Matt Klee dedicated a great deal of time and energy building things for others, and now, as a year since his death approaches, an impassioned community is coming together to build something for him.
Hood River Area Trail Stewards is hosting a Kleeway trail work party on Saturday, Feb. 14. Meet at 10 a.m. at Family Man and bring shovels, hoes, wheel barrows, buckets, gloves, water and a snack. The bulk of the work will be raking and shaping trail, hauling gravel and digging tread.
The Kleeway is quickly taking shape, and when completed the Post Canyon mountain biking trail will be a lasting legacy and the fulfillment of a vision a beloved member of the Hood River community left behind.
If there’s an upside to the abysmal winter the Pacific Northwest is in the midst of, it’s that conditions have been perfect for trail building. Without ice, snow and serious mud to contend with, builders have made rapid progress on the three-mile route, which Klee envisioned and advocated for as a way to alleviate high-traffic safety issues on the popular Seven Streams trail, which is the main artery for Hood River County Forestry’s popular Northwest Area Trails System.
Hood River resident Matt Klee passed away last May at the age of 40 while mountain biking at the Whistler Bike Park. Klee, an avid biker, kiteboarder and outdoorsman, worked at Insitu and dedicated much of his free time as the driving force behind the Hood River Area Trail Stewards (HRATS). Klee was instrumental in laying a strong foundation for the organization’s future. For more information on HRATS, future work parties, Kleeway progress or how you can help, see the HRATS facebook page at facebook.com/hrats.
Expected to be completed in time for the summer riding season, the new singletrack trail will be a downhill-only biking-only trail connecting Family Man (off Riordan Hill Road) to the Seven Streams Staging Area, providing bikers a fun new downhill route while making Seven Streams safer for the variety of user groups that frequent it. A second phase of the project, to be completed in the fall, will link the intersection at the bottom of the Spaghetti Factory and Lower GP trails to about the middle of Kleeway.
When walking a roughed-out section of trail last week that traverses a hillside clear-cut after the 2012 ice storm, it’s easy to sense Ben Ketler’s passion about the project.
“Matt was the kind of person who would build stuff below his level so that others could enjoy it and progress,” said Ketler, the Kleeway’s official adopter, through HRCF’s recreational trails management system. “The great thing about this trail is that it is truly going to be for every rider, from little kids all the way up to experts. That was Matt’s vision, and after all the work and planning to get to this point, it’s pretty exciting to see it finally taking shape.”
On Feb. 20 HRATS is hosting a party at the Lumberyard in Portland from 5-10 p.m. in honor of Klee, who frequented the indoor bike park. The party includes half price admission, which will be donated to HRATS. The address is 2700 NE 82nd Avenue.
Although Ketler has devoted countless hours of his own time and energy to see the project through, he is quick to point out how much of a community effort it has become.
“The amount of support, both financially and in volunteers coming up here to help build, has been amazing,” he said. “Honestly, it’s part of the healing process. To see the community rally together and turn a tragedy into something positive and lasting for people to enjoy really embodies the spirit that Matt put into this place.”
The largest of more than a dozen work parties for the trail drew almost 150 people this fall, and last spring another drew about 100. Additionally, a core group of bikers, builders, former friends of Klee’s and complete strangers have turned out on a consistent basis to put their hands and backs to work to help see the project through, from the early stages of clearing slash and brush to the tedious work of shoveling, raking and shaping dirt.
“The sense of community with this project has been amazing and humbling,” Ketler said. “We’ve had so many people and businesses step up to volunteer their time, money and services. It’s pretty cool so see how the community can rally together like this to create something so positive.”
Thanks to fundraising efforts, which quickly totaled more than $30,000 donated in honor of Klee, professional trail builder Jason Wells was enlisted to do much of the design and machinery work for the trail. Wells, an International Mountain Biking Association trail builder, is a magician with an excavator and is, Ketler says, “a true asset to have in helping the project come to fruition.”
While a specific date isn’t set for when the trail will be complete, Ketler says sometime “this summer” is a good guess, especially if weather continues its favorable path through the end of winter. Between now and then, workers will cut the remaining sections of trail, smooth them out and work to refine the rollers, banked corners, hips, lips and other flow-riding features that are going to make Kleeway the most dynamic trail in the entire system. For beginners, it’ll be a mellow, wide and high-cornered joyride down to the bottom, while advanced riders will be able to utilize the same terrain to jump and shred to their hearts content.
“It’s going to be a trail for everyone, and a trail unlike anything else up here,” Ketler said with a smile. “Matt would approve.”
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