Trails for the Future: VMBA Trail Building Workshop, Day One

Our local mountain bike club joined other clubs from all around the state this past weekend to attend the annual Vermont Mountain Bike Association sustainable trail building workshop. Attendance at the workshop is one of the many benefits offered to clubs that join VMBA.

The workshop was held at American Flatbread in Waitsfield, host to one end of the new Mad River Riders' Revolution Trail. We spent the morning in a classroom setting, getting to know each other and learning from some of the best: Brooke Scatchard and Mariah Keagy of Sinuosity, a local mountain bike trail design/build company.

We learned how to build trails that are environmentally sustainable and that last into the future. We took our new skills to the Revolution Trail to work on some problem spots. 

For more on sustainable mountain bike construction, you can check out the book "Trail Solutions: IMBA's Guide to Building Sweet Singletrack" and visit the International Mountain Bike Association website, where they host a variety of resources related to trail design, construction and sustainability.

Also, stay tuned for an upcoming article from me on sustainable hiking and biking trail construction in the Active Vermont section of the Sunday Rutland Herald / Times Argus on July 26, 2014.