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Job Opportunity

World Trail is currently recruiting for a labourer in the Surfcoast area of Victoria.

This is an entry level position, working in a small team, repairing and constructing a walking track in the Torquay/Anglesea area. The position is casual, but work will be full time (approx. 35-45 hours per week) for at least the next three months, possibly more. Immediate start.

Please contact Gerard McHugh on 0439 564 756 to apply.

TAC

Glen Jacobs recently took a break from his holidays and spent Sunday morning helping guide a passionate group of trail enthusiasts to redesign some rainforest mtb trails near Cairns, North Queensland. The newly formed TAC (Trail Alliance of Cairns) has been established by local mountain bikers, who are dedicated to repairing trails damaged from summer cyclones and heavy monsoonal downpours.

Click on the title above to link through to the TAC website for the full story.

Trail Advocacy Hits a New High

World Trail Director Glen Jacobs recently spent an afternoon talking mountain biking with the Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh. In the wake of the recent launch of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Mountain Biking Policy, it’s great to see the industry get some high powered recognition. For photos check out the World Trail facebook page here.

DH Nationals - Round One

World Trail machine operator and trail builder extraordinaire, Rhys Atkinson was at it again last weekend, with an impressive 5th place in the opening round of the National Downhill competition at Thredbo. Nice work Rhys! For full results click here.

Style Points with RDLR

World Trail's newly accrediated machine operater and master trail builder, Ryan De La Rue has just put the finishing touches on a clip from his time spent in Whistler. Check out Ryan's riding and editing work here. Keep an eye out out for Ryan shredding on his new Specialized bike and Von Zipper eyewear in an upcoming magazine article hitting shelves soon!

Cycling Central's Ku-ring-gai Video

Popular SBS TV show 'Cycling Central' was at the opening on the recently completed "Ku-ring-gai MTB Park' in Northern Sydney. Check out the video segment that went to air here.

Facebook Page

Our Facebook page is up and running and features some news, links and photographs not found here on our website. Click here to go to our Facebook page now.

Comm Games Track Complete

Works finished today on the Commonwealth Games Track at Lysterfield.

World Trail was contracted to repair and rebuild the Commonwealth Games Track at Lysterfield. Built in the mid 2000's for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, this is the first big facelift the track has had since then.

Since starting in early September, Rhys, Ryan and Brett have put in some solid 10 hour days to get the track finished to a high standard. While not a complete rebuild, we've certainly given the track a new lease of life and given it a dynamic new shape where possible.

Wulong Quest

World Trail team member Grant Suckling has boxed up his S-Works hardtail 29er ready to represent Australia in China, racing the four-day Wulong Mountain Quest. Grant will be racing with an elite Australian adventure racing team called 'Peak Adventure'. The race requires teams to mountain bike, kayak, climb and run more than 230km over, around and even through the rugged mountains of China's Chongqing province in what will be a massive test of strength, endurance and team work. The event website will have updates throughout. Check it out at here.

For all you Queenslanders, you'll get a chance to see how much the China race took out of Grant when he stops over at the Gold Coast on his way home to defend last years win in round #2 of the Anaconda Adventure Race.

Copperhead Vision

With spring almost upon us, its that time of year when Victorian mountain bikers start thinking about the long golden days of summer.

If you need any help getting motivated for summer, click here to watch a short video about the new trail to be launched at Mt Buller this summer.

It's called Copperhead and it's set to be the next big thing in gravity mountain biking. We're pretty proud of it.

World Trail Coming to Lysterfield

Although the rumours have been floating around the web for weeks, we can now confirm that World Trail has indeed won the contract to conduct repairs to the Commonwealth Games Track at Lysterfield Park in Melbourne's southeast.

Works will commence within the last week of August and should take 5-6 weeks to complete. The track will remain closed all this time.

Keep an eye on our website for more news and the Lysterfield District Trail Riders website to find out how you can help maintain the trails at Lysterfield.

Muffin Tops the Podium

Former World Trail employee Ryan De La Rue has been honing his style for the second year running on the trails of world-famous MTB mecca, Whistler, Canada.

