A $45,000 grant from the Tahoe Fund has allowed the nonprofit Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association to begin a trail improvement project that will reconstruct sections of the Upper Tyrolian Trail in Incline Village.

The project, designed to enhance the user experience, makes critical trail connections in the Incline Village area, and rehabilitates and restores old logging roads to reduce erosion and improve lake clarity. Its expected completion date is by the end of October.

“(Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association) has established themselves as an organization committed to building sustainable trails in the Tahoe Basin,” said Allen Biaggi, Tahoe Fund board chair. “This project supports our effort to create expanded opportunities for sustainable recreation, while balancing the environmental initiatives of our region.”

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In partnership with the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association’s intention is to improve the existing trail conditions and establish a dedicated mountain bike focused connection to the Tyrolian Downhill Trail. The association has contracted with local professional freeride mountain bike athlete Cam Zink’s nonprofit trail building company, Sensus R.A.D. Trails, to convert old logging roads into nearly two miles of sustainable singletrack trail that will connect the existing Tyrolian Downhill Trail to the Mount Rose Highway at Tahoe Meadows.

A new upper section of the trail will provide an official start trailhead with improved signage, and reduce mountain bike traffic on the Tahoe Rim Trail. The current Tyrolian Downhill Trail will not be closed during construction, but to avoid slowing it down, Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association is asking that riders stay off the new trail until it has been completed.

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“The support provided by the Tahoe Fund is what has allowed this trail project with tremendous environmental benefits to move forward,” said Ben Fish, Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association president and board chair. “This project is a long time coming, and the Tahoe Fund’s mission is well aligned with ours. Their contribution made it possible to bring in a professional trail contractor to build the flow style upper trail, and decommission and restore the logging roads.”

The first part of the Upper Tyrolian Trail will be built as a flowy, singletrack trail that incorporates natural features to enhance the rider experience. After 0.75 miles, the trail will transition to one with professionally designed and built rollovers, tabletops, step-ups, step-downs and triple-option jumps that provide a unique and challenging experience for riders to practice and increase their skills.

The second connection to be made is a 0.4-mile long realignment of the existing trail known as the Tyrolian Connector Trail that connects the Tahoe Rim Trail to the Upper Tyrolian Trail. A low-angle singletrack traverse will be created to join the proposed alignment of the new Upper Tyrolian Trail. The realignment will have panoramic views of Lake Tahoe and will avoid old, eroded, fall-line dirt roads.

The second element of the project is to decommission nearly four miles of eroded logging roads in the area where the Upper Tyrolian Trail will begin. These dirt roads were used extensively by recent logging operations and were not designed to manage stormwater. Decommissioning will include scarifying compacted areas, naturalizing the soil surface with pine duff, and incorporating erosion control features to reduce sediment runoff into creeks that flow into Lake Tahoe.

The trail project is still in need of $15,000 to be completed this year. Donors interested in supporting the project can contribute at www,tahoefund.org or http://www.TAMBA.org. Learn more about the Upper Tyrolian Trail project at http://www.tahoefund.org.