r/Squamish • u/Quest_Josh • 2d ago
New Mountain Biking Guidebook For Squamish
Hey folks, Josh here. I live in Squamish and I’m looking for feedback on a mountain biking guidebook we built with pro rider Ollie Lowthorpe.
When I moved here I was new to riding, and the trail network was exciting and intimidating in equal measure. I had no idea what to expect from a trail before I was on it. What got me through was friends who knew what I should ride next and what was coming before I dropped in. Without them I’m not sure I’d have stuck with riding at all.
That’s the gap this is built for. The guidebook is written by Ollie, who knows these trails inside out and has coached plenty of riders who started where I did. It has 16 of his recommended rides in the order he’d take you through them, with a full POV video of every descent and offline navigation. We will keep adding rides over the winter, with about 40 by spring. There are demo routes you can try for free.
We always donate a portion of proceeds to trail building, and until the end of the year, 20% of every sale goes to SORCA. If we’re making content on these trails, we have a part to play in developing them.
Quest is in flight, and we are working to make it better for exploring trails and getting out there. Drop a comment, DM me, or email [josh@questoutside.com](mailto:josh@questoutside.com). We can't make this better without your help!
Find the guidebook on the Quest Outside mobile app, available on iOS and Android.
www.questoutside.com/go/community
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u/ar_604 2d ago
I’ll certainly have a look.
One thing that’s worth noting… SORCA does a lot of great work, but a lot of trails are maintained without their assistance, including the first trail listed on your site. This came to the forefront during their most recent donation campaign. Not to throw shade at SORCA, just highlighting that even though you’re donating to the trail association, a good chunk of that money will never see a builder.
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u/Quest_Josh 2d ago
Great point. Truth be told, we are still trying to figure out how to spread the love. Another option we may pursue is holding the cash in a trust and allowing people to apply to build trails with the money - of course that brings up the problem of how do you choose, etc. Thanks for the reminder. It's definitely something I'll think on.
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u/ar_604 1d ago
One option here, since you're going trail by trail.. maybe once each trail gets X views or you get Y subscriptions you figure out how much to donate to the trail builder/maintainer. If SORCA manages it, donate to SORCA. If its not, like Half Nelson, donate to Dream Wizards, and so on and so forth. That would be much more direct and ensure the love gets spread around.
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u/bramski 2d ago
Yes but you cannot donate money directly to that dude. This is the absolute worst critique you could make of this guy's app. SORCA does an incredible amount for our trails and community. Possibly the longest standing effective trail, maintenance, and advocacy group our community has. You should be so happy we have such a great well funded organization that has cared for our trails and community so well. Donating to sorca per sales of your guidebook is an absolute win.
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u/ar_604 2d ago edited 1d ago
I think you should re read my post. I was very clear about being supportive of SORCA. Just making it known that the individual builder might not see the money because it’s not well known.
EDIT: Also, to be fair, you can 100% donate to an individual 'dude' (or 'dudette', women can build too!). Beer, coffee, snacks, Home Depot gift cards go a long way!
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u/davedrinkscoffee 2d ago
SORCA does support volunteer trail builders - https://static1.squarespace.com/static/640f2887ee2a666b0a63588c/t/689bb6f227df213ff82adfc5/1755035378885/10.+Volunteer+Trail+Maintenance+%26+Builder+Support+Policy.pdf
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u/MedicineManns 2d ago
I’ve heard that since Dave passed, getting money from Sorca is like pulling teeth for these volunteers. Most don’t even bother trying anymore.
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u/AbrocomaMother8109 2d ago
I'd often get a cheque from Dave within a day or so of applying. Now it's simpler to just not give SORCA membership money.
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u/wee-slurguy 1d ago
This is the unfortunate truth. As a builder not only do I not bother attempting to get any assistance from SORCA anymore, I sadly stopped supporting SORCA all together as I honestly do not know where my membership money goes.
Im hoping this will change but until then, just give me a nod / smile when you pass me digging0
u/ar_604 2d ago
Yep, I agree. But my point still stands. Like I said, no shade, but there’s a good chance a builder might not see the money. Those funds are definitely available but also definitely limited in scope.
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u/wee-slurguy 1d ago
The funds are available if your'e willing to play their politics game unfortunately
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u/D4ng3rd4n 2d ago
This just feels like strong "but accctuallllyyyy" energy. If you yourself aren't doing more than this donation drive for the trails, it shouldn't really be coming from you. If you are, I'll eat my words in shame.
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u/bramski 2d ago
I like this idea a lot! The thing is at this point I know squamish trails so well I do not need this sort of guide. I will continue paying for trail forks until something actually replaces what it gives as well as the community of comments and info it provides on routes. I could have really used this in the summer when I went to Cumberland and rode the community forest. If you don't know how the area works and have never ridden before trail forks is absolute garbage at telling you which trail to ride up, and which trails to ride down and actually giving me a good set of trails to have a great ride when my time out there is limited. So let me know when you have some places I'm gonna visit!
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u/Same_Sink453 2d ago
I appreciate you only doing sanctioned trails