Last week he nailed a win in the Whistler Phat Wednesday downhill race, a weekly fixture on the Whistler race scene.

Read about it on Ryan's blog.

New Trails in NSW

After years of consultation and planning, the Ku-ring-gai Council, located in the northern suburbs of Sydney, Australia, have committed to the development of some urban mountain biking trails.

World Trail was invited to design and construct a small hybrid XC/flow trail, skills trail and pump track at a stunning location in Wahroonga, overlooking the spectacular National Park.

Local mountain biking advocates HSMBA have been working tirelessly with council to make this project a reality. The project is expected to be completed and ready to ride by 5th August 2011.

More news and photos up soon.

Timmy Hits Up Stonefly

One of Australia's most famous mountain biking photographers, Tim Bardsley-Smith squeezed in a ride of Stonefly just before the snow fell a month or so ago.

Tim swapped his trusty DSLR camera for a helmet mounted movie camera, to capture the descent of this now iconic trail. Tim was quoted as saying "You can hear me giggle like a schoolgirl all the way down the track".

Take a look at what everybody have been talking about.

Click the heading above to check it out

Bridging the Gap in Hobart

The well known North-South Track on the flanks of Mt Wellington has just been extended by the addition of a new bridge across a significant creek.

World Trail has been involved in this project since the early stages, having audited the construction works undertaken in Stage 1 and Stage 2.

This new bridge should allow the trail to link through to the Glenorchy MTB park and is a stunning piece of engineering and trail building. Congratulations to all the people involved in this great project.

Watch a video here: www.hobartcity.com.au

Community Program

After the devastation of Cyclone Yasi earlier this year in far north Queensland, the Cairns Mountain Bike Club has been struggling to bring the rainforest trails back to a rideable state.

Glen Jacobs was back in the area this week and lent a helping hand to the local rangers and club to repair the historic (the 1996 Worlds was held here) mountain biking trails around Smithfield Conservation Park.

A trail known as 'Caterpillars' was re-designed, reshaped and made sustainable as part of World Trail's yearly 'community gift' program.

Last Weeks of Rock Armouring

World Trail has left a skeleton crew of skilled rock workers in the alpine resort of Mt Buller for the last few weeks before winter hits. This window of opportunity is perfect for rock armouring and drainage work on the all new flowdown trail, 'Copperhead'.

As the last few weeks of autumn fade into winter, our skilled trail builders seek out wet spots on the trail that require sustainable drainage and surfacing solutions.

Copperhead is expected to be ready for the grand opening next summer, late 2011.

Glenrock Rocks

The World Trail crew hit the ground running at one of NSW most spectacular riding destinations this week. Our trail team for this project, Rhys Atkinson, Glen Jacobs, Mick Plummer and Anthony Bock started reshaping and redesigning the original trails which were eroded and damaged from years of unsustainable use and minimal maintenance. Photos and news story soon.

Stonefly Video

Mick Ross and the guys from Australian Mountain Biking Magazine came up to Mt Buller for the official opening of Stonefly.

Check out his helmet cam footage of the trail in all its glory. By the sound of his commentary it sounds like he had some fun! Thanks for the great footage Mick.

http://vimeo.com/19783614

Staff Retreat

Every year World Trail rounds up staff members from around the country and treats them to a weekend away, as a thankyou for all their hard work and dedication.

This year Mt Buller is hosting the World Trail Retreat with staff arriving on the mountain with all their rides this weekend.

Manager Gerard McHugh, says a full weekend of riding is planned, including the latest ride sensation 'Stonefly' and some of the other iconic trails.

Suckling Blitzes M2M

World Trail employee Grant Suckling took on the inaugural Marysville to Melbourne adventure race on the weekend, and took out line honours and first place overall in a team of three. Grant completed both paddle legs of the event and also took out fastest paddle time for one of those legs. His team was so quick, they reached the finish line before the event organisers had finished setting up!

