Weekly updates from the trail crew: Click here to view Stew Spooner's (KCTS Trail Crew Manager) weekly summary of what the trail crew has been working on.Current news: Oct 27, 2011 Crown Point Connector Closed by Logging We've heard anecdotally that the trail know variously as "Crown Royal" or "Crown Point Connector" is in an active logging zone and bikes should stay clear. We're pretty sure Crown Point itself is unaffected but best to stay off the road that leads to the top of Crown Point if there is active logging activity on that road. In the spring the trail crew will have a look at any damage to the trail and do their best to restore it. Oct 27, 2011 KCTS Finances Kim Deanne, KCTS Treasurer, presented the attached financial summary at the AGM last night. The KCTS raises about $100K each year of which about 90% is spent on trail building and the other 10% on management (eg insurance, accounting, etc). This is an impressive "delivery ratio" and reflects the substantial volunteer time put in by the directors doing all the other "management" that is required. Click here to see the details. Oct 1, 2011 KCTS AGM The KCTS Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday October 26th, 7pm at the Rossland Firehall. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. The meeting agenda will include:
You must be a member in good standing to vote in the election for directors. Sep 30, 2011 Trail Crew Finishes Another Stellar Year The trail crew has finished another great year: maintaining our trails, providing extensions and variations to existing trails and building entirely new trails. This year we had 2 trail crews for most of the season allowing for even more to get done. Use the link at the top of this home page to view the weekly reports. Isaac Saban KCTS president commented: "There are lots of towns with great trails but its the quality of the maintenance on our trails that sets us apart. Thanks Stew and everyone on the crew for a great job."Sep 16, 2011 New Trail in Trail The new Bluffs trail (see attached map, click to see full size) located above the Miral Heights trail in Trail is nearing completion. It’s a new 2.8 km well defined loop trail, suitable for most hikers and experienced intermediate level mountain bikers (best ridden counter clock-wise), leading to a spectacular viewpoint on the bluffs above Sunningdale. It’s going to be pretty soft and dusty until we get some significant Fall rains, but it should be the in great shape for the early Spring.
Aug 14, 2011 Trail Counter Numbers Here are the latest stats - click to see full size. The counter on redtop (blue line) was moved to 7 summits (yellow line). Pretty impressive numbers for redtop, never less than 30 riders and peaks over 60. Still early days for 7 Summits counter but judging by the increase in busyness downtown and bikes on cars looks like the numbers will be at least as high as shown here. Hard not to draw the conclusion that rides in Rossland prefer demanding uphills and fast flowy (but not too technical) downhills. Aug 11, 2011 Doukhobor Draw - Temporary Closure Due to logging and roadbuilding activity on private land, part of the Doukhobor Draw trail & the Patterson Railgrade are now closed until further notice. Doukhobor Draw is closed between its' intersection with Tamarack trail (also signed as the highest point on the trail) and the Red Mountain Railgrade in Patterson. The Patterson Railgrade is closed from the bottom of Doukhobor Draw south to to the end of Barley Road and King George Park. Signs have been installed on the trail, and your cooperation is appreciated. The trail will be reopened when it is safe to do so. Please keep checking back here as additional temporary closures are expected on other sections of these trails. June 30, 2011 Museum Trail Progress But Still Closed Teck has a new plan to put up a perimeter fence above Museum trail and as part of that work improve the cement cap over the last remaining problem area. This should result in Museum trail reopening by this fall. Click to read a news article. 3-Oct-2009 Oasis Trail Closed One of the owners of land crossed by the Oasis Trail has closed access to the Trail. Both upper and lower are affected. KCTS asks all trail users to respect the closure and stay off of Oasis. At this time it is unclear when or if Oasis will re-open. This closure is a good reminder that access to most of the KCTS Trails is a privilege granted by the land owners for which we should all be grateful.Older News: July 29, 2011 7 Summits now open The snow is mostly gone (about 200m of "portaging" required) and the trail is in great shape. See the link above to read the details. Picture below of what it took for the trail crew to open it this year. The countdown to skiing begins now. June 30, 2011 Redtop getting 60 riders a day As part of a Tourism BC study the KCTS installed a trail counter on the Redtop Trail. The first week's results show and average of about 45 riders a day with a low of 37 and a high of 60. Click here to see the graph. June 25, 2011 7 Summits opens late For those of you expecting to ride the 7 Summits trail on the July 1 long weekend we have bad news. Due to the unusually high snow fall from the winter and cold spring there is still LOTS of snow on the trail. There is vigorous debate about when it should be open but really we don't know. Stew Spooner (Trail Crew Manager) says: "I expect that the trail will be rideable, albeit with multiple portages over short snowy sections by July 15 weekend, but that it'll be another 2 weeks after that before it's entirely snow free."Update on July 18, some hardy souls did the whole trail on the weekend but there was lots of bike carrying through snow. See Stew's trail report above. So far it looks like the Stew quote just above is bang on. May 26, 2011 Annual Trails Day: Sat. June 4 This is your opportunity to give back to the trails network and have a great time doing it. Read the full details. Mar 16, 2011 KCTS Hiring For Summer Trail Crew Spend your summer building and maintaining trails in the KCTS network. Hard work, big bucks and that glow of satisfaction from doing a job well. Read the details here. Jan 31, 2011 Antenna and Flagpole Trails in Montrose 2010 Work A group of volunteers led by Art Benzer worked hard on the Antenna and Flagpole trails last year AND they got a visit from the KCTS trail crew to help out. Click here to view Art's report.Jan 5, 2011 KCTS submission to RDKB Here is a letter sent by the KCTS to the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary requesting funding for 2011. Its an excellent overview of the activities of the KCTS as well as where the funding comes from. 27-Nov-2010 Backcountry Horseman on 7 Summits Trail Aug 2011 The back country horseman will be holding an organized ride on the 7 Summits on Friday August 26th and Saturday August 27th, horses may also be on the trail on Sunday August 28th. On Friday the ride will start at the Nancy Greene Summit and go south to the summit of Grey Peak and then turn around and return to the Nancy Greene Summit. On Saturday the south end of the trail will be ridden from the Old Cascade Highway Summit to Granite and then return to the Old Cascade Highway Summit. If you are planning on using the trail please be aware that horses will be on the trail these days. |
