Trails Update: July 25, 2019
Jane lakes progress
With the forecast calling for less buggy/more berry, we ventured back into Jane lakes to build some bridges. The pristine old growth forest there is mostly populated by Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock and Yellow Cedar… alas, our preferred (light/ easy splitting/ better smelling) Red Cedar is strangely missing from this zone. So, we mounted the big bars on the saws for some heavy milling. Anyone venturing out there will notice the distinctive soapy smell for months to come. The dense bright yellow grain was harder than nails(!) and made for some frustrating hammering. Ask Tic about the hell board...
Shout out to Tic!
“Who’s Tic?” you might ask... Peter (Tic) works at the Whistler Arc’teryx store. During their store overhaul renovations, Arc’teryx offered to pay core staff for “volunteering” with community minded initiatives. Tic (a Tuesday dig night regular) offered to join the WORCA trail crew! He’s helped lug rocks, hammer bridges and lead other volunteers for 3 months now! The store is reopening soon, so hopefully he’ll reacclimate to civilization seamlessly…. Thanks Tic, we’ll miss you! I have a feeling you’ll enjoy not needing to wear a bug net at work!
More Chipmunk helpThe tools are out of the Chipmunk zone for now, but we had a final push on the lower section with very enthusiastic recruits: 5 groups from Whistler-Blackcomb’s DFX program rode in to participate in the rebellion! Funny: Tic also works as a bike guide... he couldn’t miss this! The digging stoke was only surpassed by the glee of riding over fresh dirt.
And the tools are actually out now because...
Vacation
Time flies when you’re having fun! Despite mostly cold, wet and buggy conditions in the woods this season, we find ourselves past the “half-way point”. We’ve worked in every corner of the valley from Jane lakes to Lord of the Squirrels to Comfortably Numb and so much more in between. After 14 weeks, the crew will take some well deserved time off to rest our backs, ride our bikes (more) and recharge for another round of upgrades and general upkeep on our Network.
We’ll be back at it when Crankworx rolls into town for...
Freehub/Specialized trail day
Once again Freehub Magazine and Specialized bikes have teamed up to sponsor our mid season trail day: August 15, 2019. We’ll be upgrading “Out of the Dust”, the climb trail that accesses all of your Blackcomb favorites. Details are imminent…
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
