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With fire in my lungs, lead legs and sheens of sweat beneath my rain jacket, I rounded yet another corner of the climb trail. 鈥淭his is the last big hill, I promise. I know I say that a lot鈥︹��
Jake Henderson鈥檚 words trailed off with a chuckle. 鈥淏ut the higher you climb, the better the views get.鈥�
鈥淚f you can鈥檛 make this first turn, then you should turn around and go back the way we came, because it鈥檚 only going to get harder,鈥� said Aaron Walmsley, just as we reached the top.
I adjusted my bike, swallowed hard鈥� then let adrenaline and gravity do the rest.
Nestled along the Sea to Sky Highway between the Tantalus Mountain Range and the impressive Stawamus Chief lays Squamish. It isn鈥檛 a large town, but it is internationally known for its extensive network of bike trails.听
In any given week, 75 per cent of the bikers who hit the trails are visitors to Squamish, as noted in the 鈥淓conomic Impact of Mountain Biking in Squamish鈥� report recently conducted by the 麻豆社国产Off-Road Cycling Association (SORCA). When compared to a similar study done in 2006, it appeared that trail traffic has more than quadrupled in the last seven years. SORCA sells an annual, non-mandatory trail pass for $15, where every cent goes toward trail building and maintenance, yet just less than half of the riders surveyed were aware of the pass program. As more biking fanatics flock to 麻豆社国产each year, some question how the town will ensure that its trails can be maintained while preserving the economic viability of the mountain biking community.
鈥淸Trail upkeep] was 100 per cent volunteer work before SORCA,鈥� said Dave Heisler, owner of Corsa Cycles in downtown 麻豆社国产and one of the original six SORCA members. SORCA has been running for more than a decade, but the trail passes were only recently introduced thanks to Barry Wood, an avid local mountain biker since 2001.
Wood originally came to 麻豆社国产to rock climb, but he soon started trail riding and building. He has been on the forefront for legitimate trail 鈥渁uthoring鈥� ever since, and听enjoys 鈥渂uilding on top of lots of history.鈥�
Before the SORCA pass program was implemented, the British Columbia Off Road Motorcycle Association (BCORMA) had a similar program of its own.
鈥淏CORMA used province-wide trail passes as a form of income for the trails,鈥� Wood explained, 鈥渁nd I thought, 鈥榃hy can鈥檛 we take that model and apply it to trail passes for mountain bikes?鈥欌��
SORCA passes turn four years old this summer. But have they maintained their popularity? Al Ross from Tantalus Bike Shop pointed out that not everyone has the time to go volunteering on the trails, so the pass serves as their contribution.
Richard Dietel, an employee at Republic Bicycles in Brackendale, said interest in the passes has tapered off since their inception: 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how and what we can do to get that level of interest back,鈥� he says.
However, other members of the 麻豆社国产biking community see it differently. 鈥淎s soon as people heard that SORCA passes were not mandatory, they started growing in popularity,鈥� said Pat Cox, an employee at Corsa Cycles.
Jeremy Null, another employee at Tantalus, observed: 鈥淧eople seem super keen, and still want to give back.鈥�
With a grin, he said that people 鈥渓ike to build, but not maintain trails. One guy can go out for an afternoon and build a good part of a trail, but it takes more than one guy to maintain it long term.鈥�
One can ride pretty much year round in Squamish. 鈥淭here are three major bike shops here, and they all do quite well,鈥� Null noted. In the past four years, the population of mountain bikers has exploded in Squamish. There are lots of trail builders in town, all with different riding styles, which contributes to the diverse trail network and makes the town such a prime destination for off-road biking.
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鈥淭he whole concept [of trail building] is a grey area,鈥� Wood shrugged. Melissa Sheridan, five-year SORCA employee and director of the cross-country Toonie Races, elaborated: 鈥淪ome trails are grandfathered in,鈥� she said. 鈥淎pplying for a section 57 with the provincial government offers trails protection from logging.鈥�
The trail itself does not become a no-go zone, but section 57 holds those responsible for interfering with a sanctioned trail to either rebuild it or to give SORCA the money to replace it.听
Terry Patterson, a dad, mountain biker, trail builder and Extra Foods employee, first built the black diamond trail Border Patrol nearly a decade ago with a friend, the late Bill Landry. 鈥淚 finally went back for the first time in eight years to visit, and I was amazed by the number of people who use it, and for hiking as well.鈥�
On this particular weekend, Patterson took his two children up to Border Patrol to help him spruce up the trail. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something I want to do with them. My son鈥檚 only four, but I think it鈥檚 good to get out there and work on this together,鈥� he said.
The trail network is worth much more than one may think.
鈥淚n dollars per meter, these trails are worth millions. They鈥檙e a piece of infrastructure,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淭he trails bring in as much as the [麻豆社国产Valley Music Festival] in the summer,鈥� Sheridan noted. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 around $8 million annually.鈥�
The sum is large, and spread out over many facets: accommodations, restaurants, groceries and bike stores.
No wonder travellers tend to stick around in Squamish.听
鈥淚 like the trail,鈥� Patterson said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 the cool thing for me, but for others? They鈥檙e looking at the green, the moss and how beautiful it is.鈥�
Republic Bicycles employee Brandon Thomson agreed: 鈥淣owhere else is there the amount of access [to nature] that we have here in Squamish.鈥�
When asked what drew him to the trails, Null laughed and said 鈥淸mountain biking] is a healthy thing to do鈥�. if I didn鈥檛 mountain bike, I鈥檇 be a grumpy man.鈥�
