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New trail sections set to open soon

A La Mode, Get Over It connect the West Side trail network
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Dragging picks through dirt, getting eaten by mosquitos and hiding your lunch from black bears may not be your idea of a vacation, but that's exactly how Australia's Tim Andrews opted to spent the past week and a half.

Andrews has lived in Whistler off and on since 2003, but recently spent a season working at Silver Star Mountain Resort in Vernon. Between that contract and a trip home where another job is waiting managing a ski resort, Andrews returned to Whistler specifically to finish the trail he started last year. It's called Get Over It, and in many ways it's a missing piece of the puzzle for Whistler, connecting Mel's Dilemma to Bob's Rebob. Now, depending on your selection of trails, it's possible to ride from the Nita Lake employee housing to Alpine Meadows without using Alta Lake Road.

WORCA trail director Jerome David started the project with Andrews last summer, picking a route through an area that has a massive rock scree section in the middle that kept trail builders away in the past.

Andrews estimates the trail is roughly one kilometre when all is said and done, and that at least 700 hours of volunteer work have gone into the project. He and David did most of the work, but Bear Back Biking - Andrews' employer last summer - held several volunteer days on the trail, and WORCA used almost 20 volunteers for almost three hours last week. Bear Back also gave Andrews a cash bonus for his efforts, and covered some of his costs when he was an employee.

Recently Tino Kaltofen, a German rider who worked in the bike park last year, joined Andrews to complete the last few bridges to complete the connection.

Some more work will be required to replace a few steep sections with switchbacks, but for all extents and purposes the trail will be complete when Andrews leaves next week.

"I've been in Whistler on and off since 2003, and personally I wanted to put something back into the trails," he said. "I had so much enjoyment riding here, and working for Bear Back, and I was looking for something I could contribute. Jerome and I talked about it, and decided that this was a good project. It's pretty amazing to be able to connect the entire West Side with trails.

"This has been a great effort by a lot of people, it's amazing how many people have been through here and came to help," he said. "It's an amazing community, everyone is so fit and active and friendly."

This was Andrews first bike trail, although he has some experience in Australia building hiking trails. Whenever he had questions or needed advice he would hop on his bike and pedal over to Whistler trail builder Chris Markle, who was working on a section of Lower Sproatt called Piece of Cake.

"I still consider myself an amateur, I have so much respect for what Chris and others have been able to accomplish in Whistler," he said.

David is getting ready to open another section of trail in the next week as well.

Work started last year on another diversion on the Lower Sproatt Climb to accompany Piece Of Cake. Like Piece of Cake, the new section - dubbed A La Mode - provides riders with an alternative on a few tough climbs.

"It's a cool section of trail that provides an excellent way up for everybody, and it connects to the Beaver Lake Loop and Danimal to complete the area," said David.

When that's complete, WORCA's trail contractor Dave Fortin will focus more on fixing erosion on other West Side trails, including a section of Billy's Epic and Bob's Rebob. As well, they will add a few new bridges to Yoda's, which is accessible from the Lower Sproatt climb, and 99er.

"Everything has been part of a bigger project to improve the flow through that area, connecting trails and fixing any erosion," said David. "That will complete the area except for some maintenance now and then."

WORCA consulted with the Resort Municipality of Whistler on the upgrades. In recent years the municipality has developed a sequence of singletrack trails that progresses from the Zappa Trails in Lost Lake Park, to Cut Yer Bars, and from there to Emerald Forest and a River Runs Through It. One of the municipality's projects for this year is to link the singletrack above Molly Hogan to Lost Lake Park by adding a few new sections.

"There's a real progression there from beginners to experts, that starts in Lost Lake and leads out to West Side Road," said David. "If you put it all together it also creates some epic rides right out of the village."

WORCA is also planning to host at least two volunteer trails days a month on trails, with the next one tentatively taking place on June 13. More details will be posted at www.worca.com as they become available.

Some of the projects David is looking at include roughing a trail to reconnect Shit Happens to Alpine Meadows, cleaning up eroded sections on Billy's Epic and 99er, improving the flow on Anal Intruder, and more. He gives high marks to locals that have taken it upon themselves to upgrade local trails, and anyone that volunteers time to trail work.

"The number of hours that Tim (Andrews) put into Get Over It the past few weeks alone would probably cost $2,500 for a trailbuilder, it's a huge job," said David.

At WORCA's annual general meeting last year Jerome estimated that his volunteer trails days contributed 590 hours of unpaid work to local trails, valued at over $10,000. That doesn't include Andrews' efforts, or the work of other volunteers building and maintaining trails. As well, WORCA spent close to $70,000 on trail projects last year, hiring contractors to tackle projects around the valley.

Despite the growing number of riders using trails, David believes the quality of riding is improving from year to year.

WORCA is accepting feedback on trails, and wants to hear about any damage or trails in need of pruning or other maintenance through the website.