Whā Out is our modern take on the old-skool technical trails found throughout the Park.

While there are plenty of bedrock features, it will roughen up over the coming seasons and get more technical as the trail surface wears and the dirt disappears.

Half way down the trail there is a gap jump followed by a table top. As with all new tracks we recommend you pre-ride and re-ride to get a feel for the speed needed to clear the jumps. If it’s blowing a gale, you might want to save it for another day.

Whā Out was designed by Southstar Trails and built by TGL Contracting Limited with funding from Wellington City Council and Trails Wellington.

Eventually it will continue all the way down to the water tank at the bottom of Varley's.

Check out Ben from Trail Atlas who rode Whā Out just after it opened.

After a huge amount of work North Face has been returned to a flowy intermediate grade trail that’s perfect for riders looking to move on from Peak Flow (which is also open). Berms have been rebuilt, it’s got a much more sustainable surface, drainage works much better and you barely notice that annoying climb in the middle.

This work was possible thanks to work by volunteers from the Mākara Peak Supporters, generous funding from Trails Wellington and the Drury Family, and the artistry of TGL Contracting Limited.

We will be closing it after lots of rain, so if the fence is shut please stay of it. That way it’ll stay nicer for longer.

If you’d like more epic trails like this join Trails Wellington!

Not much remains from Mākara Peak's 125 year farming era. We stumble across the odd decrepit fence line and rusty horse shoe, now and then. And there are a few old farm tracks that are still in use like Leaping Lizard. Thin soils and a dearth of mature native forest are the biggest legacies. So it was a surprise to come across an old dam near the bottom of Nikau valley today.

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The TGL team are cracking into building Whā Out, our new grade 4 trail that runs from the top of Trickle Falls down to the top of Vertigo. This track will add a lot of new options in the north end of the park - you can lap it with T4, head straight on down Vertigo, or continue down Varleys.

The first 20 metres or so has been blazed by Ricky and the smaller machine, and some tasty looking rock has already been uncovered.

Whā Out is going to be a more technical grade 4 than Pōhatu and Starfish - hopefully we find lots of natural bedrock that we can make into features. It’ll be a narrower bench to retain the technical feel, but with a 1.5m wide corridor so that the trail can be 'attacked' by better riders with no trees preventing proper riding, and so that sight lines are reassuring for lesser riders.

While it will be technical, we want it to have good trail flow, that is, not having to brake or pedal hard or for extended periods, and where the terrain naturally speeds you up after a section of heavier braking. If we find the right type of rock, TGL might even sneak in some optional G5 lines if terrain and natural features allow it.

We’re super stoked about this track. Massive thanks to WCC who are funding this project. Check out https://www.trailforks.com/trails/wh--out/ for an indication of where the line will go.

We’ve received a lot of interest and questions about the work being done on North Face, so I thought it would be good to provide an update on progress and some more background to the project.

North Face - the Peak’s original flow trail

An enormous amount of volunteer labour went into carving North Face out of some typically unforgiving Mākara Peak terrain (it was originally built in 17 continuous weeks and 34 work parties!) . It was all done by hand, long before we had access to contractors with micro-diggers that can fit through the narrowest of gaps. When it was opened, it was very much the Peak Flow of it’s time. It was designed as the easiest, flowiest trail from the summit back down towards the main carpark and the volunteers did an amazing job. It was solidly intermediate grade and provided a much less technical option than Ridgeline.

However as is often the case with Mākara tracks, over the years the trail surface has got progressively narrower, rockier and more rutted due to the ravages of Wellington wind, rain and 1000s of bike tyres. With this in mind, WCC and the Supporters decided to sign post it as an advanced grade track a few years back due to the lack of money to maintain it to intermediate grade.

But here in lies the problem. When compared with the new grade 4 trails like Starfish and Pōhatu which the Supporters have built over the last few years, North Face is a bit boring. It doesn’t have great flow (that is, you have to do quite a lot of heavy braking and then pedal hard up the hills), it’s not overly steep or technical, it doesn’t have the features or options that modern tracks have, the surface is very rocky particularly on the climbing sections, and the drainage doesn’t work well in places.

