22 December 2020
An early Christmas present for all you shredders - Pōhatu is now officially open for riding! Thanks to everyone who turned up on Sunday to lend a hand and celebrate the opening.
Special thanks to Makara Peak Supporters Trail Crew members Mark, Coops, Clint, Iain & Kerei who were the driving force behind this build. We started way back in February which seems like a lifetime ago!
Plus we had core group of hard working volunteers who turned up regularly including Phil & his sons Lloyd & Myles, Simon H, Ryan, Garth, Patrick, Marty, Leroy, Andrew, Bruce, Dave and many others. Thank you for your time and dedication. Shout out to Mons Royale who donated some of their sick riding gear as a thank you for the hard work.
17 December 2020
Come along this Sunday (20 December) and help us finish off the latest and greatest Makara Peak grade 4 track. Pōhatu - Te Reo for rocky or stony, due to the massive amount of rock work that went into creating the trail, including armouring the surface, edging the track, creating drops and rock garden features.
Hand built by the Makara Peak Trail Crew and volunteers throughout 2020, the end is in sight! With just a few tidy up jobs to be done this Sunday, we should be able to officially open the trail on Sunday around 4:30pm followed by a celebratory BBQ and beverage at the green container on Snake Charmer.
Meet at the end of Pōhatu, where it meets Smokin just before Snake Charmer from 1pm.
This volunteer, hand built singletrack connects the end of North Face to the end of Smokin, where Starfish crosses Snake Charmer.
It's starts off in a similar style as Starfish, with some small drops, catch berms and a bit of enduro-flow. After exiting the native bush onto an exposed ridge, things start getting steeper, the drops bigger and the fun factor ramps up. An enormous amount of rock was sourced from the surrounding hillside and used to armour and edge the track, build the berms, and create a series of rock garden features in the final 100m of track.
24 March 2020 update
We’ve made some great progress on the new grade 4 track over the last month or so of Sunday afternoon digs. The 3 to 5pm time slot seems to be popular, and the BBQ and beer/soft drink afterwards is proving to be a hit. Work parties are now on hold, along with pretty much everything else, until the COVID-19 lock down is complete.
The trail itself is looking like a slightly harder, slightly steeper, slightly narrower cousin of Starfish. There’s still plenty of roots, a couple of drops, different line options and of course plenty of Makara rock.
Thanks to everyone who has donated their time, with a special thanks to Gary and his crew at Western Builders who donated a day’s labour to work on the project. The smashed through a huge amount of work in one day!
18 February 2020
We're building a new grade 4 (advanced) trail that will connect the end of North Face to Starfish where it meets the 4WD track – it's the badly drawn red line on the map.
Red line on the map shows roughly where the new trail starts at the end of North Face and links with Starfish
With the blessing of Brooklyn Trail Builders we’re shamelessly ripping off their successful approach of a 2-hour dig on Sunday afternoon followed by beer and sausages on the BBQ.
So drop by between 3 and 5pm each Sunday and check it out. The track starts just down the 4WD track at the end of North Face and Three Brothers.
This track will take the best parts of Starfish and make something even better. The terrain is perfect with just enough steepness, a good Mahoe canopy, and heaps of rock lying around. Think drops, jumps, roots, berms, high speed, alternative lines, and plenty of jank. Once complete, you’ll be able to ride Grade 4 from the summit all the way to the main entrance. Choice!