The TransRockies Singletrack 6 Returns to Fernie on July 12 to 14th for a Spectacular 20th Anniversary Mountain Biking Adventure.
In 2002 the TransRockies began in Fernie with the TransRockies Challenge, the 7 day point to point stage race, and now the Singletrack 6. Fernie has been the perfect place to start, finish and host some of the TransRockies biggest and most important races for 20 years.
The TransRockies Singletrack 6 has become a highlight on the mountain biking calendar, attracting riders from around the globe to challenge themselves and immerse themselves in the thrill of world-class singletrack. In 2023, participants can expect an exceptional race that combines technical descents, lung-busting climbs, and awe-inspiring scenery, all while fostering a sense of camaraderie and adventure. “We are thrilled to bring back the TransRockies Singletrack 6 for the 20th anniversary of this incredible mountain bike race,” said Aaron McConnell, TransRockies President. “This event offers riders the opportunity to explore some of the most iconic trails in Western Canada and create lifelong memories along the way.”
In 2022 Fernie rider Carter Nieuwesteeg won the Singletrack 6 and he’s back this year. Carter will be riding the BC Bike Race coming into the Singletrack 6, 13 days of staging racing in 17 days. Carter commented, “It’s a quick turn around to defend my ST6 title that once again starts on home trails right here in Fernie. Taking on two of the most iconic week long stage races where anything can happen and I can’t wait to see where this thing goes!” Carter is the organizer of the Fernie Gravel Grind, a weekend long festival for 500 riders that’s raised over $20,000 for the local community.
Gearhub Sports is the Stage 1 title sponsor and support shop for this year’s ST6 and has two team riders participating. Steve Kelly and Dylan Bailey will be representing Gearhub and both will be riding Rocky Mountain Element’s.
The TransRockies crew is a dedicated group and the friendships continue to this day. Dan Savage, Fernie organizer, commented, “I’m stoked that Fernie continues to host this World Class event. The Transrockies was the seed that helped define Fernie as a mountain bike destination. It’s great in 2023 to have permission to include the Elk Valley Trail and finish in Sparwood!”
The 2023 TransRockies Singletrack 6 will span six stages, each with its own unique challenges and stunning surroundings. The schedule and stage locations for the Fernie are as follows:
Stage 1: Fernie, BC – July 13th (36km distance / 1150m elevation)
• Fernie will again provide a thrilling start to the week of racing, with riders embarking on a demanding course that showcases the area’s natural beauty.
• Spectators are encouraged to gather at the Fernie Aquatic Centre to witness the excitement as riders cross both the start and finish line here, celebrating their first stage accomplishment.
• Race start time is 8AM, with the first riders projected to cross the finish line at approximately 9:30AM.
• The Beer Garden, Food Trucks, Awards Ceremony and Course Briefing will take place at 2PM from the Fernie Aquatic Centre.
Stage 2: Fernie, BC to Sparwood, BC – July 14th (45km distance / 1100m elevation)
• The Fernie Aquatic Centre will once again set the stage for an exhilarating day of riding, as participants tackle technical terrain and embrace the rugged wilderness.
• Spectators are encouraged to gather at the Sparwood’s Titan truck to witness the fast-paced finishes and cheer on the riders as they complete another challenging stage.
• Race start time is 8AM, with the first riders projected to cross the finish line at approximately 9:30AM.
• The Beer Garden, BBQ, Awards Ceremony and Course Briefing will take place at 2PM from the Sparwood Visitor Centre.
Following Fernie the ST6 will move to the Crowsnest Pass for two exciting stages before heading to Canmore for the final two stages.
TransRockies would like to thank all of our local Fernie and Sparwood supporters including the City of Fernie, Fernie.com, Tourism Fernie, Fernie Trails Alliance, Park Place Lodge, GearHub Sports, Red Tree Lodge, Raging Elk Adventure Lodge, Fernie Lodging Company, Fernie RV Resort, Stanford Resort, Snow Valley Lodging, Coal Creek Heritage Society, the District of Sparwood, Sparwood Chamber of Commerce, the Sparwood Trails Alliance and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Best wishes to all the riders and organizers on the 20th Anniversary Mountain Biking Adventure!
