NEWS
| April
13/06 - New Trails in the works! |
A bunch of
new trails are in the works for the Salmon Arm area this summer.
First, the much used Malibu trail system at South Canoe has seen
some expansion. a desire t make an easier trail to climb instead
of using the road all the time, has prompted the building of an
easy climb up to the gravel pit level. it is currently two thirds
complete, and rideable. look for it to be done by the end
of April.
The second
area is Fly Hills. Last year a group initiated a trail running
from the Rotary Lookout down to 5km on the road up. This section
was completed late last year, so not ridden too much yet. Work
to bring the trail down to the 2km mark will begin very soon.
It should make for a great shuttle ride, and in our opinion has
the best views from a trail, available in Salmon Arm.
The third
area is Rubberhead. a few new routes have been planned in the
area, and if funding and Forestry approval come through, we should
see up to 4 or 5 new trails in the area. Most of them will
be new school downhill (natural obstacles, berms, fast).
Watch here for more info as it happens.
| March
1/06 - Hut to Hut Trail Initiative |
The
initiative that is looking to build a trail network that surrounds
Shuswap Lake bodes well for all of us. A huge number of people
are working to make this a possibility, and it is on its way to
becoming a reality. There are already gears turning that would
see the first section of trail built this summer ('06).
The section of trail would start at South Canoe in Salmon arm
and end near Hyde Mountain Golf Course near Sicamous.
(website)
| April
18/05 - Trail Upgrades and Maintenance Awesome! |
The
work done last Sunday by the trail crews was nothing short of
awesome. Several new bridges were installed, the highlight of
which was huge span across the wet spot on the Prudential cut-block.
A couple new sections of trail, one on Prudential, and one on
Lower Schizo were completed, and Lumpy and Katie/Colin were cleared
out. Some upgrades were also done on Mo Butta.
| April
11/05 - Trail Maintenance Day - April 17th |
This
Sunday, April 17th, Skookum will be hosting a trail maintenance
day up at South Canoe. We will be working at trail clean-up, and
adding some new stuff. The more people that show up, the more
we can get done. We will supply hot dogs and drinks, and some
draw prizes after we are done. Start time is 10am and we hope
to be done by 1pm. For tools, we recommend bringing rakes, shovels,
Pulaski’s, and pruners. Also wearing hard toe footwear,
gloves and pants is a great idea. Also bring water to keep yourself
hydrated.
| Mar
30/05 - Shuswap Hut-to-Hut trail info to come |
In
order to help provide a readily accessible location for information
on the Shuswap Lake Hut-to-Hut trail initiative, we have offered
to provide space at Shuswap Trails until they can arrange for
their own web presence. We will have an area for this information
as soon as it is provided to us.
Click here to see more
| March
10/05 - Trails begin to open |
It
looks like we may end up with an extremely early spring!
The latest news is that most of the trails below the radio tower
at South canoe are in good shape. Riders should still use caution
when riding, and try NOT to avoid the wet spots. This will only
widen the trail. There are some trees down on Prudential,
so use caution when riding until we get a chance to clear them
out. Thanks to everyone who resisted riding while it was wet.
| Mar
9/05 - Silver Star Announces Summer Expansion |
Silver
Star Mountain Resort also announced today the Comet Express, Canada's
largest six passenger chairlift, will be open daily from July
1 to September 5, 2005 for summer mountain bike operations and
scenic rides. A massive expansion of the existing bike park is
being developed and a number of new trails are planned to be ready
in time for the July 1 opening. There will be five dedicated staff
members to build the new trails and bike park features to beginner,
intermediate and expert standards. The expansion of mountain bike
trails and the operation of the Comet Six-Pack marks an additional
$300,000 commitment by Silver Star and will give users access
to over 1,800 vertical feet of mountain biking terrain - some
of the most in Canada . The high-speed detachable lift will be
fitted with roll-on bike carriers and will have a ride-time of
7.5 minutes.
| Feb
28/05 - Trail Warnings |
The
recent warm weather has caused some people to think about doing
some trail riding. At South Canoe, some of the lower trails are
snow-free. This is very tempting but riding should be avoided,
as it will cause significant damage to the trails. The soft
wet conditions will leave big ruts, if ridden on. These will stay
in the trail once it dries out leaving a very unsmooth surface.
We will notify everyone when the conditions are good enough to
protect the trails. Thank you for your co-operation.
| Aug
9/04 - Log down on Paranoia right |
A very large
tree has fallen across the upper part of Paranioa right. Just
beyond the ramp/palettes there was a hanging tree, which has dislodged.
Until it can be removed, it is recommended to use the around line
to the left.
| June
15/04 - Active Logging in Rubberhead area |
Logging is
now taking place on the 110 road that leads to Rubberhead. The
road is closed from 5 to 6.5km from Monday to Friday, during the
day. Logging trucks will be traveling the road down to the highway,
so caution is recommended. It is still possible to ride the bottom
section, which starts near 5 km.
| June
8/04 - Bear Sighting on Prudential |
A
Mother Bear and cubs were spotted by the road crossing on Prudential.
It is recommended that you not ride alone in this area. If you
choose to, make a lot of noise so they can hear you coming. A
surprised Mother Bear is the last thing you want to deal with.
| June
1/04 - New Trail Open - Mo' Butta |
Mo'
Butta is a new trail that starts at the bottom of Upper Schizo.
It can be found by turning left on the double track trail that
Upper Schizo intersects. The trail is primarily low altitude
stunts, like teeter-tooters, logs rides, a-frames, and drops.
