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Fernie trails: behind the scenes

A dedicated group of unsung heros keep the trails around Fernie maintained for everyone to enjoy
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Every Thursday evening, around a dozen dedicated individuals grab their shovels, axes and hammers, and head out into the woods. Thanks to them, the trails around Fernie stay clear, safe and maintained for everyone to enjoy.

Each week they meet at the bike shed at the Fernie Bike Park, ready to take on a new project. Often riders will post on social media a picture of a worn out boardwalk or fallen tree and within hours the crew is out to fix the problem.

On Thursday, May 17, they worked on making the trail around Maiden Lake more inclusive; the boardwalk was in need of repair. Grace Brulotte, a Fernie local who is wheelchair-bound, thanked the crews for allowing her to explore this area for the first time. Trail crew organizer Rick Wiess said he was proud to be a part of such an amazing group of volunteers.

As the Valley starts to transition from winter into spring/summer, much maintenance is required to get trails back up and running. “Because we had that huge wind storm in October… we have trees everywhere,” said Wiess.

Last week, they cleared trees on Kush Trail, cleared the entire Coal Discovery Trail loop and assessed the provincial park, which they found was a total mess.

“We’re going to go get certified loggers to go clean that up because it’s really dangerous,” he said. “That’ll be a while yet.”

Montane trails are good to go, as well as the majority of Mount Proctor trails. Lazy Lizard is still waiting for the snow to melt, Red Sonia and other trails higher up on MountFernie are slowly opening up.

Last week, construction on a new ‘adaptive loop’ trail was started in Montane. The 2.6 metre-wide trail will be available to be used by anyone; young, old and wheelchair-bound.

The crew is also working on extending the Coal Discovery Trail (Trans Canada Trail) to be single track all the way from Porky Blue to Hosmer. This project will take three to four months to complete this summer.

“You’ll be able to get on your bike, ride all the way to Hosmer to visit the ruins and ride single track all the way back,” said Wiess.

“It’s going to be really nice, it’s going to be good.”

As of May 23, the logging of Hyperextension began, and is now closed to the public for four to six weeks. This is a very small part of Montane; Roots and Uprooted will remain open but riders will have to modify their descent. Afterwards, trail crews will either find the old trail if possible and restore it, or construct a new trail.

Last year was the last for the Porky Blue ride; this area has now been logged. There is a long-term, five-year plan to build an epic trail on Fernie Ridge.

“We’ve already started the scouting, we’re already flagging trail, but we don’t have full permission yet to build trail,” said Wiess.

Asked if there would be a substitute for the race, Wiess said there may be in Montane, but this was yet to be determined.

This year, a new trail is being added to the already extensive list of trails in Fernie.

A new two-kilometre flow trail on Rifle Range ridge, named Contra, is set to be completed late July. A fundraiser for the completion of this trail will be held at Nevados on June 6. Tickets will be $25 per person, and includes a generous three-course meal.

“This will bring us on scale with places like Revy (Revelstoke) and Nelson that have a big flow trail,” said Wiess.

May 26 is the Trail Razr III, the biggest fundraising event of the year. Held at the Fernie Community Centre, all the proceeds from an evening of good food and silent auctions will be donated back to the trails. Last year, $21,000 was raised. Visit Eventbrite.ca to purchase tickets.

Follow “Fernie Trails Alliance (FTA) Trail Conditions and Ride Board” on Facebook to find out information about cleanup crews, maintenance nights, trail conditions and wildlife sightings.



Phil McLachlan

About the Author: Phil McLachlan

Phil McLachlan is the editor at the Penticton Western News. He served as the reporter, and eventually editor of The Free Press newspaper in Fernie.
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