‘Lower Lumbar’ Trail Opening and Q&A with Jim Harvey
The community of SORCA would like to thank and congratulate volunteers Jim Harvey, Don Hartle and their core crew of helpers for their recent completion of ‘Lower Lumbar’. This blue trail is a fantastic addition to the network and completes the Lower Lumbar - All about Yew descent off Alice Ridge. Jim and Don received all levels of approval for their trail and were able to utilize SORCA’s Volunteer Trail Maintenance and Builder Support Policy to assist with select building expenses.
Q&A With Jim!
Q: How long have you lived in Squamish?
A: Claire and I have lived in Squamish for 28 years.
Q: What initially interested you about trail building?
A: It was out of a certain level of frustration with my work, not being enough of it. Squamish was in a bit of a depressed time back then, losing its mills, and I was trying to build a design business but there was not much work so I had lots of time on my hands.
Q: What is the first trail you built?
A: It was a Mid-Life Crisis in roughly 1997 and I named it that because I was having one. Going off and building a trail in the woods was the perfect solution, although it was not a very well-built trail. It was the first trail off Debecks Hill and after finding the old logging camp remains, I reached out to Dennis Debeck who was still alive at the time, and asked him if I could build a trail through his old logging outfit…”go ahead” was his response.
Q: What motivates you to build trails?
A: I am a mountain biker, and it's a very satisfying thing to do. It's fun physical work. It's a very visual thing.
Q: Do you have a particular style common to all the trails you build?
A: No. My goal was to always build trails that Claire (my wife) could ride, but then again, she is a good rider.
Q: At some point in your trail building, you went from building unsanctioned trails to only building sanctioned trails. What was the reason?
A: For every sanctioned trail built in Squamish, there seems to be 20 unsanctioned. Unfortunately, when building unsanctioned trails, people try to hide what they are doing, they can’t do it out in the open and therefore, it often leads to poorly build trails. We have enough poorly built trails in Squamish, we don’t need more. People need to recognize how much work is required to build a trail that will be sustained and appreciated over the long term. If built right, with the necessary approvals, its good for our sport and they will be part of the community for a long time.
Q: How have your trail designs changed over time?
A: There is no question that my standard of trail building has improved over the years. I have tried to learn from others; SORCA trail crew and professional trail builders, and wanted to up my standards as a result.
Q: How many trails have you built in Squamish and what are some of the ones that you are most proud of and why?
A: Approximately 20 trails (not all mtb). I don’t have a favorite trail as I don’t have a sense of ownership of the trails I have built as they are on public lands, used by so many people and change over time. Trails I have built include Covenant, Man Boobs, Credit Line, Hoods in the Woods, Value Added, Marc My Word, Sec 57, Cheshire Kitten, and Debecks North Ridge (hike).
Q: How do you name your trails?
A: Oh that’s always a fun process as you spend countless hours swinging a hoe in the woods thinking about things that are happening in the forest, or with your life at the time, and you go through various incarnations. I often run it by people who are helping me on the trail.
Q: When did you apply for the sec 57 for Lower Lumbar and All about Yew?
A: The Section 57 application to the province was made roughly five years ago for both All About Yew and Lower Lumbar. The application itself took roughly 13 months.
Q: What was the process like to get these approvals from the province?
A: The first stage was finding a line in the forest with Don Hartle, then the submission with support letters from SORCA, including walking various parties through the line (Squamish Nation arch team, SORCA, RSTBC). Once the approval came in it was then finding the right time and season to build.
Q: I understand Lower Lumbar may have Squamish’s first Davinchi bridge on it…why did you decide to build it this way?
A: There are actually Squamish’s first two Divinchi bridges on Lower Lumbar. Gary McFarlane did a multifaceted (multiple planes) one, and I did a two-plane one. Davinci bridges are self-supporting. Each span holds the subsequent span. The first is bridge #3 and the second (Gary’s) is bridge #6.
Q: Between you, Don and your team of core volunteers, how many hours do you think Lower Lumbar took to build?
A:1500 hours minimum per trail (Lower Lumbar & All about Yew)
Q: Why the name Lower Lumbar?
A: It clearly relates to Don (Hartle) and my back suffering during the building process. But there were other names, including ‘Don’t look up’, due to the number of widowmakers originally in that forest and ‘Existential Angst’, but that was too grim.
Q: Have you started thinking about your next trail build?
A: As Claire and I are climbing more than biking these days, I am considering putting energy into building new climbing routes instead of mtb trails. But then again, maybe I am dreaming and need to leave the climbing routes to the young guys. I am trying to retire from trail building.
