Some unpredictable weather this past year has meant that local trail advocates have had to be flexible when it comes to maintaining the network.
Trails are a big part of the draw of tourists to the area, so it is important that the work gets done, they say.
“It’s a destination,” said Roland Benesocky, trail advocacy director for the Squamish Off-Road Cycling Association (SORCA). “The secret is out, so to speak.”
He estimates ridership of trails in the area has doubled or even tripled.
SORCA has been busy with a number of projects in 2015. The group is in the middle of extending an important trail in the Diamond Head network using a $20,000 grant approved by the District of Squamish from the Olympics’ Sports Legacy Fund.
“We had to apply for that funding that was left over,” Benesocky said.
The Climbing Trail was started in 2012 with funding from the Sports Legacy Fund.
It is not as simple as lining up the funding, though. The process involves getting approval through governmental bodies as well as comments from stakeholders in the area such as First Nations, logging operations and BC Hydro.
“In a perfect world, we would potentially turn this around in a couple of months,” Benesocky said. “To some degree, that’s out of our hands.”
The current work extends the Climbing Trail roughly from six kilometres to 12 kilometres towards the top of a hill. Another phase would see the trail extended down the hill.
“Ideally, we’d like to have them begin at the same time, using two different contractors,” Benesocky said.
The organization will be fundraising to cover the costs of this project.
Much of SORCA’s work in recent years involves managing a $60,000 fund for the district to handle trail maintenance. This work is done in collaboration with two other user groups, the Squamish Access Society and the Squamish Dirt Bike Association. The fund is not a regular budget item for the district and must be renewed each year. As Benesocky puts it, there is too much work to do to rely exclusively on donations, especially when it comes to such a community resource.
Weather did pose challenges this past year, with a mild, dry winter last year resulting in more riders early in the year. The dry summer meant more riders, but forest fires delayed efforts to get at the trails.
Benesocky said the weather delayed work on dirt but the crews were able to do brush work through the summer.
“We have to work when the ground is conducive to being worked,” he said.
Based on the conditions through the year, SORCA concentrated on brushing and maintenance at 10 trails, drainage, ditching and resurfacing at five sites, as well as safety upgrades at Half Nelson and bridgework on the Yer Mom trail.
SORCA is now working on some mountain biking trails, as well as some initiatives with the Squamish Access Society, the climbing group, and the Squamish Dirt Bike Association.
