News

The CBC trail on Mt. Seymour is now officially closed until the Spring of 2013. The Cove and Okanagan Springs are working hard to reconstruct rotted structures and correct drainage issues with significant ground work through the TAP program. Work will continue pending weather conditions. This week there is a forecast of a cumulative 200+mm of rain.

The NSMBA asks the community for their understanding and support that in order for the new work to continue, and to give the dirt a chance to bed in, riders need to stay off the trail in the wet season.

Click here for a detailed explanation why CBC is closed in the winter.

On October 11th, the NSMBA presented the North Shore Trail Adoption Plan to an International Delegation at the IMBA World Summit.  A total of 350 delegates from around the world joined together to share ideas towards sustainable solutions for the sport.  Mathew Bond, NSMBA President, and Mark Wood, NSMBA Program Manager, presented our story of success here on the Shore.  The TAP program has grown exponentially in the past two years, now involving 23 Adopters who are doing major restorative projects on 19 trails.  "Today we represent not just the NSMBA, but the hundreds of volunteers who are driving TAP forward," said Wood when addressing the delegation.  

Mathew Bond & Mark Wood in Santa Fe New Mexico.

The Summit also provided an opportunity for the NSMBA to learn from other groups and build upon their current successes.  "We need to take things to the next level," says Bond.  Attending sessions on Relationship Building with Land Managers, Coalition Development, Sustainable Building, Community Involvement and many other significant and pertinent topics, the NSMBA has once again reinvested in itself to continue building on the already significant momentum within the organization.

The NSMBA would like to thank Chad & Deanne Lazuruk, IMBA Canada Trail Care crew for their support to drive the NSMBA to present at the Summit.  The NSMBA would also like to thank IMBA Canada for their continued support and all of the volunteers and supporters who make TAP happen.

VIDEO of the council presentation on Monday September 17th when the NSMBA's Mark Wood & Mathew Bond present "A Community Driven Model for Sustainable Trail Maintenance". Simply click on the 'film' icon in red after opening the link below.  Section 2 has many friends of the NSMBA voicing their support, plus some other interesting presentations.  The NSMBA Presentation and ensuing dialogue with Council can be seen by viewing section 5. Thank you again to everyone who came out to support our efforts and to the DNV Council for considerate dialogue on our proposal.  Special thanks goes out to Ben Campbell-Barry and Phil Bradshaw for their expertise and dedication to seeing through the completion of the Business Case.  The NSMBA is pleased to see that Council has asked the DNV Financial Department and Staff to assess the proposal.

http://www.dnv.org/upload/documents/Council_Agendas_Minutes/120917RC_AGN.htm

TAP 2012 Mid Season Update

Arc’teryx gets down to business on the massive Dreamweaver reroute.  Trail building never looked so good.

Entering the second half of the year, the NSMBA Trail Adoption Plan has hit full stride.  Already this year, a tremendous amount of work has been completed with TAP collectively accounting for a total of 40 trail days to date.  An army of community driven volunteers have taken up the charge with shovels, pulaskis, Macleods and mattocks, led by 15 TAP Builders. Never before have the trails on the North Shore seen such a concentrated amount of work in such a short period. 

On June 23^rd, we gathered in the sunshine at the water towers on Fromme to celebrate the 20^th year anniversary of Ladies Only.  Nearly 100 riders gathered to pay homage to the first free ride trail that started it all way back in ’92, built by the burly Digger, Todd Fiander. 

Someone was bound to go in the drink! photo Scott Robarts

Read the rest of the story and check out the photos…

The North Shore Ripper has sponsored the rebuilding of 60 feet of rotted bridgework on TNT/Cabin.  Thanks to their support, NSMBA builders Chris Barker & Earl Allen took 3 days to replace the expired section of woodwork which was over ten years old.  Rotted stringers and broken slats were in rough condition.  The new work is a much needed improvement.  Support the North Shore Ripper, they support the Shore.

Sign up for the North Shore Ripper events coming up on June 8/9/10!

Chris Barker & Earl Allen mid project.

            Before                                                                                        After

Our largest annual fundraiser happened last Sunday April 26^th. And it was yet another big success! After a Friday evening and Saturday morning of taking gear in, we had collected a great assortment of pre-loved gear and bikes. A couple people were one day off and showed up Saturday, as it was the first time we hosted the swap on a different day. But Sunday morning came around without the prospected rain, and a nice line up with members who were allowed to shop half an hour before non-members.

We wanted to take this time to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Thank you for your continued support and ongoing contributions.
2011 was a stellar year and we look forward to an even better 2012.

