WMBC Trail News

The WMBC is pleased to announce that we are going to build 2 machine-built jump trails on Galbraith Mountain in 2010. Both of these projects are a couple years in the making, so it’s very exciting to see our plans coming to fruition. The WMBC has partnered with a local machine owner, and a local machine operator, and will also be relying on volunteers to help complete this project.Which trails are going to be built with the machine?The LugeThe current Luge route is an old moto trail that does not use the available terrain well and, as a result, is a very quick trail that has major erosion issues. The plan is to have a dramatic reroute of the Luge to use the hillside much better, extend the trail’s length, address the drainage issues, and build berms, table-tops, step-ups and step-downs. Map: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/4188590737_df593e7886_o.jpgUpper Mullet (future name TBD):This will start where an old trail called 12 Monkeys used to start near Wonderland and the view spot near the top of Evolution. It will end directly across from Mullet and help our goal of connectivity on the mountain. Our routing challenge was to avoid several boggy sections, a good-sized ravine, and to avoid any conflict with the Wonderland Trail. The new trail will roughly have 12 big berms, some pump rollers, and 15+ jumps.Map: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/4189352232_8cd637fdd9_o.jpgWhy use a machine instead of building by hand?By using a machine (specifically, a mini excavator in this situation), we’ll be able to build the trails significantly faster with far less volunteer manpower. These essentially are new lines with many features that would take a very long time to create by hand. Additionally, they allow us to better use the terrain and easily create table-top jumps, step-ups, and step-downs and big berms to help the progression of local riders.Who’s doing the work?WMBC Trail Crew Leaders Bill Hawk, Matt Durand, Colin Tobin and Eric Brown are leading the build process and have scouted, flagged, and cleared the two new work zones. We are very fortunate to have a local trail builder named Andrew Fletcher-Love, who has thousands of hours building trails with a machine, willing to volunteer his time. Andrew will be running the mini-excavator the bulk of the time and also was present during the routing process. Also assisting us was Duncan MacKenzie, who is a friend and fellow trail builder from Whistler. Duncan has lots of experience designing and building these types of trails as a builder in the Whistler Bike Park and helped us route our lines appropriately. The good news is we weren’t too far off with our initial line choice, but it was very helpful to have his expertise.Where are we getting the machine?Mark Salisbury of Fanatik Bike has graciously donated his personal mini-excavator for both projects. He also will trailer it and bring it to and from Galbraith for us. What can you do to help?1. Donate some $$$ to the cause! We set up a PayPal account at the WMBC website (http://www.whimpsmtb.com) specifically for the funding of this project. While the labor and equipment are being donated (estimated $5,000 value), we’ll need to pay for diesel fuel, grease, oil, drainage culverts, and a tune up on the machine before we return it. We estimate these costs to be around $750-1500.2. Volunteer your time! During the build days, we would like to have 1-2 extra people be out there to help cut up timber, re-vegetate an area, do some clean up work behind the machine, and some finishing work shaping jumps. The goal is to keep the machine building trail and features, and not having to do as much of the cleanup work. We’ll be creating sign up sheets for people, as most of the building will happen during the week.Thanks for your help with funding and building these two new jump trails!Cheers, Hawk