I was hoping to build a trail with a group of lads in the local forest and have been approached by the IMBA. Met with a decent fella today for a chat and a walk about the proposed area and it was very promising, but fairly serious. Funding, insurance, partnerships etc - not really the kind of thing i'm familiar with, as we've generally just built stuff on the fly. Some good, some bad, but we're getting the hang of it and with a lot of hard work we could make a great trail.
I'm thinking that taking the official route and going all IMBA will likely produce a better constructed and longer lasting trail. But I fear it will be a timid shadow of the trail we would construct. While i'm thinking rough, jumpy, scary, downhill monster he's talking graded runs and carparks (with the easier runs getting the first build). There's also the red tape factor to slow things down and the chance that it will never get off the ground if we do it by the books. On the other flip side (?), if we get the green light there'd be money for tools, equipment and supplies and legal access to the forest as well as training on assorted trail building machinery. Which is nice.
So, plough on ahead or hitch up with this IMBA lot seems to be my dilema.
Anyone been in a similar situation an can offer advice?
Any members on here who could answer some questions?
with the promise of 'tougher' trails to follow.
dotted throughout the country and i'm hoping that the chance to finally build something that wont get destroyed will be enough to rally the troops so to speak. Plus there's plenty of folk who have shown an interest in helping out.
