Local craftsman/volunteer needs YOUR vote to win this award
By Contributor
A local man is up for an award for service to the community, but he needs your help to win!
The following is the nomination story sent in by a local volunteer organization:
“Castlegar Parks and Trails and Castlegar Mountain Bike Society would like to nominate our master craftsman and unbelievably dedicated trail visionary Dave Sutton for the Kazlaw Community Mountain Biking Award.
“Dave crafts trials with love and his love for building is infectious. He doesn’t just build big hits and huge features (although that’s well with in his spectrum as a rider) he always considers all skill levels and genuinely just wants to get more people out riding and having fun. Dave is never one to talk himself up, not only is he a good trail builder he is one of the funnest people to just watch riding his bike, anything from steep old school shore trails to epic cross country single track his skills and ability as a mountain biker inspires others to get out on their bikes.
“Here is just one of many examples of his amazing craftsmanship and ingenuity when it comes to building trails. This past year scouting and flagging the new trail Merry-go-round,we came to a huge rock wall, almost everyone thought we would have to bypass and change the route, but Dave had calmly stated that, “this is going to be a surprise”. The rock wall was where the marker flags had ended, and by July 60 per cent of the trail had been completed and
“Dave’s “surprise” started to come to fruition.
“Dave, along with his friends Ali and Callie, had suspended themselves on the side of the cliff to secure brackets that were to become the foundation of a bridge that would span the rock wall leading into a clear cut that boasts spectacular views of the Columbia Valley below. When the bridge was completed it was a testament to Dave’s skills as a carpenter thatpeople from town were hiking up the trail just to view and walk across his handy work.
“Instead of going to the gym before work, he will head up the mountain trail building, chain saw and shovel in hand, accompanied by his beloved dog Mallory. After work and on weekends, Dave is most certainly either out riding or trail building as well, I don’t know where he gets his endless stores of energy from. Dave has been building his whole life, he is a person who envisions building trails that others would deem impossible. His dedication and hard work has inspired many people to contribute to the constant maintenance and continued expansion of mountain bike trails in Castlegar. Castlegar is situated in between two of the coolest kids on the block when it comes to mountain biking. Rossland to the South and Nelson to the North, but if you were to ask any mountain biker in those towns about trails in Castlegar, they’ll definitely sing praise to trails Dave has built.
“Popular trails that have seen extensive use from the public include The Awakener (which actually had a coffee by Seven Summits Roasters named after it), Grandiflorum and Grand Wazoo. Hail Merry and Merry-go-round are the most current trails he has worked on and if you look them up online you will see why they are some of the best built trails around and that only comes from the love of mountain biking.
Information on the contest and how to vote is at: http://www.bcbikerace.com/registration/contests
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