Peace on the Vasa?

SEPARATE TRAILS FOR SKIERS AND FATBIKERS COMING SOON

Sept. 7, 2014

Photo: Michael Poehlman Photography / Traverse City Tourism

Following what one cross-country skier called "the winter of our discontent," there could be harmony this season between skiers and fatbike riders on local groomed ski trails.

Fatbikers and skiers have been meeting all summer, trying to find a compromise to the contentious Vasa Pathway trail-sharing that had skiers up in arms last winter.

Their solution: Fatbike riders will get their own groomed trail on the Vasa this winter, much of it running along the current Vasa single track off of Supply Rd.

AN ATTRACTIVE OPTION

The Vasa Pathway in the Pere Marquette State Forest is a state-owned, multi-use trail open to the public.

In the winter months, it is groomed by Traverse Area Recreational Trails volunteers through a contract with the state Department of Natural Resources.

Donations help support the grooming work, which with equipment and maintenance costs, is a five-figure effort each season.

Untouched groomed trails look like wide ribbons of corduroy. When fatbikes – or mountain bikes with "fat" tires meant for soft conditions – roll on the trails, ruts form that catch a ski’s edge, potentially causing skiers to fall.

The cross-country skiers, who enjoyed relatively undisturbed groomed trails for years, realized they needed to create a snow bike trail that would attract bikers away from the traditional 5-, 10-, and 25-kilometer ski trails.

"This comes down to the power of persuasion. None of us has the authority to say, "It’s my trail, you have to stay off,’" said Mark Esper, president of the North American Vasa race board. "If it doesn’t work, then who knows what will happen next."

Esper believes there is a good chance the plan will succeed, however.

"I am optimistic that it will be better for both groups," he said. "It won’t be a perfect answer for either one, but it will be an improvement for both."

Despite acrimony on message boards or on Facebook over the fatbikes last winter, Esper said he believes the groups will ultimately get along.

"In reality, a lot of them are the same people," he said. "We’ve really worked hard to not make this an "˜us-versus-them’ kind of thing."

FRUSTRATION AT A PEAK

Frustration among skiers reached an apex last winter as fatbikes got popular and riders sought out winter trails.

Fatbikes have only been in stores a few years. In the last year or so, they’ve become ubiquitous.

One skier on a website called last ski season the "winter of our discontent" at the Vasa, which he called "our former Nordic Camelot."

TART Trails instituted "Fatbike Fridays" last year in a bid to strike a compromise.

They asked fatbike riders to voluntarily limit their use of the groomed trails to one day per week, keeping the bike’s tire pressure to 4psi in an attempt to make the tire ruts shallow.

Fatbike riders mostly abided the request, but some skiers protested that the bikes still degraded the groomed ski trails.

In April, people from both sides crowded into the conference room at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center for a meeting with DNR officials.

END OF FATBIKE FRIDAYS

That meeting led to the creation of a group that’s been meeting all summer to come up with a compromise.

"We’re using primarily existing single track and two-track trails, so that we’re really minimizing the impact on the forest and so that we’re using what we already have," said TART Board President Brian Fisher.

Fisher said the group that is designing the new trail represents TART, the Vasa Ski Club, the North American Vasa, the Cherry Capital Cycling Club, the Northern Michigan Mountain Biking Association, local bike shops, and the DNR.

NMMBA President John Roe said the parts of the trail that are new will require DNR approval, which he said is being expedited and will hopefully happen in time for the season.

The group has already received permission to groom the existing single-track trail for fatbikes this winter, he said.

SINGLE TRACK FRUSTRATION

The single track was not used by fatbikers last year because there was no way to keep it groomed.

Cody Sovis, an employee of Einstein Cycles, said fatbike riders tried to use the Vasa single track last season but it was tough.

"It wasn’t that people didn’t want to use it," Sovis said. "It wasn’t possible, I guess is the right word."

The problem was that the trail travels between trees so close together that a snowmobile could not get through.

There have been work bees held through the summer to widen the trail in spots so that a snowmobile can travel the course and groom the single track for bikes, Sovis said.

Sovis said people last winter tried to pack down the snow with snowshoes but the job could take hours and then get quickly ruined by fresh snow.

SAME TRAILS AT CRYSTAL

Other places are also trying to figure out how the two groups can share the woods.

Brian Lawson, public relations manager for Crystal Mountain Resort, said it’s been a balancing act to keep everyone happy on the winter trails.

"There is a core group of skiers who just want the trails to themselves, but by and large everyone gets along when it comes to the riders and the skiers," Lawson said.

He said bikers are instructed to stay to the side of trails, away from the skiers’ groomed tracks.

This winter will be the third that will see fatbikes at Crystal Mountain. They are becoming increasingly popular. The resort rents out the bikes and hosts a popular fatbike race in January called the Fat Chance Race.

Last season saw few conflicts, Lawson said.

The weather made it easier for everyone to get along because the temperature stayed so cold that fatbikes didn’t damage the ski trails.

"We just want to get as many people out to enjoy winter activities as possible," he said.

HASHING OUT A COMPROMISE

DNR Conservation Officer Todd Neiss said he hoped the new trail could win approval soon. He said new trails require approval from multiple divisions within the department.

"It’s still in this group’s hands," he said.

"But we’ve gotten the groups to come together and come up with a plan."

The process still has not answered the question: Are fatbikes harmful to ski trails?

"It depends on whose point of view you want to listen to," Neiss said.

When it’s cold, packed snow hardens and fatbikes roll along without creating ruts. Determining and enforcing when that happens is another matter, said Neiss.

"We don’t have staff to get out there and say, "˜Oh, it’s 29 [degrees], get off the trail,’" Neiss said. "The intent is to have a designated fat-tire bike trail that’s separate from the Vasa."