Director Jud's Blog

Volunteers Work to Improve Bike Trail: SMA Teen Mountain Biking Camp

Posted by Jud Millar on Wed, Oct 8, 2014

All of us here at SMA Teen Mountain Biking Camp are excited to let you know that recently volunteers worked to improve the Allegrippis Trail System.  Over 2 days 10 volunteers installed boardwalk over a particularly wet and rocky section of the fawn trail.

The following is an article that recently appeared in the Huntingdon Daily News written by Candy E. Price.

Volunteers work to improve bike trail

By Candy E. Price

Daily News Staff Writer

The popularity of a local trail system will likely grow with some recent improvements.

The Raystown Mountain Bike Association (RMBA) and the Friends of Raystown Lake nave added a new boardwalk to the Fawn Trail portion of the Allegrippis Trail near Seven Points.

Allen Gwinn, park ranger at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Raystown Lake, and Evan Gross, president of RMBA, said the work will only enhance the safety of the trail.

SMA-Teen-Mountain-Biking-Summer-Camp-PA

“It was a wet section of the Fawn Trail,” Gwinn said. “The wetness was creating an unacceptable trail experience.”

The men explained the system is a stacked loop, meaning trails of varying difficulties are c

“The trail system is designed to grow riders,” Gross said. “We want the riding experience to be positive and safe. This section of the trail was problematic.”onnected yet independent of one another. The trails all begin and end at a trail head.

 

The area, he said, is located on a trail within the system designated as easy, but the area presented problems because it featured a rocky area.

Over two days – Labor Day and the following Tuesday – Gross and about 10 volunteers worked, using materials provided by the Friends of Raystown Lake, to complete a boardwalk over the rocks to aid cyclists on the trail.

“On the beginner trail, it improves the experience,” Gross said. “We wouldn’t do this on a more difficult trail.”

With the work completed just over a week ago, Gross said there are already plenty of riders happy with the improvement.

“Thus far, everybody is overly excited,” he said. “We were trying to fix a problem, but we added a feature. Now that boardwalk is an attraction.”

He added, the money used to make the improvement, as well as any money used to improve the trail system, comes from donations.

“We don’t use taxpayer money, we don’t use government subsidies,” Gross said.

He also said he couldn’t be more thankful for the volunteers, specifically Ellis Dunkelbarger.

“He was really the impetus to get this done,” Gross said. “He said, ‘We have the stuff, why isn’t this done yet?’”

He went on to thank all the volunteers involved.

“There were guys taking off work and working (all day) to get this done,” Gross said.

Even before the boardwalk was added, the popularity of the Allegrippis Trail System was by no means diminishing.

“We don’t struggle to see users on the trail system unless there are several inches of snow on the ground,” Gwinn said.

Gwinn also thanked the volunteers from both RMBA and the Friends of the Raystown Lake.

“The trails are leased by the Friends…they’re responsible for the maintenance,” Gwinn said. “They do an excellent job and a big part of it is a commitment by the volunteers to the maintenance of the trails.”

“If people are happy and like the trails…it takes support from the public,” Gwinn said.

For more information on the trail system and to stay up to date with trail conditions and work days, visit www.allegrippistrails.com

Why Choose SMA

The SMA Mountain Bike Masters Program allows campers who are passionate about mountain biking to ride world class single track trails 6 days a week. The sport of Mountain Biking is exploding in central PA with the building of the Allegrippis Trail system at Raystown Lake.

What Makes the Mountain Bike Masters Program so Awesome?

  • Ride World Class IMBA Built Single Track Trails Everyday
  • Sign Up For Mountain Biking Camping Overnights
  • Qualified staff teach advanced riding techniques and motivate riders
  • When not Mountain Biking you can choose from Adventure Activities, Water Sports, Creative Arts and Traditional Sports
  • Teen focused activities and events
  • Develop leadership & independence through freedom, respect and personal challenge
A Camper riding a bike.

The Allegrippis Trail was designed and built by the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) and consists of 32 miles of single track trails in connected loops of three to five miles. The trails have been called “buttery smooth single track bliss” and consist of features including rollers, “whoopdy doos,” jumps and banked turns. SMA is a mountain biking summer camp and if you want to ride amazing single track every day then this is the camp for you!

Campers enrolled in the Mountain Bike Masters Program will learn:

  • Bike Safety
  • Basic Bike Maintenance and Repair
  • Trail etiquette
  • Trail Riding Skills to take riding to the next level
 

 

SMA is a teen mountain biking summer camp and this program is ideal for campers who are excited about riding world class single track trails on a daily basis. Campers are welcome to bring their own bike or ride one of ours. The Mountain Bike Masters Program is open to beginner to advanced skill levels, however, riders should feel comfortable riding single track trails. To ensure quality, this program is limited to six campers. Please note that campers not enrolled in the Mountain Bike Masters Program will get ample time to Mountain Bike during their time at SMA. Stone Mountain Adventures is an outstanding Teen Summer Camp!

Teen summer Camp

 

 

Here's what Robert Pell has to say about the trails in the "Assault in the Allegrippis" description.

    "The Allegrippis Trails at Raystown Lake are some of the best trails on the east coast. The trails are buttery smooth and flow like a pump track through the forest surrounding the high-mountain lake. The trails are easy enough for your grandmother to ride but when you let off the brakes they become an adrenaline pumping roller coaster where your wheels are in the air nearly as much as they are on the ground. Once you get into the rythm of accelerating through the deep compression bottom turns and airing off the top of the next mogul you can't help but to have a huge grin on your face. 
I assembled a handful of clips in an attempt to share the experience of riding the Allegrippis trails. This video will give you an idea of what it's like to ride the trails but it doesn't compare to riding it for yourself."

 

About Director Jud's Blog

This blog will give you the "411" about everything that is Stone Mountain Adventures Teen Summer Camp!  Everything from "Summer Updates" to useful family and camp resources.  Check it out! 

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