This coming year will mark the 20th anniversary of what is now the TransRockies Race Series. It also marks the 20th anniversary of their events being held here in Fernie. From the TransRockies Challenge to Singletrack 6, and now to the new Gravel Royale gravel stage race, Fernie has been the perfect place to start, finish and host some of the TransRockies biggest and most important races.
In 2001, there were only a handful of mountain bike stage races in the world. Costa Rica’s America’s La Ruta de Los Conquistadores and the TransAlp in Europe are two notable examples, but nothing like them existed in North America.
That all changed when the TransAlp organizers, Chester Fabricius and Heinrich Albrecht, visited Fernie. It just so happened that Fernie was the perfect access point for this type of rugged backcountry adventure. At that time Fernie was a ski destination, with a strong community and accommodations that could host riders in comfort, and a variety of restaurants, among other amenities.
A group of local business owners converged to form the Fernie TransRockies Society with the objective of ensuring the TransRockies would be a success and secure Fernie the cornerstone community.
In 2002 Fernie hosted the first ever start of the TransRockies Challenge, a 7-day stage race that would take riders to Canmore through the picturesque and challenging Canadian Rockies. In Europe the towns are closer together and participants could race from one town to another. Not so in the Canadian Rockies.
The distance riders would have to cover from town to town would be immense and the conditions were underrated-nobody was expecting snow. The TransRockies organizers had to set up warm camps for riders each night along the remote, rugged, and let’s not forget beautiful, route. On the second TransRockies Challenge the leading Austrian team quit following a snowy, wet, muddy and cold stage.
For 13 editions, the TransRockies Challenge took over Fernie’s historic main street and crowds gathered there to watch either the start or finish for the hundreds of racers that were brave enough to take on the challenge.
The TransRockies crew are a spirited and colourful group and the friendships continue to this day. Dan Savage, Fernie organizer, commented, “The original events were exciting with huge parties and hundreds of spectators, the entire town was engaged! This event was the seed for defining Fernie as a mountain bike destination.”
And as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Stage racing became popular and competing events popped up everywhere.
The only constant is change and change they did. Out of both preference and necessity, much of the TransRockies Challenge was ridden on gravel roads. But by 2014, mountain bikes were far more capable than their 2002 counterparts, and mountain bike trail networks were being built and expanded all across Western Canada.
As a result, riders’ attitudes were changing. They wanted more fun singletrack, and less of the all-out test of endurance offered by the TransRockies Challenge. So, in 2014, TransRockies decided to give racers what they wanted. They changed the race format and rebranded the event Singletrack 6.
Instead of a point to point race, Singletrack 6 would feature daily loops that started and ended in a host-community. The race would travel to three or four of those communities over 6 days of racing, and instead of camping, racers would stay in one of the lodging options those communities had to offer.
During the years Fernie was hosting the TransRockies Challenge, our trail crews were busy expanding the mountain bike trail network and building the mountain bike community. The events provided the revenue for the birth of the Fernie Trails Alliance. Our mountain town was quickly becoming a mountain bike mecca in its own right, and so TransRockies chose Fernie as one of the host communities for its first edition of the race.
Unfortunately, because Singletrack 6 is always on the move searching for new singletrack, they can’t come back to Fernie every year. But with new trails popping up all everywhere in the Kootenay’s, they’re this region a regular stop, including in 2022 for their 20th anniversary edition of Singletrack 6!
