Thank You: EMBA Over the Years
EMBA has been volunteer-led since 2005. Every trail day, every bridge and every trimmed corner in these photos was done by people who gave their time for free. This is two decades of you, so thank you.
2005–2009
The first trail days. Hours weren't recorded yet. Or we lost track of it somewhere along the trails.
2010–2014
Adopt-a-Trail begins in 2010. Hours: 4,200 from 2010 to 2015, not recorded year by year.
2012: Trail day on the slope. 2013: Fresh singletrack. 2013: Building singletrack. 2014: Clearing deadfall.
2015–2017
Adopt-a-Trail grows. Hours: 2015: over 1,500, from over 400 volunteers · 2016: 820 · 2017: 1,223
2015: Trail day briefing. 2015: Trimming crew. 2015: Winter riding. 2016: Clearing a fallen log. 2016: Fall in the river valley. 2017: Fat bike season. 2017: A winter trail day.
2018–2020
Bridges, boardwalks and new trail, through the pandemic years too. Hours: 2018: 727 · 2019: 1,036 · 2020: 652
2018: A new bridge over a muddy spot. 2018: Many hands. 2018: Trail school. 2018: A new boardwalk, built in the snow. 2019: Trail day crew. 2019: Bridge building. 2020: Trail building. 2020: Digging in, with downtown above.
2021–2024
Trail care in every season, winter included. Hours: 2021: 557 · 2022: 767 · 2023: 396 · 2024: 510
2022: Learning the craft. A trail day crew, City-approved. 2023: Heading home after a trail night. 2023: Out in the community. 2024: Grooming fat bike trails.
2025–2026: The Edmonton Bike Park
The latest chapter: volunteers gave 4,981.5 hours over two building seasons. Hours: 2025: 3,377 (trails 929, bike park 2,448) · 2026 to September 16: 2,791 (trails 257, bike park 2,534). Won't Die and Cooper's Hawk, which starts with a raised timber helix, are open. The Grand Opening is in Spring 2027. Freshly built trails are especially vulnerable while they continue to settle and establish, so please respect the closures.
The Edmonton Bike Park is a project of the Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance.
2025: A new bridge on E.M.P. Blast. 2025: Bike park construction begins. 2025: Winter grooming. 2026: Won't Die is open. 2026: So is Cooper's Hawk. 2026: The raised timber helix at the start of Cooper's Hawk. 2026: A new timber boardwalk on a flow trail still being built. 2026: The lower flat, still under construction. 2026: The pump track takes shape (under construction). 2026: Still building. 2026: Cooper's Hawk mural by Robyn Schnierer, commissioned by EMBA.
See the full bike park photo tour → https://www.edmbikepark.ca/post/bike-park-fall-tour-2026
Over 17,000 volunteer hours, year by year
Year | Volunteer hours |
|---|---|
2005–2009 | not recorded |
2010–2015 | 4,200 in total (not recorded year by year) |
2015 (part of the above) | over 1,500, from over 400 people |
2016 | 820 |
2017 | 1,223 |
2018 | 727 |
2019 | 1,036 |
2020 | 652 |
2021 | 557 |
2022 | 767 |
2023 | 396 |
2024 | 510 |
2025 | 3,377 (trails 929, bike park 2,448) |
2026, to September 16 | 2,791 (trails 257, bike park 2,534) |
Since 2010 | over 17,000 |
Hours from EMBA's trail-day records: the Adopt-a-Trail log and Trails Portal.
What's next
Twenty years in, EMBA is getting ready for its next chapter. More on that soon.
Buy a builder a burger
Buy-a-Builder fuels the volunteers finishing the park: $100 a bigger battery, $50 a bunch of bits, $20 a board, $10 a burger, $5 a beverage. Gifts are unrestricted, and donors' names go on the park's thank-you list unless you opt out. They aren't tax-receiptable, because EMBA isn't a registered charity. For a tax receipt, see the Alberta SPAR Donation Fund option on the donate page.
Get involved
Join EMBA and come to a trail day: edmmtnbike.ca
Volunteer at the bike park: shifts are on the events calendar at edmbikepark.ca
See the whole park: the full bike park photo tour
Thank you. See you on the trails.
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