Volunteering is an excellent way to understand VVMTA and fully experience our values of community, action, relationships, education, and stewardship. Each year, hundreds of volunteers contribute thousands of hours of maintenance, education, and stewardship, the importance of which continues to increase as demand for trails rises. Our volunteers are already working hard to take care of our trails!
Volunteer Trail Crew
VVMTA Volunteer Trail Crew meets on Wednesday nights to tackle technical trail improvement projects like new trail builds, trail reroutes, switchbacks, rock work, and stream crossings. Have fun with this crew and enjoy some food and beverages after an evening’s work. Many participants initially joined to make a difference on the physical trail, but it’s the friendships and camaraderie that keep them coming back.
This crew just finished up the Apache Trail reroute. This small but mighty section of trail takes the very bottom of Apache away a construction project that would have shut down Apache for the summer. In just two nights, with over 50 volunteers, they knocked out this awesome addition and had a lot of fun in the process.
Adopt a Trail
Adopt A Trail volunteers are the heart and soul of VVMTA, and their boots-on-the-ground contributions ensure our trails are well-maintained. These committed trail stewards care for the trails we know and love. These volunteers complete 2-3 trail work events per season on their adopted trail with colleagues, friends, family, and peers, ensuring trails are maintained to improve the environment and trail user experience. Can you imagine flying down your favorite mountain bike trail or enjoying your morning hike knowing you put in the sweat equity to make it even better? Trust us, you’ll love it, and never look at your trail the same way. These teams all have hit the trails in June to make sure our trails are in great shape all season long.
Howard Head Sports Medicine
This team adopts Bighorn. They cleared drains, lopped the corridor of overgrowth to improve sight lines. And as is very common this time of year, they removed a tree blocked the trail. Plus, trail dogs always make the work more fun.
The Kind Bikes & Ski
This team adopt Berry Creek and got out there to do the spring clean up. Trees were lopped. Drains were cleared. Edges were debermed and tread was improved.
The Sonnenalp Club and The Sonnenalp Hotel
The Sonnenalp Hotel adopts Cougar Ridge. This was an awesome day out on the trails as a lot of this team had never been out on a trail. They showed up with the best attitudes and handled the muddy creek overflows and the shin deep creek crossing like pros. They were cheering each other on in Spanish and were so excited and encouraging one another to try something new while they built new drains and cleared existing ones.
The Sonnenalp Hotel adopts lower West Avon Preserve. They fixed the tread, improved drainages on the big hill leading to the trail system.
Vail Skinners and Spinners
This team has already been out a couple of times this June on upper West Avon Preserve. They’ve been clearing drains and closing social trails to protect our environment. They also get out regularly to do basic maintenance and this trail is in good shape thanks to all their work.
Altius Physical Therapy
This team adopts Saddleridge. They cleared the corridor and drains on the bottom half of the trail. Plus, they brought out the kids to join in. It’s never too early to start teaching the next generation.
Eagle River Sanitation
This team adopts Gore Creek. They cleared 17 water bars, created 3 new water bars, complete some lopping to clear the corridor, they improved the tread to eliminate trail braiding and they laid gravel in a 30′ section of the trail that was water laden due to ground water intrusion.
BG Building Works
This team adopts BLT in the West Avon Preserve. They eliminated break bumps on the tread, they trimmed back blind spots to deter riders from breaking to help prevent the break bumps from coming back, they reinforced side walls on the banked curves and reinforced bike jumps. Then the best part of the night was getting out there to test out all of their hard work.
