September 2021
Welcome to the first Trails Wellington newsletter!
A massive thanks to the thousands of people who have already become paid members of Trails Wellington. Your support helps create epic trails in and around Wellington.
If you are yet to become a paid member, simply open the app and finish setting up your account! The more paid members we get, the more epic trails we can create – it’s that simple!
Trails Wellington is a coalition of passionate locals focused on creating epic trails in and around Wellington. By joining you also become a member of Wellington Mountain Bike Club, Mākara Peak Supporters, and Brooklyn Trail Builders, as well as supporting our affiliate partners WORD and Revolve.
Helping Wellington become a genuine world-class mountain bike destination is what drives us. Very few places on the planet can claim to be a capital city with such amazing access to trails right from your workplace or home. By becoming the unifying voice representing the various trail user groups, we have a greater influence on decisions regarding the access and use of Wellington’s incredible open spaces. Wellington’s trails are largely on Council land, so having the backing of thousands of members is hugely important, because it gives mountain bikers and trail users more prominence and influence!
Our core focus is helping to create epic trails that cater to a wide variety of riders, all within riding distance of Wellington’s CBD. Initially, we’ll be focusing on areas such as Mākara Peak, Waimapihi/Polhill, Matairangi/Mount Victoria, Maupuia, and Te Kopahou. Over time we’d like to see some new zones opened up for trail development.
We will keep you updated with progress and new initiatives through these monthly newsletters.
TRAILS UPDATE
A big focus this year has been upgrading trails. We worked with Wellington Mountain Bike Club and Miramar Trail Project to give Jail brake a make-over. This included reshaping most of the berms and jumps. It is well worth the trip out to Miramar to ride this banger of a trail.
Credit: Caleb Smith
Over the past few months the team from TGL have rebuilt North Face, while also building a new grade 4 trail, Whā Out which will link the top of Mākara Peak to the start of Vertigo.
Earlier in the year, we provided support to Brooklyn Trail Builders who did a make-over of Serendipity. While winter has been pretty rough on trails, the work that was done earlier in the year will ensure that the Brooklyn Trail Builders’ team can quickly get this trail running sweetly as we head back into summer!
Currently, we are working on Matairangi/Mt Victoria to re-do Hippy’s as well as the Hospital Jumps. A combination of weather and the covid lock-down has seen this take longer than expected, but we are sure that the finished result will be worth the wait. We are working on a plan to have a celebration event when the Hospital Jumps re-open, which will be a great opportunity to get together as a community. Look out for announcements about this event on our social pages which will take place once we get back to an appropriate alert level.
The Mana Cycle Group is building a new descending trail in Tawa, which we have provided some funding for. This will complement a new two-way trail to the top that the Wellington City Council are building. This is a great project that has been driven at the coal-face by the passionate Mana volunteers.
TRAILS WELLINGTON - A COALITION OF PASSIONATE LOCALS
Within each of the trail areas around the city there is a volunteer trail group, such as the Mākara Peak Supporters, Brooklyn Trail Builders, and Matairangi Trail Builders.
These groups of passionate locals are the life-blood of mountain biking in Wellington, and they are the ones who decide what happens in their respective trail areas.
Trails Wellington exists to help get initiatives done, whether this be through providing much needed funding, or engaging with the Council to get approval for projects.
Becoming a paid Trails Wellington member in turn provides both the funding to keep this project sustainable long term. Our Trustees include riders and trail users, including representatives from our coalition partners.
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.
NEW TRAILS? HELL YEAH!
Here’s a quick insight into some of the trail projects that are being planned. It's awesome to see projects starting to go ahead thanks to membership payments and donations!
A big focus for Trails Wellington is getting permission from the Council to build an EPIC new flow and jumps trail on the Hataitai side of Matairangi/Mt Victoria. The trail has been marked out, and the next step is getting the Council to approve getting this awesome trail initiative built.
Our vision is to make this an epic signature trail in Wellington. We will keep you posted, as we will undoubtedly need some support to get this over the line!
The Mākara Peak Supporters are planning to extend Pōhatu all the way up to one of the highest points on the Peak. Pōhatu was opened by the Mākara Peak Supporters in late 2020, and has quickly become a favourite trail for lots of riders. The trail features lots of jumps and features that reward riders willing to push the limits, while also remaining rideable for intermediate riders.
The extended Pōhatu will be an incredible trail when it gets built. Trails Wellington will provide the Mākara Peak Supporters with the financial support needed to get this project done!
Brooklyn Trail Builders are playing a lead role in lobbying the Council to get approval for a plan to build a trail network in Te Kopahou reserve. This is the area from the Brooklyn windmill out to Red Rocks. These plans include a 42 km loop track, which would be a huge bonus for walkers, riders and runners. Beyond being an epic asset for the future generations of Wellingtonians, a key benefit of the proposed trail network is it will also enable people easier access to different areas to trap pests and plant trees.
Trails Wellington and the Wellington Mountain Bike Club teamed up to support Brooklyn Trail Builders when this proposal was considered recently by the Wellington City Council. (The TW team presenting to the council below).
These new trail initiatives are exactly why we need to grow a big supporter membership base. Having thousands of members provides more financial and political support for getting stuff done!
OUR SUPPORTERS - ARMSTRONG'S
The team at Armstrong’s are a key supporter and sponsor of Trails Wellington. Their generous support provides us with a financial grunt to get trail projects done!
Armstrong’s firm belief is that the driving force behind the business's success isn’t just cars, it’s people. That’s why they are always looking for new ways to give back to communities, through initiatives like supporting Trails Wellington. Armstrong’s are also currently involved in a number of sponsorships; from supporting local and international athletes, sporting and recreational events to charitable organization partnerships. Driven by people. That’s Armstrong’s.
Thanks Armstrong's for supporting Trails Wellington. Legends! Check them out here!
