Who patrols the trails?

[prenex]

Today I witnessed what was probably a separated shoulder. A few weeks ago I witnessed the aftermath of a concussion. That's two pretty bad crashes this summer and I don't even ride that much.

Who patrols the MTB trails?

[ryno lite]

In most parks, there is no organized patrol. Most of our land managers have not approved using the MORC mountain bike patrol at their parks. Also, even if the MORC patrol was allowed to patrol these parks, there is a small number of patrollers, so the patrol coverage would be spotty at best. Once injured, you are on your own to get out or if it is really bad, another rider generally calls in the rescue. Most of our trails have plenty of riders who will find you and call something in. If you are riding a seldom used trail by yourself or riding at night by yourself, please tell someone where you are going and when you are getting back so if something happens, they can call the authorities if you don't get back. Also, if you are riding alone and no one else is on the trail, take it easy. It's better to be conservative than injured all by yourself. In most cases, a person with a cell phone calling 911 in the Twin Cities is more effective than a patroller because help should arrive pretty soon. We have all kinds of first responders in the metro to get to you and administer help pretty rapidly.

There have been a few serious accidents over the years on the trails, but every accident to this date has received the care they required in a timely fashion. I think the age of the cell phone and number of riders on the trail make it very hard for an injured rider not to get the care they need.

[TrailPatrol]

To expand some to what Ryan said, "we" patrol the trails, but there are too few of us and so many trails, with new ones coming into the system every year. The MORC MTB Patrol patrols primarily in the Twin Cities Metro area, and the Backcountry Trail Patrol rides in the Cheqaumegon (WI) and Chippewa National Forests (MN) and Isanti County Parks, but there is a lot of crossover, and many patrollers belong to both patrols. Both MMBP and BTPA are part of the National Mountain Bike Patrol (NMBP). We are always looking for the rider who is interested in helping out by becoming part of what we do.

In addition, Three Rivers Park District has an active volunteer bike, ski and horse trail patrol program, and an agressive Park Police presence on both bikes and horses. You didn't mention where you were riding, but from the severity of the injuries you witnessed, I am guessing Theo. Wirth or Lebanon Hills. Both the Minneapolis Park Police and the Dakota County Sheriff have patrols that use both bikes and mounted officers, but I don't know how much they actually actually get out on the singletrack, except in actual emergencies.

In recent years we have tried to change the emphasis of our NMBP patrols from covering events to patrolling more trails. But as one of the doctors we work events with noted, there are more and more events and a static or decreasing number of volunteers to work them. Both the Backcountry and MORC Patrols have four or five major events on our schedules right now, including the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival and the 11,200 runner Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. Unfortunately, those are things that will take us away from the trails. Sometimes we have to make a choice, and sometimes we just cannot get up the manpower to do all of them.

I appreciate your concern, and hope you will think about joining one of our two patrol groups. It only takes a weekend to get trained up, and it is a great way to ride and give back to the trails and the sport of mountain biking.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_BTNlj3Qo8

Ride safe,
Hans

[prenex]

I think this is one area where Three Rivers and other park districts could improve.

The concussion was at Hillside. The shoulder was Saturday at Murphy. I rode back to my car and got emergency supplies for the poor guy who separated his shoulder. I passed him about 2 miles from the parking lot. Nope, didn't cut off his shirt, just an ice pack and immobilization.

Anyway we'll see how it goes with my OEC. Who knows, I may not be able to stand the sight of blood! It seems to me the need is everyday patrol at MTB areas and better coverage for the longer ski races like the Vasaloppet. Ski areas have a bunch of ski patrollers already and it doesn't take long for a snowmobile to get where they need to go. Singletrack access is a totally different story.

[TrailPatrol]

When you finish OEC, get a hold of Drew Klees or myself through this forum. For the MORC Patrol there is one day of NMBP training; Backcountry takes two, because of where we patrol we have to go over US Forest Service safety and risk management, survival and land navigation in addition to the NMBP stuff.

And thanks for helping out at Hillside! We have taken care of some ugly stuff there, too. BTP has a patroller that only lives about a mile from there, but he was doing another volunteer gig this past weekend. I used to patrol there more when I lived much closer. There is only so much you can do, and I work two weekends a month.

Hope to hear from you!

Ride safe,
Hans