A recent visit from champion mountain biker Lorraine Blancher has set the wheels in motion for a new tourism opportunity high in Powell River’s alpine backcountry.
The Revelstoke-based athlete accepted an invitation from Jason Rekve, president and general manager of Aero Design Ltd., a company based in Lund, to tour the community and assess the local terrain. Aero is a leading manufacturer of cargo baskets and aftermarket accessories for helicopters, including a specialized bike rack that is, in Blancher’s words, “a global game-changer for mountain biking.”
In the new year, Rekve will begin shipping the bike rack all over the world, but he had a hunch there might be a use for one a bit closer to home.
He was right.
Blancher arrived on August 26, and quickly boarded a helicopter for a better look at Powell River above the treeline. Joining her were Rekve, Tourism Powell River executive director Paul Kamon and several others. “She came away from that saying the terrain here is phenomenal and it’s like nothing she’s ever seen,” said Rekve.
“What you want is to find sustainable terrain, sustainable in the way of a bedrock with grasses or species on it that aren’t super eco-sensitive,” explained Blancher. “Boggy, marshy areas don’t make sense. Areas that have a lot of soil crusts capping their surface don’t make sense. Areas of huge sensitivity don’t make sense.
“My favourite is the alpine meadows where it’s just grasses…Going on a quick flight, we saw lots of terrain so it shows huge potential. In areas like Whistler we take some flights around and there’s beautiful stunning terrain and they definitely have a product there but it’s a little more rocky and chunky. I think there’s a pretty unique recipe right here just because you guys have a lot of gentle terrain that makes it perfect.”
The challenge, however, is making that terrain accessible and affordable to riders.
“Adventure mountain biking is something that I’ve been doing for many years of my life,” said Blancher. “I’ve guided it commercially for various companies but it’s hard to get traction because you had to longline bikes. It was hard on the equipment and expensive because you had a flight for the bikes and you had a flight for the people.”
“What they normally do is they’ll throw 10 bikes in a net or they’ll daisy chain a bunch of bikes together and sling them up the hill and then come back and get customers,” said Rekve. “Well, Lorraine’s bikes, on average, are probably in the neighbourhood of around $10,000 so you put that many bikes in a net and you’ve got some liability. What we’ve offered is a bike rack that installs in the same mounts that we use for our cargo baskets. They can fly as many as six bikes at a time, full passengers, full crew, gear, fuel, whatever they need up to the hill in one load, making it cheaper for the operator, less wear and tear on the bikes and cheaper for the end client.”
After eight months in the development stage, the product is currently awaiting certification from Transport Canada. “We should have it in the next couple of months and it will be out working next year for sure,” said Rekve. The racks will retail for around $6,000 Canadian per side. “We’ve already sold one to Blackcomb Helicopters in Whistler as soon as it’s certified, and then we have to get US certification and European certification.”
Having someone like Blancher on board will give the product a huge boost within the heli-biking world. “It gives her complete access to what it is we can do and provide and it gives us access to a market that we couldn’t even hope to be able to talk to,” said Rekve. “We’re in two different industries and there is that major separation unless you can create this type of relationship and it’s going to be just wonderful for her, for Aero Design and hopefully for Powell River.”
Dozens of local businesses came together to make Blancher’s recent trip possible, seeing the potential for alpine tourism in Powell River. “Ross Cooper, honestly, was one of the biggest supporters of this thing,” said Rekve. “I made one phone call and he and I worked together to put it together. It’s just been outstanding. There are so many things that are really possible with the relationships being formed just in the few days of Lorraine being here. She went up to the bike park and got to meet Andrew [Shostak], some of the people from the Powell River Cycling Association got to meet her and they got to hang out, she did some instructing and they showed her what they’re most proud of. That makes me proud of this community.”
Blancher is already planning a second visit to inspect the terrain more closely from the ground. “Right now, we’re kind of in the information-gathering stage,” she said, adding that environmental impact is taken very seriously. “There are places where mountain bikes make sense, where there’s a low impact. There are areas where you need to tread lightly or there are areas where we wouldn’t go. There are all those considerations that have to be put in place. It’s a methodical process. You can’t just go anywhere. You have to apply for commercial tenure, apply for trail building.”
So, while it may be a while before heli-biking makes its debut in Powell River, that hasn’t stopped excitement from growing. “There’s a passionate community already and if anything it would be to enhance the infrastructure that’s already in place,” said Blancher. “You guys already have an amazing low elevation trail infrastructure and it’s just giving another reason for the destination mountain biker to come and stay one or two extra days in Powell River, go for an amazing alpine ride and then come back to patron the local restaurants and hotels.”
