One thing jumps out at you at Copper Harbor. The wildest downhill sections tend to plunge directly down fall lines. Like much of the original mountain bike tracks, they simply followed the hiking trails already in place. These trails were in use long before the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) developed environmentally sound sustainable trails design standards. The Red Trail and the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge were built by the federal Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression.
(To see video shot by tandem mountain bikers Sandy and Arlyn Aronson as they rolled wown the Stairway to Heaven, go to the “Media Center” on Silent Sports home page.)
Converting trails originally designed for hiking into sustainable mountain bike trail is not unique to the UP. For example, most trail development in southeastern Wisconsin on Department of Natural Resources-owned trails has involved rerouting biking from hiking trails. That has also meant replacing sections that went straight up or down fall lines that tend to erode as water follows the easiest paths.
In contrast, a sustainable trail built to IMBA’s specifications features a lot of traverses so water can flow across and away from the trail rather than follow its path and cause it to erode. Then bike traffic compacts and helps retain the soil on the trail bed.
So it’s not surprising Copper Harbor’s new trails follow newer environmentally sound design. Much of the present system is already of this sustainable type. The Red Trail downhills and Paul’s Plunge are the exception.
What I find interesting is that Copper Harbor is accomplishing the seemingly impossible: The trails are not only being built to last, they will include the equivalent of a black diamond downhill course.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s first look at the newest Copper Harbor trail to open.
Brockway Mountain Trail
The dynamo behind this expanding trail system is Aaron Rogers, coordinator of the Copper Harbor Trails Club. (Rogers may be the driving force, but he has as many as 30 volunteers to help him, depending on the day.) Rogers’ latest creation is a three-mile climb to the top of Brockway Mountain. It features more than 300 feet of vertical gain, which is almost identical to the other major climbs on the existing trails. But this time the entire trail follows IMBA’s strict standards, so much so that the climb seems easier as there is a lot of traversing and gradual inclines. When you get to the top, Rogers said, “You hardly know you’ve arrived.”
The new Brockway Mountain trail will be open to traffic from either direction. Despite the switchback nature of the trail, it manages to include some fast downhills into sharp corners, which will challenge bikers of all abilities. According to Rogers, experts can really rip the downhills while those less skilled can easily control their speed for a safer ride.
The new Brockway Mountain trail is an example of the latest trend at Copper Harbor: The development of more trails for intermediate bikers. Most of the trail system is intermediate in difficulty so you can get in a full day’s riding without risking life and limb.
Shuttle service
For many, the most exciting development at Copper Harbor will be a proposed shuttle from the Keweenaw Adventure Co. in town to the top of the trail system at Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. There are places in the Rocky Mountains where bikers can ride a gondola to the top so they can ride back down. Now UP bikers will be able to do the same – only in a van.
Once on top, the options are numerous. You could spin on some loops up there before heading back down to the Lake Superior shore. And since all the intermediate trails are two-way, the options are virtually limitless. There are the aforementioned expert Red Trail and Paul’s Plunge beckoning as well as four intermediate trails that lead back down to Copper Harbor. The trip down alone is three miles, an extended experience impossible to replicate elsewhere in the Midwest.
Future trails
While immediate plans are to improve the Copper Harbor trail system and shore up the existing intermediate trails, planning for exciting new trail routes is under way.
Later this summer, in fact, expansion of the expert level system will begin. Some corridors from the lodge to town have been preserved for just that and sections are already flagged. These black diamond trails will take advantage of natural obstacles, like rocks and roots, as technical features. Some of this may be rideable by next fall, Rogers predicted.
For those seeking even greater downhill challenges, a true freeride run is on the drawing board. Those of you not familiar with the term, freeriding is a relatively new but increasingly popular discipline of mountain biking that combines downhill riding and dirt jumping. While a small section of freeride trail may be open this fall, this system is at least a year away. Development of it depends somewhat on insurance considerations.
I asked Rogers how such expert downhill sections, which do involve fall line trails, can be built to be eco-friendly like so much of the rest of the Copper Harbor singletrack, He explained that the area is unique in that solid bedrock is never far beneath the surface. So it’s possible to create some wild sections that will not result in significant erosion.
This advantage has made make benching or leveling some sections very difficult. Rogers and his volunteers have had to do more than swing hand tools. Because nothing less than a gas-powered jackhammer can punch through that rock, Rogers has earned the nickname “Jackhammer Man.”
As if the development of new expert level trails weren’t enough, there are also plans for a 27-mile continuous mountain bike loop. It would utilize some of the 6,275 acres acquired by the state of Michigan in 2002. This area, known as the Keweenaw Tip, includes nine miles of Lake Superior shoreline.
The idea is to utilize as much of the Lake Superior view as possible and yet design an environmentally friendly trail. There will be a number of cross links for those looking for shorter rides. Rogers said the completion of this trail is at least three years away.
As exciting as those prospects are, there is already more than enough variety and mileage to satisfy just about any Copper Harbor area biker. Whether you live to climb, love to careen downhill or just roll leisurely – like on the flat trail along Big Lake – there’s something for you in the Keweenaw. For more information, go to www.keweenawadventure.com.
Lee Borowski is a past USSA Nordic Coach of the Year, Badger State Winter Games Athlete of the Year and the coach for several junior, senior and collegiate skiers of the year. He has also coached many master’s skiers who have won both national and world championships. Borowski is the author of several books and articles and the producer of four videos on cross-country skiing technique. He runs the website http://thesimplesecrets.com/.
To order Borowski’s NEW Simple Secrets of Skating or The Simple Secrets of Striding, demonstrated through footage of Olympic and world champions and available on VHS and DVD, send $25 plus $1.75 shipping (Wisconsin residents add $1.27 tax) to Lee Borowski, 4500 Cherokee Drive, Brookfield, WI 53045.
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