Just in time for mountain bikers to hit the trails, the Hinton Mountain Bike Association is holding its annual general meeting today, Thursday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m. Lakeview Inns & Suites.

The AGM will touch on several key topics, including the bike park, which will be in full operation for its first full season this summer.

The park has nearly 40 acres of land and about four kilometres of trail, and according to Hinton Mountain Bike Association President Stephen Hanus, the park’s annual inspection has just been done and everything is in good condition.

“Everything checked out really, really well because the infrastructure was built so well, and some of it is already – two winters old, so this is coming onto the third season for some of the stuff,” he said. “A lot of the jumps now, people have been using for a couple weeks now.”

One of the main topics to be discussed at the AGM, which is open to anyone in the community to attend, is the upcoming bikefest, to be held June 19.

Hanus said it is a continuation of the vision of the bike park, which is to use the centre as a hub for bike activity in the region. 

“There are a lot of fun events planned, it will be family focused, but there will be some competitions that we’ll have as well. We’ll have some music there, some food, some prizes, we’ll have some training sessions, some guided tours. There’s going to be some cross country riding and also free riding style as well,” said Hanus.

The purchase of memberships will also be available at the meeting, along with updated trail maps of the area. Last year the membership status stood around 140 members, but Hanus said it has been growing quickly, like any new organization, and along with members, the trail system is also expanding and being formalized.

Voting of the association’s executives will also take place at the meeting.

Hanus said the trails in Hinton have been in good condition the last couple of weeks and volunteers have been working to clear the 50 kilometre-plus trails of downfall, and the snow has essentially melted.

The association has a joint agreement with the Town of Hinton as far as maintenance of the park goes, and Hanus said the club leads a lot of it. They also get support from West Fraser for trail maintenance of two of the most popular trails: Happy Tree and the Big Horn Trail.

“We are trying to grow the club and just implement our vision of promoting excellent mountain biking opportunities in the area,” Hanus said. “So the festival, training, skill sessions, maintenance, expansion, and just camaraderie in that culture are all the kind of things that we’re trying to promote. We’re looking to see everybody come out from the area (to the meeting).”