Fat bike singletrack and groomed winter trails are coming to the Pleasant Grove Ranger District in Utah County.
Thanks to the hard work of the Pleasant Grove Ranger District, specifically Rangers Cheryl Butler and Colton Rogers, the district has been awarded a grant from the State of Utah Recreational Trails Program (RTP) to launch a winter trails system. The grant funds will be used to pay forest service staff, produce trail signage, promote awareness and acquire 1-2 human powered grooming implements.
Fat Bike Utah and Frosty’s Fat Bike Race Series are partnering with the U.S. Forest Service. Randy Gibb, promoter of the race series, said, “As a community we are required to fund a 5% match to the grant, this can be via volunteer hours and actual cash donations. We are currently fundraising to produce two grooming implements which will be used to tow behind snow machines that the forest service currently owns and operates. You can find out more about the fundraiser and contribute here: https://pages.giveforward.com/other/page-dd5tfs5/.”
He notes that the groups are “working with the P.G.R.D. to come up with a solution to organize the volunteer base as there will often be times that we need a small army to help pack down trail on short notice. Volunteers will be required to transport themselves to the higher sections of the canyon where most of the grooming will need to take place. From there 15 – 20 people on snowshoes in front of the human powered drags will work to pack in trail after a storm.”
The grant from the RTP is for $20700, and the total cost of the program is estimated to be $42000.
Fat Bike Utah is a loosely knit group of fat bike enthusiasts and can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/421278327921222/ Frosty the Fat Bike Race Series information can be found in the calendar of events in this issue, or here: frostythefatbike.com. For more information on the Pleasant Grove Ranger District, visit: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/uwcnf/recarea/?recid=8988
