New Zealand

Artfully dodging forecasts of incoming inclement weather, thirty-odd keen trail elves scraped, shaped, crafted and benched Christchurch’s Taylors Escape track back in June 2021. With a load more trail love the track is running like a dream for summer 2023.

The Ground Effect Slush Fund has hooked up the custodians of Lyttelton Mountain Bike Trails with some cash to purchase tools to help with trail maintenance and building efforts at Urumau.

Ground Effect's Slush Fund helps out with funding of materials to construct a Kauri Dieback Wash Station at the Coromandel Bike Park.

The Kaikōura Cycling Club completes the new 11km Kaiterau loop track on Mt Fyffe.

More than a decade ago, Mountain Biking Otago, led by their nationally-recognised track designer, Hamish Seaton, hand built 8km of bespoke single-track at Nicols Creek. Virtually every Sunday since 2019, Hamish has led dedicated bands of volunteers to hand cut another 2 km of track pushing the trail to the top of the hill.

A group of keen Heathcote Valley mountain bikers are setting up a mtb skills' park in the valley.

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

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 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 is a collaboration of Trail Fund NZ, Federated Mountain Clubs and NZ Deer Stalkers. It is primarily funded by DOC to support volunteer-led projects that repair, maintain and enhance backcountry huts and tracks on public conservation land.

The Queenstown Mtb Club Junior Sub-Committee has been busy educating the youth of today on how to play their part in the maintenance and development of trails. So they got Ground Effect on board and with $900 cash from the Slush Fund were able to purchase a bunch of kid friendly tools.