The new bit of Starfish is now open. This completes 2 years of volunteer track building so that we have a grade 4 run from the bottom of Ridgeline all the way to the carpark.
It is going to get pretty trashed over winter, but that should just bring out its character. Let us know what you think.
The entry to the new start to Starfish, opposite the end of Smokin and Ridgeline Extension
Trailforks map showing Starfish line
May 2019 update
A keen group of volunteers have continued to carve out some awesome new singletrack over the last few months.
A new rock garden was concreted in thanks to about 30 volunteers who donated some of their Saturday to help with the build. A bridge has been built and a big reversal was completed.
Many hands have made a big job much easier. Thanks everyone who came out
The tracks team are pretty stoked with the new track. They’ve made the most of what is a pretty flat bit of land. There’s lots of natural features retained (roots roots and more roots) plus a few rollable jumps and drops.
There’s some surfacing to be done to stop it turning into a bog over winter, and will be opened once the new SWIGG line is complete. Look out for details in early June.
29 January update
2019 dig days at Makara Peak have kicked off in fine style with progress continuing on the new section of Starfish. Around 250 metres of fresh new grade 4 trail is pretty much now complete, plus we’ve been fine tuning corners, and adding a wall ride and berm to the line. It’s shaping up nicely as a fast but challenging bit of trail.
We’re nearing one of the major features, that will see the new trail drop down steeply into a dry stream bed before exiting via a wall ride/step up/appropriate feature of some sort.
Thanks to everyone who’s turned out - what’s really exciting is seeing all the families and kids coming along to lend a hand on what we’re sure will be a favourite with the young pinners.
8 December update
Great progress with 20 keen men, women and children on the tools. Most of the digging was in the shade of a section of mature regenerating bush. Just a bit of benching and shaping with plenty of roots left in place to reflect the grade 4 conditions.
Thanks to:
Margaret,Hannah, Clint, Ross, Steve, Jonathan, Stanley, Wyatt, Phil, Lloyd, Myles, Sebastian, Austin, Clinton, Demelza, Ryan 1, Ryan 2, Ben, Oliver, Andrew
6 December update
A team from the Commerce Commission were on site this week donating some of their work time to help progress the Starfish build. With help from Ranger Frank from Wellington City Council, the team did a couple of hours of hard work roughing out another 10m of trail and clearing some trees - despite some damp weather. A huge thanks!
1 December update
We got through another 25 hard fought metres on Saturday. We’re now back into some nice forest which provides more cover from the relentless Wellington summer sun (!).
A big thanks to Caerwyn, Wyatt, Phil, Rebeca, Miles and LLyod, Johnny, Ryan, Austin, Nick, Garth and Iain for putting in the hard yards so everyone can enjoy more advanced (grade 4) singletrack goodness at Makara Peak.
We’re back next Saturday from 10am. Only two more sessions to go in 2018 before a well-earned break over Christmas.
18 November update
Despite the weather gods continuing to not place nicely, good progress has been made on the new “Starfish Extension” line which starts at the end of Ridgeline Extension (so many extensions…).
We’ve cleared about 200 metres which is about the equivalent of the length of Big Tom’s Wheelie. We’re focussing on building it to complete standard before progressing on - there’s quite a lot of water run-off from SWIGG and Big Tom’s so we’re working hard to find the right balance of leaving roots and rocks while making the trail surface sustainable (i.e. not a bog).
27 October update
Quick dig today before the rain hit - the first berm is coming together nicely thanks to the large rocks provided by Horokiwi Quarry and delivered by Rapid Earthworks.
This section will get a rock garden added before the track is opened.
14 October 2018
We’re building some awesome new grade 4 single track from the end of Ridgeline Extension down to the start of Starfish. It will be a similar style to Ridgeline Extension with rollable drops and jumps, optional hard lines and plenty of stoke.
We’ve scoped the line and it’s looking pretty sweet. Check out https://www.trailforks.com/trails/starfish-extension/ for a rough map and line.
Map showing roughly where the new Starfish will run from the end of Ridgeline Extension through to near the transmitter at the end of SWIGG/start of Starfish