According to TransRockies Chief Cycling Officer, Aaron McConnell, by 2020, TransRockies had decided that visiting Fernie “regularly” just wasn’t enough, so they decided to create a race that would once again have them back in Fernie every single year! Or at least that’s part of the reason…
It’s no secret that gravel riding and racing has taken the cycling world by storm in recent years. Every season, new races are added to the calendar across North America, but one type of race has been in conspicuously short supply: stage races. So, in the summer of 2020, McConnell began looking at routes for a gravel stage race that could be put together for the summer of 2021.
As luck would have it, the perfect route was the one they had used many times before for the TransRockies Challenge. With a few modifications, they saw a way to breathe new life into their old 7-day route and modify it for 4-days of gravel racing. And this time, the finish line would be in Fernie, rather than the start. Unfortunately, last minute COVID restrictions forced the cancellation of the 2021 Gravel Royale, but they are already planning their return in 2022.
Ending Gravel Royale in Fernie will give racers—who will be visiting from all over the world—the opportunity to finish on a high note. They’ll have the opportunity to experience Canadian Rocky Mountain culture at its best, and we have no doubt that many of them will return to Fernie, as TransRockies always has.
It’s no coincidence that TransRockies has chosen Fernie to debut, and continue hosting, their biggest off-road cycling events. Few places have a community as dedicated to adventure as this one, and even fewer are ready to welcome events like theirs with such open arms. Fernie and TransRockies really are partners on two wheels, and it’s looking like 2022 is going to be one heck of an anniversary party, for TransRockies and for a partnership that’s still going strong after two decades.
After a one year break the TransRockies Race Series is returning to Fernie this summer with two events!
The first event will be the TransRockies brand new premiere gravel bike race – the TransRockies Gravel Royale, which will take place from August 23 to 26. Traversing from Panorama Mountain Resort, to Nipika Mountain Resort, to Canal Flats and ending in Fernie, the four-day gravel stage race will cover 375 km (233 miles) and around 7,000 m (23,000 ft) of climbing.
The gravel riders will roll into Fernie on Hartley Lake Road and finish at Annex Park on Thursday, August 26th.
Gravel riding along the Bull River heading to Fernie
Fernie will also be the race start for the TransRockies flagship 6-day mountain bike race the Singletrack 6 (ST6) happening from September 7th to 12th.
Riders will have the opportunity to test themselves on brand new routes in the host communities of Fernie, Kimberley and Rossland—also known as Singletrack 6’s “South Kootenay” route.
“We couldn’t ask for a more fitting host community to be returning to after this break,” says Aaron McConnell, TransRockies President, “Fernie is home to spectacular riding and has been a staple of our mountain biking events since our first TransRockies Challenge in 2002. Dan Savage has been organizing our Fernie bike events for 20 years and we appreciate his and Fernie’s ongoing support.”
The ST6 riders will overnight in local accommodations and the routes are composed, almost completely, of singletrack. Most riders will arrive days before the event to begin to prepare for the race.
2016 ST6 Fernie Start
The Fernie ST6 schedule:
Registration: Park Place Lodge, Monday, September 6
ST6 Stage 1: Fernie Aquatic Centre, Tuesday, September 7
ST6 Stage 2: Fernie Alpine Resort, Wednesday September 8
Gearhub Sports is the local stage sponsor for both events. Mark Hall, Gearhub owner and manager, commented, “There are so many epic mountain bike trails in Fernie and the TransRockies has such a history of riding these trails, it’s great to have them return. Gravel is something new, something fresh, and is growing in popularity. We’re excited at Gearhub to be part of the TransRockies events!”
The TransRockies is also being supported by a number of Fernie accommodators including: Park Place Lodge, Lizard Creek Lodge, Fernie Lodging Company, Fernie Central Accommodations, Red Tree Lodge, Snow Valley Accommodations, the Raging Elk Adventure Lodge and the Fernie RV Resort.
Fernie trail use is sanctioned by the Fernie Trails Alliance, Fernie Alpine Resort, and the Coal Creek Heritage Society. The City of Fernie accommodates the use of the Fernie Aquatic Centre and Annex Park and Fernie Alpine Resort is the host of the ST6 Stage 2.
