'WORCA'

Whistler BC Canada - A resort that enjoys tremendous media coverage thanks to the huge development of its freeride and lift assisted riding terrain. Intrawest the operators of the World renowned bike park have been pushing the progression of the sport forwards with their commitment to trail building and World class events allowing pro riders to showcase their playground.

What you don't see in the media however are the hundreds of 'little people' that make the resort what it is and those people who have founded the base from which Intrawest have managed to launch their commercial facility into the public domain.

Whilst the bike park at Whistler is an enormous cutting edge operation, it is merely a drop in the ocean in terms of Whistlers riding history and the scale of the riding available in the local area.

The resorts cross country and all mountain trails have been created, improved and adapted over the years and the local riding community set about establishing an association to help push forwards the 'green' development of the riding.

WORCA are the resulting body founded to represent all of those little people set on developing the local trail network and here to work hard on behalf of everyone who shares the towns passion for riding.

Well, we keep talking about WORCA and something called the weekly Loonie races, but what are they exactly? Read on and hopefully it will all become clear!

What exactly is WORCA?

WORCA, the Whistler Off Road Cycling Association was founded in 1989 in order to lobby against the pending closure of the bike trails in the Garibaldi Provincial Park . These early efforts were successful and the club has evolved over the years to become an integral part of Whistlers resort.

By working with the Government, landowners and developers, WORCA continues to ensure mountain bike trail access while providing a wide range of other services to the mountain bike community.

The club has in excess of 1000 members which represents over 10% of the town's permanent population. The club is in a word huge and the riding scene they create even bigger.

Whistler as a resort is unusual in that it embraces trails that are constructed illicitly rather than shutting them down. There is enormous significance behind a great number of trails in and around Whistler. 'A River Runs Through It' is a trail that would make most councils quake in fear of pending lawsuits. Rather than closing the trail down as many a council have been known to do, the resort municipality have recognised the significance of the trail and assisted in making things higher, wider and far more interesting.
Another example is the signature XC epic 'Comfortably Numb' a trail that was begun in secret by a man called Chris Markle and was an almost solo labour of love for years before being opened in memorial to a past Whistler Icon with some 300 riders turning up to cast flowers on the trail before riding it.

For more info on WORCA visit their site.

WORCA Loonie Races

Weekly bike racesWORCA sanction a Loonie race series over the summer months which takes place weekly. Over 250 riders turn out to race a different XC course each week. These races end in a food and beer party hosted by one of Whistlers numerous food and service providers - all for £1!

What is a Loonie race I hear you ask: Loonie races are a weekly biking community meeting and a friendly competitive or non-competitive (as you choose) XC bike race through different sections of the Whistler trail network each week. The winning time is typically around the 45 minute mark with some riders taking a good couple of hours whilst still having great fun with their friends and family happily at the back.
The name Loonie comes from a few yeas ago when the race entry was just $1. A dollar coin in Canada is called a 'Loonie' due to the image of the Loon bird on the coin. Now the entry is $2 so it is really called a 'Twonie' race, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it!

What else do WORCA do?

Whistler Trail maintenance - WORCA are also focussed on the maintenance of Whistlers vast trail network. Huge amounts of man hours go into the trails every year to ensure that the winters snow cover hasn't caused damage or drainage problems that will ultimately lead to trail erosion and affect the natural environment.
All of WORCA's trail work is undertaken with great understanding of cause and effect of weather and trail riding. All trail maintenance is performed to the highest environmental standards, often in cooperation with local conservation groups like AWARE, the Whistler Fisheries Stewardship Group and the Whistler Naturalists.

This is accomplished with regular volunteer days and evenings throughout the season, and by hiring a contractor with member fees and grants. Special grants also enable large scale trail projects with a variety of different partners.

For the 2006 season, Whistler has already received a $34,000 Community Enrichment Grant from the Resort Municipality of Whistler for trail work and youth programs.

Why Join?

It should be obvious! We recommend all our guests join WORCA to support the riding community and put back into the trail network that we all com ehere to enjoy. If you are impressed by the trails, let someone know its appreciated.
A yearly membership (good for even just a one week holiday ;) ) is a mere $40! Due to the state of affairs, $28 of that goes to Cycling BC for rider insurance premiums to cover on trail rider liability and the weekly race events whilst the remaining $12 for each membership goes to the trail fund directly.

Perhaps donations are the way forwards if you are not looking to partake in either the Loonie race, Phat wednesdays, PHast Wednesdays, Skills clinics or Wild Willies rides.

Click here to join WORCA.

Whats Included?

To reflect our ongoing commitment to the local trail network, along with our ongoing trail maintenance and new trail development we are making a $20 WORCA trail fund donation for each and every guest.

Whilst it is not a requirement for your holiday, we strongly advise becoming members of WORCA. Memberships cost $40 and goes towards both event insurance and the superb trail maintenance fund. WORCA membersghip is required if you wish to ride/race any of the local evening events.