Trail Ventures

06/02/2024

Richea Ridge track is now clear!

Funded 100% by the Trail Ventures Trail Maintenance Fund, we deployed our high value maintenance model combining Trail Ventures tools, safety and quality systems, supervision and training, and providing opportunity for the trail running community to volunteer as crew to give back and learn proper pruning practices, and effective and high amenity trail maintenance techniques.

The 3.4km track was pretty thick with beura for a lot of it so was a slog mainly with the hedge trimmer and loppers. But we got it done in 24 person work days of mainly weekend work in Jan/Feb 2024 ready for the kunanyi Trail Series Richea Ridge event on 10 Feb. It is now clear for fit and bush experienced trail runners and bushwalkers to enjoy for the years to come!

The feeling of remoteness and wildness, and epic views when on this track are absolutely amazing! And it's only 2.5km from the kunanyi Pinnacle.

Note: the track is remote, technical, and not currently signposted or marked, nor currently present on modern maps - so is currently suitable only for experienced bush navigators.

City of Hobart Wellington Park Tasmania City of Hobart Bushcare Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Kingborough Council Glenorchy City Council Huon Valley Council Derwent Valley Council Hobart & Beyond The Hobart Magazine ABC Hobart

08/01/2024

Richea ridge trail maintenance ✂️

⛰️ Richea Ridge is one of kunanyi’s most remote, spectacular, and lesser known tracks. It’s overdue for a good trim as Tassie’s alpine scrub grows thick if left to it’s own devices, and we’ve secured a permit from Wellington Park Tasmania and City of Hobart to give it a sensitive trim to be safe and enjoyable for kunanyi Trail Series richea ridge trail run on 10 Feb, and also for all runners and walkers for the years to come!

The Trail Ventures Trail Maintenance Fund receives donations from runners at kunanyi Mountain Run to deliver this work under a low cost, high community value model - giving the community the opportunity to volunteer to care for the trails we run with, combined with Trail Ventures professional tools, safety, quality and training systems ✅

The team our last weekend had an awesome and rewarding time in perfect weather and trimmed 500m of track after a solid 1.5hr walk in 😁

07/09/2022

Love trails? Want to share and learn about how we can sustainably enjoy our trails in Australia and New Zealand?

We're thrilled that our Director Lincoln Quilliam will be one of many speakers (ranging from trail users to designers, planners, land managers, volunteers, clubs and construction experts) at this year's TRC Tourism Sustainable Trails Conference, doing just that.

He'll be speaking about the work that we did on the kunanyi Mountain Run route. Some 25km (and more!) of trails were cleared not just for the inaugural event but for the trail running and bushwalking community in the years to come.

The conference is on in our backyard! It's being held at St Helens, lutruwita/Tasmania, so come along!

More info: https://trctourism.com/sustainable-trails-conference-2022/

16/08/2022

🌲 Community Trail Maintenance 🌲

“We make it easy for any group to get started helping maintain our trails - easy by design!” US Bureau of Land Management

A common and dominant theme throughout all consultations with land managers in the US is efficient and effective harnessing of the passionate community who want to help maintain the trails.

An example strategic framework from one of the largest national agencies can be found in the link below. All agencies consulted at Federal, State, County, and City levels “make it easy” using their own frameworks - the outcomes are the same: the hours community has available to give are put directly into trail work to the relevant trail classification standards - supported by the agencies, and community organisations such as the Colorado Mountain Club

https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/trails/trails-stewardship-act



Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Wellington Park Tasmania Roger Jaensch MP Parks Victoria NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Queensland National Parks National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia Parks and Wildlife Service, Western Australia Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development

The National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act was passed by Congress with bipartisan support and signed into law in late 2016. The Act shines a focus on National Forest System trails, requiring the Agency to significantly increase the role of partners and volunteers in trail maintenance. The For...

09/08/2022

🏔 Land acquisition for public recreation and conservation 👍

Something the City of Boulder Colorado Government, Tromsø kommune, and perhaps many other modern active outdoor lifestyle cities have in common, mainly for lands immediately adjacent to the city suburbs.

Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Master Plan leads with:
“Over 120 years ago, the City of Boulder’s open space program began with the purchase of Chautauqua in 1898. Soon thereafter, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. – a renowned landscape architect and advocate for nature preservation – called on the community to preserve the mountain backdrop and areas along major waterways. In 1967, Boulder also became the first city in the United States to implement a tax to purchase and care for its natural lands – increasing our capacity to protect the land around Boulder through acquisitions”



Wellington Park Tasmania City of Hobart Roger Jaensch MP

26/07/2022

🙏Thank you to the Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run committee and entire Hardrock family for welcoming me so warmly and unconditionally into your tribe!

🤝The winners of Hardrock 2022, Courtney Dauwalter & Kilian Jornet both said it: the #1 feature of Hardrock is community! The Hardrock family really draws in all that are a part of Hardrock in any way, the runners, pacers, support crew, volunteers, local businesses and residents, land managers the City of Silverton, sponsors and community partners.

