Club president Fraser Gordon says they’re aiming to raise $50,000 from the event, being held this year at the Wakatipu Rugby Club, to help cover the cost of one of three new link trails proposed on the Ben Lomond Recreation Reserve.
The first cab off the rank will be Creeky Climb, getting under way this winter.
Gordon explains one of the trails on the hill’s dubbed ‘Creeky Winders’, which comes off Ben Lomond and down through native bush.
"The problem at the moment is once you come down Creeky Winders, you have to basically ride all the way back down to the midway clearing of Skyline in order to get all the way back up — it’s kind of like a massive dog-leg.
"We’re putting this Creeky Climb in, back up through the natives, which will cut out having to dog-leg so far."
Another bonus of the new link trail is, because it’s in the bush, it’ll provide another option for mountain bikers during the winter months, when any trails in the open become unsustainable to ride.
Gordon says two more trails are in the "proposal phase" — one, with a working name ‘Upper Squid’, will link in to the existing Squid Run on the lower Ben Lomond trail.
The other’s ‘Lower Creeky’, which is designed to take some pressure off the Fernhill Loop track.
The popular Creeky Winders trail links back on to the original Fernhill Loop, which is also hugely popular with walkers.
With the increasing number of mountain bikers on the trail network, though, the club wants to build Lower Creeky, which will run underneath part of the Fernhill Loop to take pressure off it.
"We want to make sure that we’re constantly looking after other user groups, and making sure the walkers still have a really enjoyable experience up there.
"We’re all about making sure that everyone enjoys Ben Lomond Recreation Reserve, not just mountain bikers," he says.
Tomorrow night’s fundraiser, in conjunction with longtime supporter Atlas and coinciding with the closing weekend for Skyline mountain biking uplift, begins with a special kids session from 5pm till 7pm, where there’ll be games, raffles and a barbecue.
Then, from 7.30pm, anyone’s invited to join in the Mad Max-themed party, with more raffles, live and silent auctions, a bar, barbecue and entertainment from local band Piston Broke — entry for kids and adults is $5 on the door.
