This past week I had the pleasure of presenting our Winter Trails and Fat Biking presentation to the UTRCA at their superintendants meeting.
Mountain biking is already allowed at UTRCA facilities, but fat biking and winter trails are a new entity for the organization as typically the three parks within the organization close for the winter season. Throughout the winter some of the facilities open their trails for fat biking and winter specific events, but these are few and far between so it was great to have the entire staff on board and willing to allow more trail access and improve their trail experiences for winter users. While it may be too late for this fat bike season, it is exciting to see a great organization such as the UTRCA on board to allowing fat bike access to its facilities.
Our ‘Winter Trails and Fat Biking’ is part of our new programming offered throughout the winter. It talks about fat bikes as a sport and how they and their trails differ in the winter versus the summer time. It also discusses best practices and suggestions on how to make the most out of winter riding, while also minimizing conflict with other users. Lastly it discusses specific case studies of Nordic Centres and National Park sites that have successfully integrated fat biking into their winter trail offerings.
If you would like more information about our ‘Winter Trails and Fat Biking’ presentation or our winter programming please contact
Justin Truelove – Trail Care Crew Leader
justin.truelove@imbacanada.com
-Justin Truelove