🏔 The 100 mile course is also super tough! The altitude is above 3,000m for 90% of the course and tags 4,000m a few times. Is around 60% on remote and technical single track (sometimes very faint), heavy heat and sun, and thunderstorms.

🏃‍♀️Whilst limited to only 145 runners, another around 150 pacers, 200-300 crew, 500 volunteers, and media and sponsors make up around 1,000 – 1,500 people total in Silverton for Hardrock. The local community, businesses, and City of Silverton are all very supportive of the event and the approx. US$350k economic benefit it brings each year in addition to the US$30k in scholarships provided to local students. This year, the City also provided free camping this year to enable everyone to stay in Silverton.

🤔It is really hard to get an entry with 13 people vying for each place, and can take 10yrs of volunteering, keeping qualifiers up to date, and entering the lottery – I observed this has a distinct contribution to the Hardrock community and celebration of those that finish.

🌲Volunteer trail maintenance is a standard part of most US trail runs and most events have trail maintenance contribution requirements as part of their entry process. It’s great to see some land managers fully enabling, supporting, and training groups who wish to contribute to safe and navigable trails for all - more on this to come...

📸iRunFar.com piper Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run

11/07/2022

Our director, Lincoln Quilliam, has set off on the long awaited Churchill Fellowship to the US and Europe to explore the key features and benefits of aspirational trail running destinations!

⛰ Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run - Colorado
⛰ Washington State
⛰ Tromso Skyrace - Norway
⛰ Sierre-Zinal - Switzerland
⛰ Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc - France
⛰ Skyrunning World Championships - Italy
⛰ Salomon Skyline Scotland

He'll be consulting runners, event organisers, land managers, tourism organisations, local businesses, and the wider community to find out what makes trail runners across the world want to visit and run those events.

We'll post key updates on this page so give Trail Ventures a like and follow if you want to see updates popping in to your feed👍

Massive thanks to the Winston Churchill Trust - AU for this amazing opportunity for us and the Tasmanian, and Australian trail running community! And big thanks to Endurance Edge (T8), Koda Nutrition, and FIND YOUR FEET for your support and best trail running gear and hydration!
Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Wellington Park Tasmania City of Hobart Destination Southern Tasmania Discover Tasmania Tourism Australia Tourism Industry Council Tasmania Visit Northern Tasmania East Coast Tasmania Visit North West Tasmania

To investigate the key features and benefits of aspirational trail running destinations - Professions — Tourism, leisure, hospitality and retail

07/07/2022

✅25+km of trails cleared in 4 months of Saturdays 💪
✅45 volunteer days 🙏
✅all for a safe and enjoyable kunanyi Mountain Run 2022 ⛰ and for all track users for the next few years!

We delivered this work under a high value delivery model providing opportunity for the community to get out trim trails, working with Trail Ventures professional tools, safety and quality systems and training with experienced supervisors.

The trails were mainly on Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service managed land in Wellington Park Tasmania and a bunch on private land also. It took 2 years of advocacy to gain permits and funding but the persistence pays off as now the tracks are clear for the entire community to enjoy!

Massive thanks to the crew from the Hobart trail running community who worked hard on proper big work days to get it done 👍

09/11/2021

🤙⛰How epic is this route!! We're so stoked to be getting this long awaited event off the ground

08/09/2021

📣UPDATE 16 Nov - The crew has been trimming up a storm out on the tracks and looks like we only need 3 more days on the tracks in our current scope of work. Thanks everyone who's been getting amongst it thus far!

Planned dates and tracks/trails:
▶️ 20 Nov - Mountain River Trail (top section)
▶️ 27 Nov - Mt Connection Track
▶️ 4 Dec - Old Montagu Trail (top section = big hill to walk up)

🌲Do you want to give back to the trails which provide so much for us? Trail Ventures has secured a permit from Wellington Park and we are looking for volunteers to work with our regular crew over the next few months to help out with track maintenance on kunanyi ⛰

🏃This is a great opportunity to give back and connect with the mountain and your fellow trail runners and bushwalkers. The purpose of this work is to enable the long awaited kunanyi Ultra, and for all trail users in the years to come.

🌳🌿The work is trimming overgrown vegetation to remove hazards, allow safe navigation and to enable an enjoyable run rather than bushbashing!

The work will be on Saturdays, meeting at the trail head at 8am and returning to the cars by 4.30pm. However if there is sufficient interest, we may look at Sundays or weekdays.

For safety and to ensure we’re providing good guidance on proper pruning practices, volunteer places are limited to around 4 volunteers per day.

If you would like to participate, please complete the form in link below. 👇👇 We will be in touch for the days you’ve been selected for and there will be more days after this if you can't make any of these! We will notify you of any changes that may result due to weather or other requirements. ☀️🌧💨

Look forward to seeing you out on the tracks soon!

https://forms.office.com/r/Tvn2DayV4C

18/02/2021

A well groomed trail/track can provide great satisfaction for walkers and runners - hence the reward of that satisfaction can be felt be the trail/track maintenance crew. Monthly works inspections are very satisfying indeed! Awesome work crew!!