There are easy lines for most stunts, and the grade is slightly
downhill to flat.
| April
11/04 - Trail Maintenance Day April 18th |
There
will be a trail maintenance day for South Canoe on Sunday, April
18/04. Meet at the parking lot at 1pm. We will be doing
some minor maintenance, so bring rakes and pruners, as we need
to trim back some brush, and clean up the trail bed. We
will provide tools as well, in case you don't have your own.
Please wear some solid footwear and bring water. Skookum Cycle
will provide a BBQ lunch and beverages to follow. pic
| Mar
30/04 - Trails Are OPEN!!!! |
All
of this amazing weather has helped the snow in our trails melt
away. Reports have been trickling in, and it sounds like Prudential,
Paranoia, Lower Schizo, and Malibu are open. There are some windfalls
that need to be removed, so use some caution the first time through.
We will have a trail maintenance day on Sunday, April 18th, at
12pm. If you are interested in helping, give us a shout or stop
by and we can fill you in on the details.
| Mar
8/04 - FIRST ROAD RIDES START |
Thanks
to the warm weather and lack of snow, many of the areas roads
are now in great shape for riding. Skookum held its first group
road ride on Sunday, out Salmon Valley Rd, and aside from some
moisture on Foothills Rd, it was completely dry, and relatively
clean. Good foot/toe coverage is the key to enjoying early season
riding, so booties or duct tape over the vents are good ideas.
| Feb
10/04 - NEW TRAILS PROPOSED FOR SALMON ARM |
There are
a couple of new trails that should be well on their way this year.
A new downhill trail is proposed for the Fly Hills area. Due to
the lack of active logging, the decent condition of the road,
and awesome scenery, Fly Hills is a prime candidate. As South
Canoe continues to get logged, we need to continue to look elsewhere
for trail access.
The other area we are looking at is the terrain at the bottom
end of Rubberhead. As a few of the "big-wigs" at CO-OP
are avid mountain bikers, they are more than willing to work with
us in their woodlots.
If you are interested in helping with planning or development
of any of these projects, please contact
us.
| Jan/04
- SALTY DOG 6 HOUR ENDURO - 2004 |
SALMON
ARM - The Salty Dog is set for Sunday, April 25, 2004.
This will be the fourth year running for the mountain bike race,
which sees riders compete in teams of two, or solo, for six hours
to complete the most laps of a 10km course. More info will be
found on the Skookum
Cycle website.
| Jan/04
- SALMON ARM AWARDED BC CUP TIME TRIAL |
SALMON
ARM - Thanks to Warren Ellis, Salmon Arm has been awarded
a BC Cup Time Trial. May 1st will feature a non-BC Cup road race,
using the Yankee Flats/Salmon Valley loop. On May 2nd, the Two
Man Team Time Trail will use the out and back on Salmon Valley
Road. More information will be available on the race website,
once it has been resolved.
| Oct/03
- MASSIVE BLOW-DOWNS CLOSE MANY TRAILS |
SALMON ARM - The
recent winds have wreaked havoc on our trails. Many trees have
fallen across our trails, particularly those in the South Canoe
area. Efforts have begun to remove what we can. Prudential and
Paranoia were cleared, but most others will require more work.
Crews will be out again in the spring to finish the job. If you
are interested in helping, call Skookum Cycle to find out how
and where.
| Aug/03
- BACKCOUNTRY TRAVEL RESTRICTED IN RESPONSE TO FIRE RISKS |
VICTORIA
– The government has upgraded a backcountry travel advisory
issued last week to a backcountry travel restriction to reduce
the risk of new human-caused fires in southern British Columbia,
Forests Minister Michael de Jong announced today.
“Public
safety comes first,” said de Jong. “With the continuing
tinder dry conditions and extreme fire danger in British Columbia’s
forests, the risks of allowing people into the backcountry in
the Southern Interior and Southern Coast regions are just too
great.”
The
restriction order for Crown land covers the southern one-third
of the province – from Clearwater south to the U.S. border
and from south Vancouver Island east to the Alberta border. A
map of the restricted area is available on the Ministry of Forests’
Web site at www.for.gov.bc.ca/protect/ Unlike the voluntary travel
advisory issued last week, this travel restriction does not include
the Cariboo region, since the forest fire risk has been downgraded
there.
The
restriction order, under section 84 of the Forest Practices Code
of British Columbia Act, covers all Crown land and Forest Service
roads in the restricted areas. Private, municipal and First Nations
reserve land are exempt from the order.
Forest
Service roads accessing private property and commercial lodges
remain open. As well, roads into provincial parks that are not
closed remain open. All areas in provincial parks in the restricted
areas are closed, except supervised camping and day use-areas.
“We
are confident that outdoor enthusiasts understand the extreme
risk and the need to prohibit access,” said Water, Land
and Air Protection Minister Joyce Murray. “While the majority
of our parks remain open, park visitors will have to limit their
activities to supervised camping and day-use.”
“Although
this is a serious move by the government, we are fully supportive
and recognize that public safety and fire prevention are paramount
at this time,” said Council of Forest Industries vice-president
Peter Affleck.
B.C.
Forest Service staff, conservation officers and volunteers will
be patrolling the woods this weekend to inform people already
in the backcountry of the new travel restriction.
The
travel restriction comes into effect Friday, Aug. 29 at noon and
remains in effect until Sept. 14, 2003, but may be extended if
the extreme forest fire hazard rating continues. Violators may
face penalties of $10,000 and six months imprisonment.
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