Trek Trail Advocacy Programme 2023: 10 new trail projects in the DACH region

The Application phase of the Trek Trail Advocacy Programme is closed - Now it's time to build! Mountain bike clubs and trail construction projects were able to apply to receive financial aid and support for the legalisation of trails for their project. From over 90 applicants, the Trek jury selected projects that they found particularly convincing and exciting.

In the end, 10 projects were selected: 5 from Germany, 3 from Switzerland and, for the first time, 2 from Austria. The aim of the Trek Trail Advocacy Programme is to promote and improve the impact and acceptance of the sport of mountain biking by strengthening trail projects and helping to legalise trail construction.

The 5 selected German trail projects of the Trail Advocacy Programme

• Mountain Bike Club Konstanz e. V.
• Hochrheintrails e. V.
• Bikeländ Eberbach
• Shape and Ride e. V.
• MTB Allgäu e. V.

>> Bayerischer Rundfunk has already accompanied the MTB Allgäu club during trail building with a video series - and we reported on it <<

Trail projects from Austria

• Do-Biker Bruck/Mur (Styria)
• MTB Außerfern Trail-Area Urisee (Tyrol)

Three projects are receiving support from Switzerland

• Mountain bike (Lucerne)
• PRO Bike (Aargau)
• Trailnet.ch (Biel)

The Trek Trail Advocacy Programme was further professionalised this year. For example, Trek was able to gain new partners and trail builders with the relevant expert knowledge, who were part of the jury and were able to help decide which projects would receive support from the programme. The jury then made its decision based on several criteria, including social and natural aspects.

Trek Trail Advocacy Programme: These were the criteria

It was particularly important to the jury that the projects are organised on a voluntary basis, that various interest groups, such as hikers, foresters and of course mountain bikers, are included in the concept and that the construction measures are implemented in a nature conservation-friendly manner. The jury's assessment criteria also included well-considered trail management and added social value for visitors and the region.

For the future of mountain biking

The Trek Trail Advocacy Programme is primarily intended to secure the future of mountain biking and create a basis for new trail projects. Guido Anderwert, Marketing Manager Trek Bikes in the DACH region, says:

"We are more than satisfied with the outcome of the Trek Trail Advocacy Programme this year. Despite all the joy, the cancellations that we inevitably had to make really hurt us. We tried to organise additional funding - including from Trek's industry partners - to support even more projects. Unfortunately, the enquiry was too short notice with regard to budget timelines. The good thing is that we were able to have exciting discussions about future support. Nevertheless, this year we can welcome more projects to the programme than ever before. And that alone is a good reason to be happy!"

Further information, including application and requirements for the Trek Trail Advocacy programme, can be found at: blog.trekbikes.com/en/category/trailadvocacy-en/