Doumont
Our Winter Trail Crew has been hard at work since the end of November and has made solid progress over the first 5 weeks. Our crew consists of 9 individuals and started with experience ranging from established builders to just learning the trade. December saw us getting the crew getting trained up on trailbuilding methods and applying these skills to two reroutes at Doumont to meet the NMBC’s maintenance commitments and improve upon the user experience of the network.
We began by rerouting the hike-a- bike section of Banshee Blvd, near Killer Climb, with an approximate 200 m new segment of trail to make the climb rideable and allow for deactivation of the eroded, fall line portion of trail. This segment took the crew about 8 days and is rideable and ready for use; go have a look!
Next we began working on our second reroute paralleling Killer Climb. This approximate 300 m segment starts near the southeast end of Scott’s trail, allows users to avoid the Killer Climb road, and provides a lower grade climbing route to access the top of Killer Climb and Banshee Blvd. The crew put their benchcutting skills to work and were only stopped by the snowstorm that buried the project for about a week.
Once the snow receded from Doumont, we moved our work back to the Killer Climb reroute, and it was nearly completed by the end of December. The route is now open and ready to ride; check it out!
Westwood
With the low elevation snow, we shifted gears and moved to the trails at Westwood, where we began working on maintenance and water management along K2 North. We also put some initial effort into Binx, working on clearing the many danger trees along the trail, armouring, drainage, and improving some corners with some new berms. Occasional work on Binx will be ongoing over the next few months, with the intent of repairing the trail and providing an intermediate downhill option that we hope will be fun for everyone.
Trail Crew Sponsors:
- McGeragle Tree Service
- Home Hardware
- Windley Contracting
Did you know, we are running our trail crew with an employment skills and job search assistance component? All of our crew members will be looking for employment in the spring, and have a wide variety of skills sets as well as a work ethic that has been hardened by physical work outdoors through the BC winter. If your business may be looking for employees at this time, please reach out to us at community@nanaimomountainbikeclub.com and perhaps we can help connect you with your next all-star employee!