Here's a list of our ongoing initiatives and plans for 2012, we welcome your input:

• TAP on Fromme, continuing on Seymour
• Builders Academy
• Program Manager
• 6 Toonie Races occuring on the first saturday of each month from May until October
• 4-6 NSMBA Trail Days
• More work on Loutet Dirt Jump park
• Fromme Climbing Trail
• XC Trail Planning
• Coordination with High School Mountain Bike League
• Wades Excellent Adventure
• Gear Swap
• Film Fest
• Tool Container on Fromme
• First Aid Course for TAP Builder's
• Chainsaw Course for TAP Builder's
• 20th Anniversary of “Ladies Only”
• Expanded membership base with increased incentive programs, membership events and easier to purchase memberships. Memberships to be sold at events and through area businesses.
• Regular Newsletter to membership
• Townhall meeting and Annual General Meeting

We have some new blood in the Directorship and some big plans for 2012. Please consider supporting the North Shore by joining or donating . To get involved with any of the above initiatives, please contact Andrew@nsmba.ca our new sponsorship Director.  For the many of you who contributed in any way in 2011, thank you for your efforts in making 2011 an amazing year. Thank you for your support and we look forward to a great 2012!

The IMBA Canada trail crew paid a recent visit to the North Shore.  On Nov 18^th 2011 Chad & Deanne Lazaruk from IMBA shared the knowledge of sustainable trail building with the community.  Putting theory into practice, the half day of classroom theory was followed by a day and a half of building a new reroute on Dreamweaver.

Read more below, and be sure to visit the IMBA site for more pictures here:

http://www.imbacanada.com/blog/imba-visits-north-shore-vancouver-bc

Any permit holders, TAP builders, solo builders, or if you always wanted to learn more about trail building, join us this Saturday at Jaycee House for a half day of theory followed by a half day out in the field. The IMBA trail care crew has spent the last two years in Canada coast to coast and have some invaluable information to share on trail building.

Date: This Saturday, November 19th, 2011

Location: Jaycee House, then work on Dreamweaver

Time: Meet at 9am.

It's time to be heard.  We welcome your voice to contribute in the NSMBA vision for 2012. 

We have made tremendous gains in 2011 and want to continue that momentum going into 2012.  We'll be needing a few good men & women to help.  Opinion is valued but action is priceless so step up and join us in making the Shore a better place.  Come prepared to contribute your thoughts and pledge your efforts as a volunteer.

There will be opportunity to meet the current Directors and even nominate yourself for a Director position.  Details can be found here.  We look forward to sharing an evening together to talk about what we've done and what the plans are for the future. 

Some ground breaking plans are in our midst, if you've ever wanted to play a part, this is your chance.  The time is now.

Thursday, November 17th, 2011  7:30pm – 9:30pm
Jaycee House – 1251 Lilloet Road

On September 23rd, the Adopters, Builders, NSMBA Board of Directors and many friends in the community whose efforts shaped  the work completed in the inaugural season, joined together to celebrate our collective accomplishments in 2011.  
The clouds cleared and the rains seemed to stop on cue.  Brent Martin from Ryder's donated the venue and Dorothy Luebke  arranged the food. It was a night to recognize the efforts of all the volunteers who made the first TAP season a success.  
The Honourable Mayor Walton was on hand to share words of inspiration and speak of the importance of mountain biking in the  community and his support of the positive stewardship TAP has shown. 

The NSMBA would like to thank everyone who joined us in the celebration and extend our thanks to all the people who made TAP a success in its first season. 

Please read on to recognize those groups who participated in the 2011 season…

The Deloitte team after a hard days work

On Friday, September 23rd, NSMBA President and Acting Trail Director Mathew Bond (that's me) led a crew of 20 volunteers from Deloitte up to Dreamweaver.

This is the fourth year in a row that Deloitte has supported the NSMBA's trail maintenance efforts with their Impact Day program. Every September, employees from Deloitte spend a day volunteering their time in the community, and what better way to spend the day than trail building!

There's another Pre-Reaper Trail Day on Saturday, August 21st.

With enough help, we can connect the trail right through to the bridge. The stretch goal is fill in the crush and give riders a smooth, flowy trail through what used to be a mud-fest every time it rained. With the work completed by our volunteers in June, plus some extra building by Matt and Alan plus Mike and Roger hauling crush in their spare time, this goal is within reach.

As an added incentive, Whole Foods will be supplying lunch and snacks this time. They've been warned about hungry volunteers, so bring you appetites.

The coffee will be ready at 9AM in Parking Lot #5 on Cypress. The focus will be less on logs and more on crush. The NSMBA will supply tools and gloves. Steel toes are up to you, but they're recommended.

Thanks again for all your help getting us this far. Hope to see you there. Please contact us to confirm if you can make it.