Trails Update: October 9, 2026
marmot trail day
As the days get shorter and leaves start to drop, we hosted our last volunteer trail day of the 2026 season and congratulations are in order. Peak Vending sponsored the event which featured shaping a turn near the base of some majestic Douglas Firs. I’m particularly stoked for this because I can spot those specific trees from my house! New(!) WORCA president Ben Hryciw took the stage to thank his predecessor Dale Mikkelsen for his 10 years of service and introduce our new trails director: Eli Tindall. Ben followed up by ceremoniously awarding this year’s Golden Mattock (for most trail days attended) to Christian Miller! The accolades didn’t end there… Everybody got a high five because our volunteer diggers have benched their way to completing 1km of new trail! That’s an immense feat, accomplished in only 7 trail mornings! As Sarah and Ben cooked up my (in)famous Phish tour grilled cheeses, we celebrated in our usual manner, indulging in Coast Mountain Brewing’s finest suds! Join us for more digging fun next season!
trail changes ahead!
This week the crew moved the big rake down Flashback 3 and 4 to enhance some shapes. My favorite trails have a common characteristic… they constantly change direction… all 3-dimensions. As you ride down a trail, it can send you left and right, and there’s also the possibility of shifting your momentum up and down. Widening an existing trail to meet the Adaptive-mtb blue standard can make it feel straighter… and travelling straight can be “unengaging”. So, we tried to enhance the curviness of the trail so that riders feel some “G’s” and get the opportunity to accelerate by pumping against those arcs. With that in mind, we used the excavator to build up some berms, add rollers and dig out some dips through the flatter straight sections. Heads up, despite compacting the fresh work, the surface will remain pretty soft until some moisture (and time) can “cement” the tread. While in the area, we also improved the access to Flashback 4, connecting it directly across the road from the Mclauren suspension bridge access trail. This link completes the lower half of our Adaptive-MTB loop: climb Farside and descend Flashback 4-5. Please note, despite the new signs we installed on the FSR, riders should still look both ways before crossing!
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
