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GOING DOWNHILL
Conflict over rogue mountain bike trails coming to a head
nsnews.com/newsletter
RESCUE GAME CHANGER
BRENT RICHTER
brichter@nsnews.com
Metro Vancouver is shutting down popular but unsanctioned mountain bike trails. The North Shore Mountain Bike Association is condemning rogue trail builders. Someone booby trapped Corkscrew, a longstanding sanctioned downhill run.
Nobody, it seems, is happy on the trails. NSMBA executive director Deanne Cote published an open letter last week acknowledging that in the woods of the North Shore, things are coming to a head. To a very large degree, the sport of downhill mountain biking was born on the North Shore, and it remains a worldclass destination and home to the head offices of some of the biggest brands in the industry. Since the pandemic, the popularity of mountain biking has ballooned, but there hasn’t been enough new trail infrastructure to meet the growing demand, Cote said. Increasingly, mountain bikers are packing tools into the forest to forge new routes for themselves. “We see it no matter what mountain, whether it’s Cypress, Fromme, Seymour. It’s happening everywhere, not just within Metro Vancouver, but we’re talking across the province,” she said. “There’s such a pressure on the Continued on A14
EYES IN THE SKY North Shore Rescue’s Grant Baldwin gets some flight hours in with a drone capable of thermal imaging to assist in spotting subjects outdoors. See page B1 for our annual special section recognizing the volunteers of North Shore Rescue for all they do to keep us safe. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN