Thank you for helping to make 2009 our best year ever!

We are lucky to be able to say that each year has eclipsed our previous in terms of growth and accomplishment. Our membership expanded significantly this season and your support has enabled us to build and maintain some of the best trails in the country.

We appreciate and count on the continued annual support from our old friends as well as the new ones and hope to retain your support in years to come. If you’ve been enjoying the trails this season, it’s not too late to show us some love by sending in your annual contribution or making a year-end gift to the Fellowship.

Our Trail Coordinators put in 1500 paid hours in 2009, most of which was maintenance work on our 90 miles of trails. The Trail Coordinators were responsible for everything from building bridges, berms, and switchbacks, to reinforcing wet areas with gravel, and of course digging copious amounts of bench cut trail. We also spent a good chunk of this time on fundraising, planning, mapping, and the organizational tasks which are critical to keeping a group of this size functioning.

Over 1700 hours were contributed by volunteers throughout the season. This included large groups of volunteers at our 18 Fellowship Trail Days and 10 Youth Trail Days. Our indispensable Trail Stewards also maintained specific trails on their own and a few individuals learned the art of trail building by volunteering one on one with the Trail Coordinators a couple days a week.

With this time and effort, we created approximately 9 miles of new trail in 2009 at Saxon Hill, Sleepy Hollow, Carse Hills, and Catamount. Nice work everyone!



Our trail project highlights include:

SAXON HILL - Essex 11 Trail Days
-The Om trail was built last winter by our FOTW Trail Coordinators.
-The Trail Coordinators also built 180 feet of new bridges on Flo and improved drainage on the rest of the network this summer.
-The MoJo loop was completed at volunteer Trail Days early this spring.
-Extendo was built by Essex Middle School 6th graders, under the guidance of Fellowship Trail Coordinators.
-We’ve made a great start on an exciting new trail that will be completed at the beginning of next season.

CARSE HILLS - Hinesburg 7 Trail Days
-A huge concerted effort produced Repent, Underground Railroad, the Preacher, and the Crucible.
-Our Trail Coordinators worked relentlessly to dial in each new trail with fun, flowing lines for many skill levels.
-This area has become our most challenging network and allows for epic rides connecting multiple networks.

CATAMOUNT - Williston 6 Trail Days
-Early in the season, FOTW Trail Coordinators harnessed the energies of Center for Technology Essex students and the Bliss Racing Team to create some exciting new trails and race course sections at the Catamount Family Center.

SLEEPY HOLLOW - Huntington 3 Trail Days
-The Fellowship extended Tatooine and Light Saber at Trail Days this year.
-FOTW Trail Stewards created an awesome new trail with jumps and berms called Gettin’ Better.
-FOTW Trail Coordinators marked a fun loop that connects many of the best trails.

HINESBURG TOWN FOREST - Countless Trail Coordinator and Volunteer Hours
-The FOTW Trail Coordinators completed major re-routes, bridges, and improvements to the abandoned Lost Trail, turning it into a great trail for either descending or climbing.
-Bridges, puncheons, and stone reinforcements were added to Boneyard, Dragon’s Tail, Back Door, and Missing Link.
-A new re-route and improvements were completed on Enchanted Forest.



Let's make 2010 even better!

With your support we’ll be able to provide even more flowy trails and new challenges next season. We will also be unveiling a growing collection of videos from other trail networks, available as exclusive benefits to our contributing members.

A few of us are working diligently through the winter to prepare for a number of exciting new trail opportunities that have arisen lately. We look forward to seeing you all and sharing more details at our annual Bowling Night in February and the ever popular Barn Dance in April. We’ll let you know how you can show your support in the spring to help us carry out these grand plans.

Thanks again and enjoy the Winter!

The Fellowship


The link below is a quick video of our last trail project in 2009 and a glimpse of things to come. We worked with a small group of downhill riders to add some spice to the Free Fall trail at Saxon Hill. Thanks to Nathan Steinbauer for filming and editing.

Check out the Free Fall trail video!