Bear Mountain Challenge XC & DH races is back for the 14th straight year!!!
The DH course is looking good, and the XC has been improved yet again.
The race organizers are kindly donating part of the proceeds to the FVMBA this year - most of which will funnel directly back o Fraser Valley trails, so let’s get out there and race!!!!
Volunteers are also needed, so please offer some help.
Bear Mountain Challenge Web site
Discussion: 13 responses
Red Mtn. / Bear Mtn.
Ride and BBQ
Sunday April 18, 2010
Pick your poison! Join us for a fun ride on either Red Mountain or Bear Mountain in Mission followed by a post-ride BBQ. We’ll be riding starting at noon with a BBQ at Mill Pond at 3 pm.
BBQ Burger and drink Free with new 2010 membership purchase!!
$3.00 for members and $5.00 for nonmembers
Check the website at www.fvmba.com or the FVMBA Facebook page for more info!
*please note the gates will be locked as usual and therefore no shuttles will be provided
Discussion: 4 responses
The FVMBA recently received a letter from the City of Mission regarding unauthorized trail construction on Bear and Red mountains in Mission. We support authorized trail construction and is more than willing to assist trail builders when there is a desire to create new, legitimate trails.
The author of the letter has given permission to present the letter in it’s entirety.
Dear Mountain Bike riders
Re: Unauthorized Trail Construction in Mission Municipal Forest
Over the past few decades, we have had the opportunity to meet with several of you and talk about improvements to recreation infrastructure in the Municipal Forest. We also acknowledge the efforts you all make in keeping trails open for use.
And while you enjoy using the Crown and Private land that make up the Municipal Forest area, we asked for only one thing in return – that no new trails be constructed without first speaking to us. There are several benefits to discussing your recreation ideas with us:
Note: Here are some examples of the issues that we have on Bear and Red Mtn:
-There have been some conflicts with our forestry planning and unauthorized trails. Someone has removed our operational flagging boundaries thereby wasting thousands of dollars that could have gone towards recreation development.
-Several trails and structures that were built in the past have not been maintained by those builders – resulting in unsafe situations for recreation users.
-Trails built through planned management areas cannot be accommodated. We will not change harvesting plans, nor will we put trails back in place after harvesting in unauthorized areas.
-Some trails have been built on private property, causing severe disruption to those property owners. Imagine someone coming to your residence and building something in your backyard without permission?
-The current network of trails is not well organized, marked or mapped properly. We have had people getting lost and we have had inexperienced riders getting on trails that were beyond their riding capabilities
Here is an example of a recent unauthorized trail construction, that we now have to take some action on:
-We are aware of a trail that has been built on Bear Mountain from the microwave tower road, without our permission or permission granted from the Crown, through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts.
-We had the intention of ignoring this construction, until an extremely long superstructure leaving the gravel road surface was built. This draws complete attention to this unauthorized trail. This become apparent during an agency audit and unfortunately, we cannot have attention drawn to a feature which we did not authorize and have no intention of maintaining for the safe use by the public.
-If the builder had consulted with us prior to the construction of the trail, they would have found out that we had hand fertilized the Douglas-fir in this area in 2005, for a scheduled harvest by 2010-2011. This is information that we could have easily given before someone dedicated an enormous amount of work into the building in this location.
-We want to let the builder know that this structure has to be removed before the end of February, otherwise the District of Mission will be obligated to remove it.
-This is just one example of what happens when the proper consultation and planning does not take place.
Therefore we request that you respect the Municipal Forest and we ask for your full cooperation in not developing trails without consultation and approval from our department and the agencies. From this point forward, failure to do so will result in such trails and structures in the Municipal Forest being dismantled. We are very fortunate here in Mission to have an amazing recreation area in our backyard. We want to work with you guys to establish a first class recreation area for all users.
We welcome your comments, ideas and cooperation.
Bob O’Neal, RPF
Forestry Manager
District of Mission
(604) 820-3763 (direct office number)
(604) 826-8633 (fax)
(604) 302-4083 (cel)
boneal@mission.ca
Discussion: 6 responses
Please place comments about conditions for Bear or Red here.
Discussion: 35 responses
The road to Arduum on Red Mountain is completely clear of snow and the road is in excellent condition.
Arduum is in excellent shape and has seen some recent trail work.
Discussion: 2 responses
The trails on Bear and Red Mountains in Mission usually have a dump of snow on them at this time of the year but, as of yesterday, things were pretty decent. If you’re out on either of the two mountains, feel free to post up trail conditions using the comment boxes below this entry.
There was a skim coat of snow at the base of the hill with about 10cm near the trailhead. We didn’t ride the xc course.
Arduum. The trail is in decent shape. There are a few mucky areas left over from the race, but lots of water mitigation work has been done since then. If you’re familiar with the trail, keep your eye out for a couple of new features — they’re definitely not something you’d want to hit without a preview!
Discussion: 8 responses
There’s a new DH race course on Red Mountain! Race the 2007 Arduum Challenge, 20-21 October!
arduum: steep place, the steep
challenge: something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc.
The trail “Arduum” itself started out as two trails built “back in the day” We hiked these trails, looking for a good DH training course. When we realized that the combination of the two would give us everything we wanted (steep, techy, off-camber, rooty, and some flow) we built a connector and started reworking them. The finished product was this trail. We rode it a few times, had some friends ride it and we all agreed, we couldn’t keep it a secret, we had to share this one. We decided to host a race. Just like that??
Nope. The decision to do the race happened six weeks ago. Lots of hoops to jump through, things to look after, trail to perfect but we did it. The “Arduum Challenge” has come to life. Take this as your call to battle one another and “The Steep.”
Check out www.arduumchallenge.com for details!
Discussion: No responses yet
The race weekend went off quite well. Almost 200 racers turned out on Sunday for some very fast racing. I believe we shattered the course record, due primarily to the excellent work the course builders put in, and of course the near-perfect conditions leading up to and on the day of the race.
Although there were a few areas for improvement, the race went off quite smoothly, with everyone getting to race on time, and in some cases, even early. There’s always room for improvement with the shuttling, but from reports, this was better than last year. If we run it again, we’ll try to improve where possible. One big lesson: If you want to practice come the day before. Some riders on Saturday got in 9 laps. And, posting results there was a hiccup, but our backup plan kicked in and while delayed we got the results posted.
Loads of smiling faces around the place.
Results are here: 2007 Bear Mountain Challenge Results
There are too many people/organizations to mention them all, but a few thanks out to:
Thanks.
Discussion: No responses yet
Finally!!! Race weekend is here. Make sure you sign up before sunday, and preferably before Saturday if you’re signing up onlne.
I rode the course last night, and it’s in primo shape. I suspect we’ll see some records being broken.
Signup link is on the the homepage, or visit www.bearmountainchallenge.com for all the details.
Keep an eye also on NSMB forums for last minute updates.
Discussion: No responses yet
