Slush Fund

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

In 2019 the Rotorua Trails Trust were busy working on segments of a new 35km Grade 2 loop of Whakarewarewa Forest and the Ground Effect Slush Fund sponsored a box of battery powered tools for the job.

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 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 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.

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.