TAMBA Board member and trails enthusiast, Alex Robinson, shares his journey from trail day volunteer to TAMBA Crew Leader.
Mountain biking wouldn’t be the amazing sport it is without fun trails to ride. If you’ve ever wondered how your favorite trails came to be, who’s behind them, and how you could become one of those people that makes trails happen, this post is for you!
This year I’ve embarked on the journey of becoming a trail crew leader with the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA), and wish to inspire others to do the same.
I’ve been volunteering at trail days for the past couple of years. Maintaining existing trails, removing downed trees, and building exciting new trails, all with partnership and cooperation from our local land managers.
As a volunteer, I’ve been able to learn a lot! How to build sustainable trails, the importance of drainage, what makes a trail fun, etc. However, I’ve wanted to be able to influence the development of trails beyond just showing up for an occasional trail day. There are a couple of ways to go about this:
- Join a board or committee with your local trail organization – I joined the board of directors at TAMBA to influence positive change for my local mountain bike community at the organizational level. This entails a lot of meetings, discussions, planning and community engagement. This has been a fantastic experience, but can be a step removed from the actual work in the dirt.
- Become a volunteer Trail Crew Leader – most trail organizations rely on dedicated volunteers to support their trail building efforts. Some will offer Crew Leader training programs, with the goal of enabling experienced, dedicated volunteers to lead teams of volunteers in building and maintenance efforts. We have some amazing experienced volunteers around Tahoe who serve as excellent mentors to those looking to improve their community through trail development.
What does one need to become a Trail crew leader?
- Some trail building experience. While you don’t need to be an expert, it’s good to have attended at least 5 trail work days in a volunteer capacity. The goal is to get exposure to different skills like cutting backslope, establishing tread, rock work, brush removal etc. Ideally, you’ve also got your hands on a handful of different tools, rakes, McLeods, Pick-Mattocks, Rockbars, etc. It’s not rocket science – and by no means is expertise required – but you should be familiar with these, and able to (or have the desire to) explain these concepts to others and have the appetite to continue expanding your knowledge.
- Training. TAMBA offers a two-day Crew Leader Training each spring. This is put on by TAMBA’s professional trail building staff, land manager partners, and other experienced crew leaders. Crew Leader training is one day in a classroom, discussing trail building concepts, managing group dynamics, safety with tools, and many more best practices. Then one day in the field practicing skills, reviewing and discussing trails, what makes them good, how they can be improved etc. From there, you’ll want to keep learning and practicing your skills before leading your own trail days.
- Mentorship. It’s advised to seek mentorship from existing Crew Leaders. Ask for feedback, ask questions about how you build, share your opinions on how you might build, but don’t be held to them and be open to discussing and finding the best solutions. Practice delivering your safety talk at an upcoming trail day, orient first time trail builders to the tools and how they are used.
We suggest acting as an assistant Crew Leader on at least 3 trail days, before leading volunteer crews of your own. It’s also required that you have an up to date first aid and CPR certification before you can lead volunteer crews with TAMBA and many other trail orgs.
Aside from my thoughts, I was able to connect with another of my 2024 Crew Leader trainees, Lisa Strand, to hear what inspired her to become a crew leader:
Alex: “Lisa, What had you want to become a Crew Leader?”
Lisa: “Mostly to give back – I’ve been enjoying trails my whole life, and now’s a great time to help create and maintain these essential-to-me paths. There are many trail building organizations out there, but the people I’ve met at TAMBA trail work days have been supportive, kind, and skilled at what they do. After several seasons of volunteering, I felt ready to take the next step to help make these trail days possible.
Alex: “What do you look to accomplish as a TAMBA Crew Leader?”
Lisa: “My goal is to make sure volunteers have a good time, learn something, get some healthy exercise in, and most importantly ALWAYS have something to do! Our volunteers are busy people, and their time is a HUGE asset. I’d like to make sure they don’t feel their time is being wasted.”
Alex: “What would you share with others who are looking to expand their trail building skillset and become crew leaders?”
Lisa: “Volunteer! TAMBA, TRTA, Carson Valley Trails Association all have trail work days, and joining in these workdays is THE best way to build your trail building skills. But don’t just work – ask questions as they come to you. Offer to trade tools with another volunteer so you get a feel for the various skills needed to build and maintain trails. Being an active volunteer will help you learn, and more experienced volunteers and leaders generally love sharing what they’ve learned!”
Alex: “Anything else you want to share?”
Lisa: “At my Crew Leader training session, we went around the room introducing ourselves, sharing activities we like to do. Most people said they like ‘building trails’. I guiltily admitted I’m not super passionate about building trails–I’d rather be riding my bike around. BUT I don’t think you have to be passionate about trail building to be a good Crew Leader— within TAMBA it’s pretty easy to find another leader that’s willing to take the lead on trail building strategy, leaving me free to make sure volunteers are feeling productive, getting the help they need, and enjoying a cold one at the end of the day.”
Lisa has been a pleasure to work with and get to know this year, it’s been awesome to meet new people who care, and bring different perspectives, interests and skills to the table.
With these new skills, you can begin to drive amazing projects, and leave a lasting positive impact on your community! I want to shout out three of my mentors who have inspired me, and who have left a lasting impression on Tahoe trails: Sandor Lengyel, John Clausen, and Nils Miller. You can read why TAMBA calls them trail legends at each of their respective stories above.
These Crew :eaders have inspired, educated and motivated countless volunteers. They’ve created trails on the North, South and West shores of Tahoe that will be enjoyed for decades to come.
I’m very excited for the future of trails in Tahoe, and we can always use more volunteer trail builders and crew leaders! Anyone is welcome and encouraged to join us on a volunteer work day, and with the near completion of the Basin Wide Trails Analysis Project, the LTBMU is working to finalize approval on 45 miles of new trails to be built! This will be amazing, but a lot of work lies ahead. Come join us on the trails, it’s a great time to be a mountain biker!
