OCTOBER 2021
Winding the clocks back for daylight savings was a reminder that summer is just around the corner.
Wellington’s trails have been running mint recently, and we have a bunch of new trail initiatives getting rolled out! It is awesome to see such a huge buzz out there amongst the mountain biking community.
In this newsletter, we cover what’s been happening in and around the trails. Building crews have been working hard on Whā Out, the new grade 4 trail at Mākara Peak and the Hippy’s rebuild is near completion on Matairangi (Mount Victoria).
Keen to help create more trails in our backyard? Check out our top tips below.
Plus a look into the people behind Trails Wellington and the work they do to ensure we all have a great time riding in our backyard!
Upcoming Events
31st October - Giant Wellington/PNP MTB XC Belmont Regional Park
31st October – Trails Wellington Wairoa Gorge prize draw
14th November - Giant Wellington/PNP MTB XC Series Mākara Peak
TBC Whā Out opening, stay tuned on our socials for updates
TBC Hippy's opening, stay tuned on our socials for updates
TBC – Trails Wellington members summer celebration
Trails Update
North Face - Mākara Peak
Lots of people have now had the chance to ride the new North Face, which has had a massive make-over from the team at TGL. The track now has a lot more flow, and provides a wider range of riders with an alternative way down from Mākara Peak.
While some of the old school riders will be missing the rocks and janky lines, the upgrade returned North Face to how it was originally built. Thomas and Ricky from TGL put all the left-over rocks to good use by spreading them out along Whā Out, plus keeping a bunch of them for building the upper section of Pōhatu in the coming months.
Whā Out - Mākara Peak
The new grade 4 trail on Mākara Peak - Whā Out will be opening any day now.
Huge thanks to everyone for keeping off this while it was getting built. The trail links the top of Mākara Peak to the top of Vertigo and contains a whole heap of janky rocks and challenging features. We think that this will definitely be a trail that gets better with age and a bit of wear and tear.
Special features to look out for include a gap jump, plus a jump that Ricky formed out a natural chunk of rock that fell out of the bank during construction.
If the old North Face before the upgrade was a favourite, then head up and give Whā Out a crack.
Hospital Jumps - Matairangi (Mount Victoria)
The refurbished Hospital Jumps on Matairangi (Mount Victoria) are EPIC. It is fantastic to go and see how many people are riding these new jumps and seeing riders getting comfortable in the air. The crowds of riders, especially on the weekends, have been mega!
Make sure you take time to scope out and get used to these jumps, as they are pretty solid!
Hippy's - Matairangi (Mount Victoria)
For those who haven’t ridden it before, Hippy's is the track that runs off the highest point off Matairangi (Mount Victoria) towards the newly upgraded Hospital Jumps.
Southstar and the Trails Wellingtons trail crew - Bryn Dickerson & Scotty Newman have been working closely to refurbish and lengthen Hippy's, with better separation between riders and walkers at the end of the trail. The new track is closed at the time of writing simply so it hardens and settles down properly. We’ll let you be the judge of how good it is once it is open.
We are working with the Matairangi Trail Builders (who look after Mount Victoria) to make sure the trails in the area deliver in terms of their huge potential. Join the building crew here.
A big plan is the proposed Pyramid Scheme trail that will run on the Hataitai side of the Alexandra Road. We are getting close to the Council considering whether to approve this trail, which is something that we may need political help with from our members. We will let you know how we progress in terms of getting this much needed green light from the Council.
Kiwi Crescent - Tawa
Trails Wellington have provided the funding for TGL to go through with a digger and complete the initial benching for this trail. This digger work will allow the awesome team of volunteers at MCG to work their magic on the downhill design & build. We can't wait to see their finished product.
What’s Next
We have a stack of plans, including the new Pyramid Scheme trail on Matairangi (Mount Vic) which we have mentioned already.
Following on from Hippy’s and the Hospital Jumps (which are sections of the Super D), we want to continue to upgrade sections of Super D from Hippy’s to the SPCA carpark. We are currently working with our WCC friends on the next sections like Saddle Jumps and Water Tower in particular as next quick wins.
The next likely place that “soil will be turned” for a new track, is the extension of Pōhatu.
Pōhatu means rocky or stony, and we think that this will be an EPIC addition to Mākara Peak, and the Wellington trail network. Pōhatu will start at the highest most eastern point of Ridgeline, and will be a grade 4 handbuilt trail that makes use of lots of the natural features which includes (you guessed it) lots of rocks. The trail will link into the massively popular existing lower section of Pōhatu.
Our trail building experts are doing some work with Brooklyn Trail Builders to look at whether some enhancements and alterations get made to Rollercoaster. It is hard to believe that only 14 months have passed since Cam Cole and his trail building crew did a whole heap of work on Rollercoaster, as this trail gets a hammering from the elements. In time the incredible planting that the BTB team have done will help protect the trail more.
