Week of April 23, 2009, Issue #705
GREAT OUTDOORS
Hinton: Working on the chain gang
Link to On-Line Article:
Here
Hinton bikers pitch in to build free community bike park
Jeremy Derksen / snowzone@vueweekly.com
The dude carrying the chainsaw appraises me with a glance. "Here to
work?" he asks. Thick logs lay on the ground. Shovels and tools are
scattered at the margins of the underbrush. I try to find an easy way
to explain and come up with, "Uh, yeah, sort of." Before I know it, I'm
hacking in the dirt like a convict.
Technically I had come to Hinton's new bike park to work, although many
of my friends mock my use of the term. As an adventure writer, part of
my job involves indulging in activities like skiing, ice climbing,
mountain biking and surfing. All in the name of research. What most
people don't realize, because it's not so glamourous or exciting to
retell, are the hours spent in my office going blind by the light of a
computer screen, agonizing over verb choices. Hours that make hands
soft and muscles lazy.
I'd arrived in Hinton with the tools of my trade: notebook and pen,
camera, digital recorder and my mountain bike. But in late September
2008, Hinton's bike park is still largely a work in progress, and a
volunteer work party is underway. In all, the Hinton Mountain Bike
Association (bikehinton.com) had turned $60 000 from a legacy grant
into over $200 000 in volunteer labour and donations. Local companies
donated trucks and time to bring gravel and mineral soil to the site. A
local construction supply manager toils in the dirt on my one side and
the town manager, Bernie Kreiner, on the other. Kids no older than 10
are hauling wheelbarrows of dirt, hefting shovels taller than they are.
All the activity catches my attention. Yes, Hinton's park is the first
community-built, free municipal bike park in Alberta, loaded with
berms, log drops, single track, dirt jumps and a skills park. The jumps
area and flow trail are already finished when I get there. But while
that would usually engross me completely, this project exudes a unique
vibe. The effort and generosity of the entire town is impressive, too
impressive to sit idly by and watch.
So I grab a shovel and get to work.
Dust and sweat cake my face as I hack at the dirt beds, unearthing
small roots and combing the uneven soil into the semblance of a trail,
inch by dusty inch. After a couple hours of intense work a blister is
forming at the base of my thumb. My mountain bike leans neglected
against a tree. But things are slowly taking shape and it feels good to
be a part of it.
I've ridden enough bike parks to know what the finished product looks
like. At lift-serviced resorts like Whistler or Silverstar that's what
they sell. A product. All the work takes place behind the scenes. These
are smooth operations with all the corporate bells and
whistles—computer-operated processing systems, high-end rental gear,
super-efficient quad chairs, smiling frontline staff and fancy base
area amenities. No one at Whistler would ever just hand you a shovel.
And why would they? Your lift ticket pays for trail maintenance.
There's nothing wrong with that, but there's something special about a
community-led project like Hinton's specifically because it isn't a
lift-accessed mega-park. This is the sport at its most fundamental.
It's the DIY attitude of a small community of local riders doing it for
the love. As I cart loads of dirt to build up a berm, it's clear to me
that they're doing it right.
"The scope of the venture in Hinton is phenomenal. To develop a
4.5-acre parcel into trails and learning facilities is a feat," says
Jay Hoots, whose personally branded company, Hoots (hoots.ca), led park
design and construction. "For the community to come together the way
they did to make that happen is amazing."
Hoots is a veteran Norco pro team rider and a respected park designer,
bike safety specialist and mountain-bike advocate. To date, he and his
team have built over 30 parks across Alberta and BC. On site in Hinton,
his appearance—long dreadlocks, ripped jeans and hoodie—belies a sharp
businessman and advocate who has participated on environmental and
political committees to represent mountain biking interests in his
North Shore stomping grounds.
Despite this breadth of experience, Hoots says he was floored by the
volunteer and business support here. "Hinton stands above as the first
community in Alberta to embrace a relationship with a local bike club
to build a facility. When I got here, the first thing I was handed were
sheets and sheets [of paper] with contact information for all the
businesses that had volunteered materials, machinery and labour."
The value of such strong local commitment isn't lost on Hoots. First
thing in the morning he does a round of the site, stopping to chat with
many of the volunteers. Then he picks up his own tools and digs in next
to them. Throughout the day he delegates respectfully, patiently
explaining design concepts to volunteers—some of whom have never biked
a day in their life much less built a bike park. "They're all
superheroes," he says.
Stephen Hanus, HMBA president, shares Hoots's sentiments. "The
community stepped up big time. Everybody is really excited about this
project. It's been a lot of work but the reward has been
instantaneous," he grins. "Immediately after the jumps were built kids
were out on them—even big kids—and loving every minute of it."
Most mountain-bike parks are dormant in winter. Not Hinton's. Over
the off-season, it grew in size and potential. The HMBA successfully
applied for a $65 000 Community Facilities Enhancement Program grant
from the province. The new funds will enable the club to start building
Phase 2 this spring—filling out the park with slopestyle, North Shore,
flow trail, multipurpose and cross-country trails. In total, the HMBA
has 37 acres of land at its disposal, donated by the town.
Hoots and crew will return to lead a work detail from May 27 to June
13. No doubt local volunteers will be out in force. I, for one, am
planning to return with shovel in hand. Of course, it takes more than a
day to really belong to a scene, but the more I get to know Hinton, the
more I want to know. Not because it has the potential to be an
extreme-sport destination, but because I know that what I saw that day
won't change much. The same determined spirit of community ownership,
volunteer effort and freeride fun will be there every day, whether you
go to ride, build or walk the trails. And every time I go, I'll see
trails that I dug out with strangers who became instant friends.
Grand opening of the park is slated for the day after construction
ends, June 14. If my experience from last fall is anything to go by,
the kids will be riding the park the minute shovels are set down, with
Hoots riding right beside them. As for me, I may go there to work, but
you can bet I'll have my bike, too. V