Finally, Peak Flow (which is open by the way) gets hammered. Like it or not, it’s one of the most popular trails in Wellington, with the majority of park users choosing to ride it each time they visit the park. The question was, could we refurbish North Face and provide those riders with a way of progressing their riding and provide some variety while taking some of the load off Peak Flow?

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This is where Trails Wellington comes in

With the generous injection of funding from the Drury Family, the Supporters and Trails Wellington came up with a plan to give North Face a thorough once over. We developed an extremely detailed brief with TGL on what would be needed to turn North Face into a modern, fun, intermediate grade trail that’s a great option for riders who love Peak Flow but want to try something different before progressing onto the likes of Starfish and Pōhatu.

Once the project is complete, North Face will still be steeper, narrower and more challenging than Peak Flow. The current rocky surface will be much improved, the drainage and water management will work better, there will be bigger berms to help riders carry momentum, some new features added like table tops and optional side hits. Plus we’re bypassing some of the switchbacks that didn’t ride so well.

But what about the more advanced riders?

The next two new track builds in the park will be rocky, technical grade 4 trails.

The Supporters next volunteer hand build will be a genuine grade 4 to replace North Face. The details are still being planned out, but essentially it will be in the same general area as North Face, bypass the climbing bits and switchbacks, and re-join near the bottom allowing you to go straight into Pōhatu. So it’ll be much steeper, and we can design and build it as a proper grade 4. When combined with Pōhatu and lower Starfish, it will create a truly epic grade 4 descent to the main carpark.

The other trail that’s going to be built is Whā Out - a brand new grade 4 trail that replaces T3 downhill. It runs from the top of Trickles Falls, above T4 climb, down to the top of Vertigo. This is being funded by WCC, and construction started this week (!).

Finally, a word on dumbing down tracks

One of the common complaints or comments we hear is regarding the dumbing down or changing someones favourite track at Mākara Peak. In fact we’re thinking about getting a t-shirt made with the list of tracks we’ve been accused of dumbing down over the last few years, or changing someones favourite track in a way that doesn’t meet their expectations.

Personally, I quite liked North Face as it was. But my opinion doesn’t really matter, our job as the Supporters is to make decisions about the tracks in the park in the best interests of all park users, not just what we want, what we like or to satisfy the vocal minority. The Park’s master plan outlines the planned trail development in the park, and the decision on what to build or refurbish is made in partnership with WCC and based on funding availability and the state of tracks in the park. We’d love to keep building more and more new tracks, but ultimately we have quite a few tracks in the park that need some serious maintenance to bring them back up to world class standard. Many were built quite some years ago, and are in dire need of a refresh.

So before you jump on your keyboard and criticize something you don’t like, keep in mind volunteers have probably taken time out from their family, riding or even annual leave to help make things happen in the park. Want to have input? Come along to a Sunday dig and have a chat and find out a bit more before blasting away on your keyboard.

See you out on the trails.

Simon O’Brien
Chair, Mākara Peak Supporters

Our volunteer dig days are back on each Sunday from 2:30-4:30pm throughout Autumn and Winter.

We’ll have the BBQ running with Gipps Street Butchery sausages plus craft beer and soft drink after each dig.

Over the next several weeks we’ll be making well overdue improvements to Lower Starfish before starting an exciting grade 4 new build next to North Face.

Meet at the transmitter at the start of lower Starfish or walk up Starfish from the main entrance until you come across the dig site.

There have been several sightings of Robins around Mākara Peak recently which is exciting! These birds are very susceptible to predation and are usually only found on islands and in predator free areas.

Robin populations recover once pests are controlled, and this is happening in the park thanks to the dozens of volunteers who check traps each month. Your mahi is a big part of what makes Mākara Peak such a special place to ride, run or walk. Thank you!

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The skills park has been given some long overdue TLC, with the Mākara marbles swept off the ramps and landings. It’s now running much quicker.