Wairoa Gorge Giveaway
We've teamed up with Wairoa Gorge and Bluebridge Ferries to create an epic riding package, to get one lucky Trails Wellington member and three friends across the Cook straight for a weekend of riding! What you'll get!
Return Bluebridge Ferry tickets for 4 adults and 1 vehicle (worth $1000)
2 days of private shuttles on the Gorge's Yamaha Viking Side by Side.
A night at Gibbs Mountain Lodge (worth $2000)
To enter jump over to our Instagram or Facebook posts and complete the entry rules in the post descriptions!
WORD Scholarship Program
We’re also passionate about growing and improving mountain biking in Wellington for everyone. That means breaking down barriers for people that otherwise would not be able to enjoy this activity that we all love! We’ve partnered with WORD to offer financial support to youth around the Wellington Region. We love what WORD does, and we’re stoked to be able to help remove barriers involved with kids riding bikes! Read more about our involvement here.
How you can help make Wellington’s trails EPIC
Thanks to all the thousands of people who are helping create EPIC trails in and around Wellington by joining Trails Wellington, or getting our doing things like track building.
Here are 5 ways you can contribute to what’s going on around Wellington.
1. Join Trails Wellington as a paid member – Quickly check that you are already a paid member of Trails Wellington. If you have already downloaded the app, but not yet paid, then the app will be red when you open it on your phone.
The more paid members we have, the more EPIC trails we can create. It’s that simple. By joining Trails Wellington you also become a member and supporter of our coalition and affiliate partners.
Once you have joined Trails Wellington make it your mission to get all your mates signed up!
2. Volunteer – Get out and help your local trail building crew. Contact Mākara Peak Supporters, Wellington Mountain Bike Club, Brooklyn Trail Builders, Matairangi Trail Builders, Miramar Trail Group, and Mana Cycle Club. These trail groups are the life blood of Wellington mountain biking, and are responsible for developing and maintaining the trails in these areas. Get out there and help them out! Equally make sure you join and support our affiliate partners Revolve and WORD.
3. Support – Shop local with our sponsor and supporter businesses. We get incredible financial support from our lead sponsors Armstrong’s and Bayleys. Also, a wide range of breweries, bike shops, tourism operators, and local businesses provide support for mountain biking, and deals for Trails Wellington’s members. Make sure you support these amazing businesses.
4. Donate – We can never have too much funding. If you have some cash burning a hole in your pocket, simply go to our Givealittle page and make a donation.
5. Respect - We have a pretty simply catch-cry within Trails Wellington, which is “don’t be a dick!”
All the trails in Wellington are on Council land. This means that even “bike priority” trails aren’t off-limits to other trail users. Be polite and respectful - even if other users are being muppets! This goes a long way to mountain bikers being seen as OK people. Giving grief to other trail users qualifies as being a dick – so please don’t do it.
Also, stay off trails if using them is likely to cause needless damage. Jumping fences and riding half-built trails, or ripping up trails when they are wet also qualifies as being a dick. This sort of wear and tear creates needless work for our volunteers.
Just Ride – Get out there and ride Wellington’s trails!
Meet Izy Alloway
By day I'm a Paramedic student at Whitireia, any other time I have I’m on my bike, either as a WORD instructor or pushing myself with mates. The skills I bring to Trails Wellington’s trust are a different view of the mountain biking world with my age, gender, and experience. My role in Trails Wellington is to advocate for the youth and female riders of Wellington and connect the riding community through events. After the success of the recent North Face Shuttles cracking us off to a great start on the events side, I can't wait to show Trails Wellington’s members what we have up our sleeve for summer!
My goal as a trustee is to connect our community with the trails and ensure that everyone in Wellington can enjoy the fantastic trails that our city has to offer. Growing up, my bike was my magic door to the outdoors. It taught me to love and cherish the environment and gave me confidence and fulfillment in myself. I want every young Wellingtonian to have the opportunity to do the same and I believe that building a great trail network for everyone to enjoy is the way to do this.
Our Supporters - Fortune Favours
We are very fortunate to have the support of many Wellington Breweries, nothing better than parking up post ride to talk about the sweet lines we took and air we managed to get (yeah right) with a cold brew. Fortune Favours is one of our supporters, based in Leeds Street, a community hub built on taking risks because Fortune favours the bold.
Owner Shannon Thorpe and Marketing Manager Scott De Graff are both avid mountain bikers living by the ethos of be bold, be brave, be lucky. What these two guys have created is a backbone to the Wellington brew scene and we’re stoked to have them on onboard helping trails for a community. Pop on in after one of your next rides and receive 10% off your next brew. Thanks Shannon and Scott for opening up your doors and supporting our movement, legends.
Trails Wellington Trustees: Ant Bradshaw, Jono Baddiley, Izy Alloway, Matt Farrar, Geoff Drury, Livia Esterhazy, Anthony Edmonds, Craig Starnes, Tom Cappleman, Kate Mcilroy, Simon O'Brien, Rosara Joseph