Trails Update: Oct 15, 2021
WSS Outdoor Recreation and Leadership class hits the tools
Mr. Kung (Kevin) and I first tried to connect for some student volunteer trail building in 2019… unfortunately, COVID put the partnership on ice. Until now. We are delighted to finally share our craft with the Whistler Secondary School program. We needed a trail project large enough to keep 20 students busy for 6 sessions AND It had to be located close enough to the school to maximize the effectiveness of the 3 hour blocks. I’ve been saving a project specifically for them since 2019: Up Shit Creek. This alternative to Shit Happens will get extended to the Big Kahuna, allowing bikes to pedal up towards One Duck Lake (access to Anal Intruder, Trial and Error as well as Section 102). We’ll be at it for 3 weeks. I hope the new line passes the final exam...
The Norco Canadian Enduro Series
Whistler is hosting our first major event of the COVID era: the Norco Canadian National Enduro Series championship. 300 riders, including veritable stars of the sport, will be racing on several WORCA maintained trails. We’ve learned from the past that races impact our trails so the crew have been preparing the stages with extra choking of potential braids, and this week, we also sent a crew member out to help with the course taping to manage where tires are supposed to stay (ON THE TRAIL).
Mother nature has promised to keep things slippery this weekend and the trail crew will be shadowing the course in the coming weeks to repair any trail damage.
Good luck to the trails (and racers) this weekend!
Modern(er) classic?
This week’s event has once again provided the catalyst to move forward with trail work from deep on my to-do list: modernizing Foreplay.
A famous Sea-to-Sky trail builder who shares my initials recently said:
“It feels like I’m descending a climbing trail.”
That is a pretty accurate observation. Truth be told, we used to ride Foreplay as an out-and-back from Lost Lake until Comfortably Numb was connected via the Al Grey Memorial Bridge (2003).
A lot has changed since then in both bike technology and riding culture.
After serious consideration and consultation, we’ve made a few sections more direct (down) where two-way traffic alignment was deemed unnecessary. A few of the new lines revealed interesting granite slabs and overall you’ll be able to conserve momentum where hard braking used to be necessary.
We’ll be spending more time in Foreplay this fall to tweak the new lines (and clean up after the Norco Canadian Enduro Series).
Enjoy!
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
