What do mountain bikers look for in a destination? Great trails, mountain scenery, friendly towns with a passion for outdoor adventure… sounds like Revelstoke.
Sept. 13 to 15, Revelstoke will host the fourth bi-annual Mountain Bike Tourism Symposium attracting mountain bikers and industry professionals from across the province and beyond.
Revelstoke is one of Canada’s most up and coming mountain resort communities, appealing to keen outdoor enthusiasts and extreme-sport seekers. Surrounded by the Selkirk and Monashee mountain ranges, getting out of doors here is mandatory and extremely convenient.
“Revelstoke is a great central location in B.C., less than six hours away from just about anywhere in the province. We are seeing huge growth in our mountain biking sector, and we are beyond thrilled to host the symposium here this year,” said Meghan Tabor from Tourism Revelstoke.
With recent upgrades to the alpine classic, Frisby Ridge trail, and the brand new jump trail on Boulder, “The Rooster,” delegates will be thrilled with what the community has to offer. Aside from enjoying the incredible riding opportunities, delegates will learn and share their experiences on a variety of issues impacting the mountain bike tourism sector.
The main theme for this year’s event is “stewardship.” With the growth of mountain biking in the past decade and the anticipated increase in mountain biking visitors to B.C. in the foreseeable future, the mountain bike sector recognizes the challenges that local trail advocates face in caring for the trails. Finding effective ways to support trail maintenance efforts and increase local capacity is crucial to long-term sustainability and success.
Tourism Revelstoke, the Revelstoke Cycling Association, and Wandering Wheels are among the local organizations helping organize this year’s event.
“We’ll be pairing up our annual Bike Fest Revelstoke weekend (Sept. 16-17) with the symposium to offer delegates a unique opportunity to stay and ride a few extra days, and to really experience our trails and passionate bike community. We’ve come a long way in our mountain bike offerings and can’t wait to share them with the provincial sector,” said Matt Yaki from Wandering Wheels.
“We are incredibly fortunate to live in a province that is so well suited for mountain biking, we truly are the envy of the mountain biking world,” says Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Association (MBTA) executive director Martin Littlejohn. “Revelstoke is a great destination with so much to offer, we are very excited to have it be the location for the symposium in 2017.”
The symposium is not only for mountain bikers. Over 200 delegates are anticipated representing land use and community planners, recreation and tourism professionals, trail builders and advocates, government regulators and policy makers, First Nations, non-profit organizations and educators.
Registration for the event will officially open in early May. For preliminary details and to sign up for updates please visi mtbtourismsymposium.ca.
For anyone seeking more information, please contact Martin Littlejohn at martin@mbta.ca.