Extreme Oilcan Makeover
And old trail gets a new look for fall.
Words and photos (unless noted) ~ Doug Chinnery
One cold Saturday in March I took a walk down Lower Oilcan (not to be confused with Upper Oilcan) with Dieter Bahr, Mark Rowe, and Trevor Hawkins. We were making plans about how to execute the North Shore Mountain Bike Association (NSMBA) vision for Oilcan. The NSMBA is an organization dedicated to the maintenance and accessibility of trails and support of mountain biking on the North Shore. Our vision for this project was to revitalize this seldomly ridden and under-maintained trail located midway between the 5th and 6th switchback on Fromme.

Mark Rowe talks to CTV news about the makeover and the role of the nsmbA.  Photo ~ Cam McRae
New riders to The Shore are often taken down Pipeline since it's considered one of the mellowest lines on Fromme. As a result Pipeline sees a lot of traffic and the volunteers who maintain it (bless their souls!) have a hard time keeping up with the beating it takes. Reworking Oilcan into an intermediate trail would take some of the pressure off Pipeline. Also, spreading traffic out across the flanks of Fromme spreads riders out easing the impact on both the trails and the surrounding neighbourhoods. (On top of that Pipeline has some steep and challenging sections that are not intermediate lines - Ed.)

Just a sample.  Here's a before and after shot of the entrance to Lower Oilcan.  It's much more inviting, rideable and, more importantly, sustainable.
We’ve also discovered that many people use Oilcan to access the upper parts of Mountain Highway. If you’re starting from the western side of Fromme it makes sense to push up St. George’s or Oilcan. Part of the restoration goal was to give Oilcan more a cross-country feel and make it easier to push or ride up.

This particularly rooty drop is obviously too gnarly for an intermediate rider so...

a crib got built, filled with rocks and then landscaped at the end.
Sven and Dorothy Luebke using ingenuity and old fashioned elbow grease to patch things up.

Here is the finished product.  Hard to believe it's the same section.
With these goals in mind this forgotten and neglected trail seemed the perfect canvas to be painted. Oilcan loosely follows an old skidder road. Where it deviates from this road it drops steeply down the fall line of the hill. Over time Oilcan has become an eroded mess where it runs over root systems, and a swamp where it traverses low areas. It was obvious that the efforts of trail day participants, as good as their work is, would be a superficial fix only working with the original line and the existing structures. A single trail builder would have had to put in time over several years to bring this trail back up to a state that the NSMBA could be proud of. A radical makeover was the obvious way to achieve these goals.

It's great to see the younger generation coming out to lend a hand - working with Ryan Newman (in black hat) of team nsmb. Photo ~ Cam McRae
Unfortunately most of the old ladder bridges had to be decommissioned because they were completely unfit for riding due to rot. The effort and materials required to rebuild them would have been too great when there was so much other work required to properly re-route the trail. Several bridges have been completely dismantled and carried off into the forest to be reclaimed, while others have been left in situ as a link to the old character of the trail.

This is a section of reline done on the last day.  Much more inviting than the chunder it replaced.

The NSMBA had a bold vision, and we pulled it off. Lower Oilcan only needs three things now - to be ridden, adopted, and maintained. A winter of riding will reveal the weak spots in the new sections and these bits will have to be bridged or armoured either by an adoptive builder or through another trail day next season. If anyone is interested in taking on this project, contact the NSMBA through our Web site at nsmba.bc.ca. Detailed reports of the first, second, and third Oilcan trail days can also be found on the NSMBA Web site.


This typifies the state of most of the old woodwork on Oilcan. Check out the size of the stringers!

Writing a story about the rebirth of Oilcan would be incomplete without thanking On Top Bike Shop for their commitment to the project. They sponsored each Oilcan trail day this season and did so in great style with awesome barbeques, salmon soaked in Dan’s own marinade, and a stellar attitude!


Dan Sedlacek from On Top always does a great job putting on lunch for the volunteers. 

But the greatest contributors to this project were all the people who showed up to move rocks, get dirty, dig gold, carry tools and help the NSMBA realize this goal. Many thanks to each and every one of them!

Doug Chinnery

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A well deserved lunch