Do you like jumps? Could you help out with a bit of maintenance around the skills park? Ideally it would be swept much more regularly but we struggle to find the time. So we’ve left a couple of brooms - one up on the start ramp and one under the mapboard - that anyone can use to do a bit of sweeping. There’s even a watering can to water the lips next to the water tank. Just make sure you turn off the tap fully!

If you know anyone with access to truck loads of good quality clay based soil, who’s willing to deliver to the park, send us a DM. We’d like to rebuild a few of the jumps but need some better quality dirt than was used last time.

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Looking after the seedlings planted in the park (with releasing and watering) isn't the most glamorous of work on the Peak, but it is vital to their success...and our vision of a world class MTB park in a restored native forest. So we offer volunteers a bribe each season - a trip to an inspirational patch of forest in the Wellington region. Previous trips have been to the Wainuiomata water catchment, Silver Stream reserve, and Matiu-Somes Island.

This year we visited the Karapoti Rata in the Akatarawa Conservation Forest. This behemoth is the largest in the world, and well over a thousand years old. Getting there involves a gnarly, off-track hike - unfortunately not something that can be ridden to.

Large rata were a common sight at Makara Peak up to 150 years ago. Fire and then possums killed off all but three survivors near Koru. With ongoing planting and pest control, we aim to have Northern rata brighten up Makara Peak once again.

At the March meeting of the Mākara Peak Supporters Management Committee, a motion was put forward and agreed to transition away from a paid membership model for the Mākara Peak Supporters.

We really appreciate all the people who saw value in becoming a paid Supporter over the last few years. We’ve worked really hard to put your membership fee to good use in the park, with plenty of new track built, natives planted and pests eradicated.

However, having a paid membership model comes with responsibilities and administrative overhead that is difficult to manage for a volunteer organisation of our size. The number of people becoming members has held steady over the last few years at around 250-300 people, which is a tiny fraction of the number of people who make up the 100,000 visits to the park each year.

In future we will offer a ‘free’ membership for anyone interested in supporting Mākara Peak, with the opportunity to financially support the park if you wish, at a level that suits you, through a donation, participation in events, or purchase of merchandise. We’ll be focussing our fundraising on specific projects, similar to the successful givealittle campaigns we’ve run for the Wild At Heart Suspension Bridge and the Skills Park upgrade.

As a result, we’ve put a stop on all memberships renewals, and issued refunds to anyone who has joined or had their membership renew since 1 March 2021.

Please ignore any emails you received today from our membership system saying that your membership has expired. It’s a buggy piece of software which is part of the reason for this change!

The new membership system will be up and running by 1 July 2021. More details on that to come in the near future.

Mākara Peak and Wellington Trails Trust

The Mākara Peak team are working behind the scenes with Wellington Trails Trust on ways for trail users to financially support their favourite trails, and get some great rewards in return.

If you’re not already, sign up to the Wellington Trails Trust mailing list at https://wellingtontrailstrust.co.nz/ so that you’re the first to hear about all the exciting developments happening across the Wellington trail network.

Any questions or concerns drop us a line at supporters@makarapeak.org.

Simon O’Brien

Chair

Makara Peak Supporters

Unfortunately due to a number of factors we've decided to postpone the Poker Ride that was planned for 14 February

We still think this is a great concept that offers riders of all ages and abilities a fun and stress free way to try out mountain bike events. So keep an eye out for a rescheduled event later in the year.

Recognise these corners? The Mākara Peak tracks crew have been out last scoping improvements to the OG (bottom) section of Starfish.

We’re going to work on the ‘flow’ so there’s less skidding into corners and add some rad new grade 4 features and lines. Think more drops, a wall ride, bigger & better berms that don’t stop mid corner!

Sunday afternoon digs will be starting up again this weekend. 3pm-5pm followed by BBQ and beers. Ride down Starfish to the dig site.

When the trail was built around 22 years ago, the pine forest was clear-felled and this was a barren hillside - look at this amazing native bush now!

