built over a swampy section.

Other smaller fix-ups are being considered on Shit Happens, Big Kahuna and Section 102.

WORCA has also renounced any responsibility for Trial and Error, a trail that was spiked with nails and partially dismantled last year by a person or persons unknown. They can’t close the trail but will put up signs indicating that the area is still dangerous, and should not be ridden.

A major project to fix up some of Whistler’s original freeride trails, Khyber Pass and Babylon by Bike, has also been proposed. McTavish is in the process of talking to stakeholders in the area to find out if they have any objections before taking the next step and applying to different groups for funding. The project is intended as a memorial to Chris "Beeker" Romeskie, a popular member of the local mountain bike community who died in a backcountry skiing accident in early February. The original trail builder has already given WORCA the go-ahead.

WORCA’s trail maintenance activities have strong support from the municipality this year, as well as local environmental groups and businesses, says McTavish. However, the club will need a larger trail budget and more volunteer hours to keep up in the coming years as the number of riders using the trails continues to increase.

More and more, local riders are meeting up with mountain bikers from the U.S. and Europe on local trail systems, as Whistler’s reputation as a premier mountain bike destination takes off. The Whistler Mountain Bike Park and signature trails like A River Runs Through It, Kill Me Thrill Me and the new Comfortably Numb are already famous. That means more wear and tear on trails, which will require more trail maintenance in the future.

WORCA is in the process of purchasing a new trail counter which they will use to determine where people are riding and where to spend their maintenance budget. The numbers will also help them when applying for additional trail funding.

Although the job gets bigger every year, WORCA is confident it can maintain Whistler’s trail network with the continued support of the community and regular volunteer efforts.

A good start would be a strong turnout at Trail Daze this Sunday.