Living in Fernie has many advantages and having world class cycling events finish in town has become the norm. On August 26th, 2021, the Transrockies newest event, the Gravel Royale, will roll into Fernie following a journey deep into the Canadian Rockies on some of the world’s most scenic and remote gravel roads!
The Transrockies is not new to Fernie, their events have been mainstay here since 2002 when the inaugural TransRockies Classic started on 2nd Avenue. The Transrockies first-ever gravel race features a route spread out over 4 stages, 375km and climbs a total of 7000m. The event takes place on ancestral lands of the Ktunaxa First Nation, whose people have occupied the lands surrounding the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers for more than 10,000 years.
Along the way, racers will be welcomed by four beautiful and unique Rocky Mountain communities: Panorama Mountain Resort, Nipika Mountain Resort, Canal Flats and Fernie. After a long day in the saddle, they’re the perfect places to relax, tell stories, talk strategy and forge lasting friendships.
In case racing all 4 stages isn’t for you, they’re offering a 2-day Ante Up Experience, a 3-day E-Bike Poker Ride and the Fair Deal Family Mountain Bike Challenge on Stage 2, at Nipika Mountain Resort.
Registration opens Monday, September 21, 2020 and is capped at 300 racers. Early-bird discounts are available for the first 50 racers to register and half of all early bird spots are reserved for women!
TransRockies Gravel Royale
Registration Opens: Monday, September 21, 2020 – 9 AM MDT
Event Dates: August 23-26, 2021
• 4-day camping based stage race from Panorama to Fernie, BC
• Other stage host locations: Nipika Mountain Resort, Canal Flats
• 375km over 4 days with 7,000m of climbing
• Fully supported camps – shower trucks, catered meals, tent and luggage transport, daily awards etc.
• Gravel bike specific route with 84% gravel roads
• 2-day option, and 3-day e-bike poker ride
• World famous TransRockies organization, logistics and support
• 300 spots available
This coming summer mountain bike races abound in Fernie. The Fernie 3 mountain bike race is being held on July 1st to 3rd and the Singletrack 6 (ST6) will be hosting two stages on July 23 to 24th.
The Fernie 3 is an all-mountain three-day classic mountain bike stage race. This year’s Fernie 3 is being held on the Canada Day weekend, July 1 to 3rd. The Fernie 3 organizers work to offer events for all riders including a one-day option, U16 and the Kids’ Bike Rally for U9. In 2015 the Fernie 3 raised $8000 for trails and generated over $200,000 in economic benefit for the community.
The ST6 is the recreation and rebranding of the TransRockies Challenge, an event that Fernie hosted for 12 consecutive years and some people credit for placing Fernie on the world mountain bike stage. The ST6 is a 6 day adventure showcasing the best riding in a variety of mountain bike communities. The 1st ST6 toured the Northern Rockies with stages in Canmore, Invermere, Golden and Revelstoke. This past summer the ST6 visited Salmon Arm, Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton. The 2016 ST6 will leave Fernie and continue on in the Kootenays with stages in Cranbrook, Kimberley and finish in Golden.
The Fernie TransRockies Society (FTS) organizes the Fernie 3 and will also be helping organize the Fernie’s involvement in the ST6. The FTA was formed in 2002 to support Fernie’s involvement with the TransRockies Challenge and worked on all of the events. The FTS is a group of local riders whose goal is to help develop Fernie’s destination mountain biking. They achieve this by hosting events that raise monies to support trial maintenance and development, develop local racers and inspire youth, and promote Fernie as mountain biking destination. “It’s great to have two great events in Fernie, the ST6 brings international riders and a high caliber of racing and the Fernie 3 has something for everyone” stated Dan Savage, FTS Director.
The FTS looks forward to working with the events supporters and community stakeholders in coming months to help make these events a success for everyone.
