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PVTA fundraiser all about trails

The Pemberton Valley Trails Association is hosting a slideshow and fundraiser on Friday, June 8, with the goal of raising at least $2,500 for a new trail network that would connect Happy Trail, Big Nimby and Middle Earth to the Owl Lake Chain Link -
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The Pemberton Valley Trails Association is hosting a slideshow and fundraiser on Friday, June 8, with the goal of raising at least $2,500 for a new trail network that would connect Happy Trail, Big Nimby and Middle Earth to the Owl Lake Chain Link - a new trail that connects Fowl Lake, Ogre Lake, Mt. Barber and Tenquille Lake. When it's complete the builders believe it will rival the famous Seven Summits trail in Rossland.

The trail project has been called the MacKenzie Mainline, and would feature some high alpine riding. This summer the priority is to connect a trail from the cell tower at the top of MacKenzie Ridge to Owl Lake.

The price is $10 in advance at the Pemberton Bike Co. or $12 at the door, which opens at 8 p.m. Proceeds from ticket sales, beer sales and raffles will go towards the PVTA, which will leverage the money for matching funds.

To date Squamish-Lillooet Regional District has committed up to $15,000 in matching funds for the project. So far the PVTA has raised $12,500, including $5,000 from the Village of Pemberton, $5,000 from the Area C discretionary fund, and $2,500 from the Pemberton Wildlife Association.

 

Toonie ride park-bound

Tonight's Toonie Ride (June 3) is a rip up and down the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, sponsored by Summit Sports and the Whistler Golf Club. Registration takes place outside Summit Sports in the village at 5:30 p.m., the ride starts at 6:30 p.m., and the après is at the golf club as soon as you can get there.

Pre-ride lines are still long so online registration is recommended if you haven't picked up your membership yet.

The June 10 race is sponsored by Whistler Bike Guides, Riverside Resort and Campground, Quinny's Café and Whistler Brewing, and includes North Secret and Green Lake Loop. Sign-on is at the Wedgemont parking lot at 5:30 p.m.

 

Trail maintenance day on Saturday

Ticket 2 Ride is hosting the June 5 WORCA trail maintenance day, with volunteers getting divided into two crews for different projects around town.

One crew will head up the Area 56 connector at Nesters to Roll Yer Bone, building a connector to the power line.

A second group will head south to upgrade an eroded climb/descent on the Trash trail.

To take part, meet at 9 a.m. at the municipal yard at Nesters. Come dressed for the weather and several hours of work in the outdoors, and bring water, bug spray, tools, etc. WORCA will be providing food and refreshments afterwards.

 

Unicycle legend to ride B.C. Bike Race

The seven-day B.C. Bike Race got a little weirder this week with the announcement that Kris Holm, arguably the world's most extreme unicyclist, was going to ride the entire course solo.

"I'm stoked about the BCBR," said Holm in a statement. "This race is like a summer's worth of great riding packed into a single week."

Holm is definitely up to the task. His list of achievements is long, like riding the Great Wall in China, ancient trade routes in Bhutan, and the first unicycle descent of a Bolivian Volcano. His exploits have been featured in numerous mountain bike movies, and a few years ago he rode the entire 25 km Comfortably Numb trail in Whistler in under five hours.

The BCBR is close to sold out but a few spots remain at press time. You can ride as a solo or part of a team of two, three, four or five, and this year organizers have added a short-course option where the daily selection of trails will be a little shorter.

This year the race features trails on the North Shore, Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast, Squamish and Whistler. The riding gets underway on June 26 and ends on July 3.

For more information or registration visit www.bcbikerace.com.

 

Local paddler at World Outrigger Championships

Whistler has boasted its share of world champions in the past, though the water in those cases is usually frozen into crystals. Not so in this case:

Local paddler Cheryl Skribes is returning with three world championship titles from the Google World Outrigger Canoe Championships, which wrapped up in New Caledonia this past weekend. Regarded as the biggest canoeing event in the world, the event is held every two years and the 2012 competition will take place in Penticton.

Skribes steers the Canadian team, which came away from the championships with the women's 500 metre and 1,500 metre titles, as well as the Masters 1,000 metre title.

 

Runners venture outside Sea to Sky

Squamish's Jason Loutitt placed second in the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon over the weekend, completing the 42.2 km course in 2:38:38. Vancouver's Graeme Wilson took that race in 2:32:14.

Also on May 30, Whistler's Barry McClure raced in the 25 km Iron Knee race in North Vancouver, placing fourth in the men's 50 to 59 race with a time of 2:07:48.