Here is our ‘annual report’ on work in 2015. We had huge year for trails and for VVMBA in 2015 and want to take a moment to reflect on all that you helped accomplishment by showing up to dig or by contributing financial and moral support. You also supported us by getting out there and riding and spreading the word on Eagle County trails.
The stats for 2015:
- 3115: Estimated total volunteer hours for new trail construction and land restoration in the Vail Valley through VVMBA-related projects
- 7680: Feet of new trail constructed by volunteers during 2015
- 900: Feet of machine built and professionally constructed trails added to our public (non-resort) system in 2015 by VVMBA-organized projects
- 3060: Feet of unsustainable eroding crap-fest trail and doubletrack restored by VVMBA and partners during our projects last year.
- $19,800: Amount of money put into trail construction and lands restoration in the Berry Creek area via the National Forest Foundation, VVMBA, and USFS
- 87: Number of hot dogs and hamburgers consumed on the Wyse Brothers’ back porches after Wednesday night trail work
- 200+: Number of Coors Extra Gold beers provided by a certain unnamed volunteer to other weekly trail workers on his trunk after sunset shut down trail work.
- Uncountable: Number of sh-t eating grins provided by all the new singletrack in the West Avon Preserve and the upper Berry Creek re-alignment
Additional accomplishments:
With the help of Blizzard Press we rolled out a first class new website to get our message out to visitors and donors at vvmba.org.
We hosted some great mountain bike-centric events like our Spring Open House at the Miller Ranch Community Center and the documentary film showing of The Rider and the Wolf at Colorado Mountain College Edwards Campus.
We continued to support our local valley partners and drum-up new membership and trail support by tabling at local festivals and events like the Eagle Valley Land Trust Heritage Festival and the inaugural Outlier Bike Festival in Vail.
Our weekly work nights had record attendance this season, with hundreds of hours put in by locals trying to make their backyard rides and trail systems the best possible.
VVMBA continues serving on local committees vital to bike development in the community including the Avon Trails Committee and the Vail Valley Trails Connection.
We sent 3 board members and 5 more die-hard trail crew leaders to the Outdoor Stewardship Institute Trail Crew Leadership workshop hosted in Minturn at the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy. These folks learned crew management skills and trail building techniques that will pay dividends over and over again for Eagle County mountain biking. We are hoping to host an IMBA Advanced Trail Building Workshop in 2016, so if you are a current crew leader or build trails for an agency or resort in Eagle, Summit, Lake, or Routt counties, keep eyes out for dates.
VVMBA provided letters of support and technical consultation to help push proposed projects in Town of Vail and the Eagle-Vail and Minturn areas. Hopefully some of these seeds will sprout in 2016 to keep adding great singletrack in our communities.
We are continuing to engage on long term planning efforts with the Forest Service and Eagle County to bring new trails to the valley, complete a Master Plan for soft-surface trails, increase non-winter economic tourism in the valley, and find long-term, sustainable funding sources for trails construction and maintenance.
We are truly just getting started on realizing this valley’s potential to become a world class mountain biking destination. Don’t miss out on being a part of it, join us in 2016 by:
- Volunteering on one of our weekly summer trail work nights,
- Attending one of our major weekend trail projects (to be announced), or
- Considering a tax-deductible 501(c)3 donation to the Vail Valley Mountain Bike Association.
The board at VVMBA hopes you’re having a stellar winter so far and you got out to ride some pow in the weeks leading up to the holidays (as well as stayed warm in the sub-zero temps last week!). Maybe you’ve even shelved the skis for an afternoon and tried out a fat bike? A huge thanks to all our partners and supporters in 2015. We look forward to years to come of successful community building through trails.
Supporters and Partners
United States Forest Service, Town of Avon, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Town of Vail, National Forest Foundation, Momentum Trails, Eagle County, Town of Minturn, East-West Resorts, Vail Resorts Epic Promise, the Dusty Boot, Bob’s Place, Moe’s BBQ, E-Town, Crazy Mountain Brewery, Bonfire Brewery, Slifer Smith & Frampton, Garfinkel’s, Colorado Mountain College, Grit and Thistle Film Company, The Kind Cyclist
|
Project |
Berry Creek | Mesquite Trail | Cougar Ridge | West Avon Preserve | Totals |
| Volunteer hours | 300 | 1200 | 1300 | 315 | 3115 |
| Feet of new trail, volunteer | 2860 | 3000 | 820 | 1000 | 7680 |
| Feet of new trail, professional | 895 | 895 | |||
| Feet of restoration | 560 | 2500 | 500 | 3060 | |
| Money and grants | 19800 | 19800 | |||
| Partners and supporters | USFS, Momentum Trails | Vail Resorts, USFS, Singletree HOA | VOC, USFS | Town of Avon, Momentum Trails, USFS, EVLT |