For more information, check out the Rapid Ascent webpage, http://www.rapidascent.com.au/asp/Main.asp

Words from the Champ

Former 4X World Champion and BMX bronze medalist at the Beijing Olympics, Jill Kintner, caught up with Rhys Atkinson for an up close and personal interview with the newly crowned champ. Check it out here: http://www.jillkintner.com/home.html

Rhys gunning for #1

World Trail's own Rhys Atkinson is hard on the heels of Rick Boyer heading into the final of the Australian Elite Mens DH series. Riding the new Specialized DH rig, Rhys has the experience and power to take on the experienced and older rider Boyer.

All eyes are now on the Shepparton Final.

www.nationalseries.com.au

Copperhead

The first Alpine soil was turned today on Mt Buller's new and unique 'flowdown' trail, named Copperhead. Designed as a free-flowing, lift assisted, all mountain descent, this trail will be the latest and greatest attraction to the mountain next summer. Updates and images soon!!

www.mtbuller.com.au/Summer/

Ryan Leech Rides Stonefly

Norco Factory Team members Ryan Leech and Jay Hoots recently visited Australia to film an episode of Ride Guide Television.

While in Victoria, they stopped in to ride at Forrest, the You Yangs and Mt Buller, all trail destinations World Trail has had lots of involvement with.

www.declinemagazine.com

Outer Edge Magazine

Mt Buller's iconic new trail, Stonefly, gets some more love, this time from Outer Edge Magazine after the official opening. Editor Pat Kinsella pens his Stonefly experience here:

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/banzai/adventure/opinions/show/2441582/sweet-sting-of-the-stonefly/

Additional article with some cool pics here:

http://www.outeredgemag.com.au/news/article/true-blue-trail-rounds-off-mt-buller-as-a-mtb-mecca/

Beechworth Trails

If you're looking for a weekend getaway with your bike, consider the northeast Victorian town of Beechworth. World Trail undertook a project here in 2010, building a cross country trail the locals call 'Flame Trees'. Beechworth has a number mountain bike trails all located fairly close to town, which provides all the necessary essentials including great coffee and a bakery that needs to be experienced!

For more information check out The Dirty Dozen website: http://www.thedirtydozen.com.au

World Trail & Specialized

It's official...World Trail is proud to announce that Specialized is now our official bike supplier. Check out the latest Specialized bikes at www.specialized.com

Mt Buller Open This Weekend

Mt Buller Alpine Resort has officially opened their mountain biking trails for summer 2010/2011. All downhill and cross country trails are now open and ready to be ridden. World Trail is currently in the final stages of finishing Mt Buller's latest purpose built cross country trail, 'Stonefly', an amazing 11.4km loop that climbs to an altitude of 1660m at the top of neighboring Mt Stirling before a 4km descent that has to be experienced to be believed. For more information on Mt Buller's trails and facilities visit their website at www.mtbuller.com.au/Summer/Bike-Buller

Rhys Atkinson Podiums

Long term World Trail employee and machine operator, Rhys Atkinson, has scored two podiums in the last month and 5th place in the Newton's Nation Dash for Cash downhill event in Bathurst. Rhys also scored 3rd place in the first National Series event of the season in Glenorchy, 3 seconds behind former World Trail staff member and close friend Rick Boyer. More information on the Australian National Series can be found here www.nationalseries.com.au

Surf Coast Walk Upgrades

World Trail has recently started work on upgrading extensive sections of the Surf Coast Walk. When complete, the walk will stretch from from Point Impossible all the way to Fairhaven, approximately 44km. Upgrade works include resurfacing of the track as well as the addition of new steps and signage. For more information on the Surf Coast Walk visit the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee's website www.gorcc.com.au.

World Trail & The North Face

Quality outdoor clothing manufacturer The North Face is one our latest supporters. Their tough, fashionable and functional clothing is the perfect match for the rugged terrain and severe weather conditions that World Trail works in. www.thenorthface.com.au

Mt Buller Skills Park

World Trail finished stage 1 works to the Mt Buller Mountain Bike Skills Park back in Feb 2010. Check out more here:

http://www.mtbuller.com.au/Detail/Summer/Mountain2/Latest-News2/72