Our visit to the Kolapore Wilderness Trails Association was a monumental one, not only is it the last visit as IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew of our careers, but also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the KWTA. We are happy to report that, thanks to the great professionalism of the club and hard work from volunteers, the visit was a success. Indeed, they were able to draw visitors from a wide area around the GTA, a testament to the high level of organization the club enjoys.
The organization has recently re-branded from a ski trail focus to one that is more explicitly multi user to accommodate the growing amount of summer usage. As part of this, they have started to alter some of the ski-focused trails in the south end of the property to better accommodate summer trail use. This includes re-routing trails in wet areas and narrowing existing trail to singletrack for a more pleasant experience. In addition, the club plans on creating an additional beginner loop in the south end of the property to help increase the number of visitors and introduce people to the network.
The project undertaken was part of this overall plan; a small section of wide and wet trail was re-routed and constructed a bit narrower to be both more sustainable and more enjoyable for summer usage. Due to the generally flat topography of the area, the new section of trail would require a mix of mostly raised tread with benchcut trail where possible, making for a lot of work. As luck would have it, we had a great team of volunteers to get the project started, with around 50 meters of trail constructed. While we didn’t finish the project, the start gives everyone a great idea of what the rest of the trail will look like, including techniques for rock pitching and raised tread.
The trail situation of Kolapore is a great example of what happens when multiple user groups get together to advocate for and accomplish trails projects. What started as a ski network four decades ago will continue to flourish as a playground for multiple trail users and ability levels. We owe a great thanks to everyone who contributed to making our final trail care crew event of the season a success. Cheers!
Click here to check out the photos from the visit.