Slush Fund

The Rotorua Trails Trust’s key project this year has been working on segments of a new 35km Grade 2 loop of Whakarewarewa Forest, in colab with Rotorua Lakes Council. The Slush Fund donated $1200 for a battery powered chainsaw.

Fund raising has begun at Mountain Biking Otago to gravel the top section of Nicols Creek Switchback Track. The club have exhausted their options and crew, gravelling as far as they could by hand.

Over the past two years the Manawatu Mountain Bike Club has added 15km of new trail at the Arapuke Mtb Park.

Late last year Whakatane Mtb Club took over the administration and maintenance of the Onepu Mtb Park after losing access to trails in the Rawhiti Forest behind Ohope.

Spirit of Coromandel Trust are setting up the Coromandel Bike Park, with the intention of building trails for walker and bikers, plus providing a hub for local young people. The Slush Fund was super happy to provide the $1150 cash for the purchase of a brush cutter, plus we fired a copy of IMBA’s ‘Trail Solutions’ track building guide their way.

The Hunter Mtb Association is based in the Awaba Mtb Park in the foothills of the Watagans near Newcastle. The Ground Effect Bridge on the main trail at Awaba turned 10 this year, and needed some love. The Slush Fund was super happy to contribute $1000 towards the purchase of the enviro mesh decking to keep it sweet for another 10 years.

VOGA (Villages of the Old Goldfields Association) Cycle Club is made up of a passionate group of cycle enthusiasts based in and around Creswick, Victoria. The club work closely with the Hepburn Shire to deliver the 100km of Creswick Trails and part of the MOU is to carry out ongoing trail maintenance. They put the call out to Ground Effect for a leaf blower, and the Slush Fund handed over $1000 for its purchase.

The Pohutukawa Coast Bike Club is the largest mtb club in Auckland, based in the Maraetai/Whitford Forest area east of Auckland. The Slush Fund fired the club $2000 cash to help re-build the 'Ground Effect' track after recent logging.

The Backcountry Trust has just released their 2018-19 Performance Report. It’s uplifting reading with just over $300K spent on 27 huts and 15 tracks over the last 12 months. In addition 48 projects were approved worth a nudge over $400K.

Mt Pirongia is home of the Waipa MTB Club. Pirongia is an awesome maunga for building tracks, being an old volcano covered in mostly native bush. The Ground Effect Slush fund recently helped out with cash for the purchase of an electric wheelbarrow.

Experienced trail builders Jonathan Kennett, Jeff Carter and Chris Mildon have collaborated with track builders and land managers around New Zealand to develop the NZ MTB Trail Design & Construction Guidelines.