Recognise these corners?

Sally Alley is open again! About 9 months after a massive slip during the COVID-19 lock down washed away a good portion of the track, the final touches have been put on repairs.

In addition to carving a line through the slip (with engineers approval), WCC and TGL took the opportunity to rebench the track and fix the drainage while they had the digger on site. So it will stand up to many more years of riding.

This means that Three Brothers Part 1 is now uphill only from the Sally Alley end up towards Upswing and then on towards Three Brothers Part 2. Please don’t be tempted to keep riding the wrong way down from Snake Charmer - we’d like to avoid any head on crashes!

Heavy rain might dislodge some debris onto the track - send a message if you come across any issues.

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.

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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.

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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!

We’ve finally got a new park map showing all the latest trails including Pōhatu, and a helpful insert showing how all the summit tracks work.

Peak Flow is open! Thanks to the very generous donation from the Drury Family, the berms are now a thing of beauty, it's blindingly fast and there’s a couple of new table tops.

Thanks to the TGL Contracting Limited team for the mahi.

As always, it’s a bit soft in places so take it easy as it beds in. There are also a couple of new features so have a look before trying to set your new PB. It could do with a bit of rain, which is a weird thing to say in Wellington in Spring!

It’s been another busy 12 months at Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park - check out our annual report for a summary of all our achievements and a sneak peek at what’s coming up next.

https://makarapeak.bike/201920-annual-report

Following are the details for the 2020 Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park Supporters Inc AGM.

Monday 7 September at 7.30pm
Karori Rec Centre (access via rear of Basketball court)
251 Karori Road, Karori
Refreshments and a light supper will be provided.

Please RSVP by Monday 31 August to supporters@makarapeak.org (for catering purposes).

Our AGMs are pretty casual! We’ll do a brief review of the year and present the annual accounts. Then we’ll celebrate everything that’s been achieved over the last 12 months, and outline what we’ve got planned for the next 12 months and beyond.

There will be a chance to ask the committee any burning questions you have about the park, and share ideas on how to make the park even more awesome.

The existing management committee of Simon O’Brien (Chair), Stewart Glynn (Treasurer), Andrew Cooper (Secretary & Tracks), Mark Kent (Tracks Lead), Peter Leman (Conservation Lead), Simon Kennett (Tracks & Conservation), Evan McCarney (Conservation), Clint Brandon (Tracks & Events), Kerei Thompson (Tracks) are keen to continue for another year.

We could do with some help with running the membership, fundraising, and engaging the community. If that sounds like you, drop us an email.

It would be great to see you there.

To mark the park's 21st birthday, our new summit information panels were blessed and unveiled this morning by representatives from Ngāti Toa, The Makara Peak Supporters and Mayor Andy Foster. These are a fantastic addition to the park and tell the important story and history of the peak and surrounding landscape.

Thanks to Mark Kent fro the Supporters Management Committee who was the driving force behind this project, which had been two years in the making. Thanks also to the big team of people who contributed, and Wellington City Council who funded the project.

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TGL Contracting Limited have finished the upgrade work on Zac’s Track.

You can combine Zac’s Track with the recently upgraded T4 climb for a 20-30 minute grade 3 loop from the Peak. Or keep heading down Varley’s or Vertigo for a longer, more challenging descent.

Surfacing has been kept to a minimum, essentially a lot of rock has been pounded into the trail surface. It’s a bit soft in places, so take it easy while the track beds in over the next month.

Over time the riding line will firm up and the bench will narrow back to a pretty standard grade 3 width. This is approach makes the track much more sustainable and manageable from a maintenance point of view - which is one of the biggest challenges in the park at the moment. If grade 3 flow isn’t your thing, or you’re looking for variety or the next track to progress on, have a go at north face which is at the easier end of grade 4 (and started life as a grade 3 so not too steep).

This work was possible thanks to a grant from the Ian ‘Zac’ Pearson Memorial Fund which is administered by the Nikau Foundation.

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