Badenoch bike centre celebrates four successful years
A Badenoch outward bound attraction launched four years ago is now boasting more than 25,000 visitors a year.
The Laggan Wolftrax Mountain Bike Centre, backed by public funding, was established to make the most of wild forest and mountian biking trails.
More than 20 miles (35km) of purpose-built trails were created.
The network includes at the bottom of the difficulty spectrum a green trail, two reds and the popular and challenging black for the high-end rider.
The centre is located in the Strathmashie forest from which a wide network of forestry roads and walking trails interconnect the area between the village of Laggan and Loch Laggan.
As Cristian Pizarro, its business development officer, told the Strathy this week: "The centre was opened in April 2015 with the support of the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Forestry Commission Scotland to provide permanent visitor and bike hire facilities for the established mountain biking trails.
"We now operate a busy café as well as providing public toilet and shower facilities for visitors to Laggan Wolftrax."
The initiative has employed over 30 people from Laggan and the surrounding Badenoch area, helping local people to find work near home, he confirmed.
The café became a certified Living Wage Employer a year ago, with the board committed to this policy since the opening of the centre.
Director Ian Hall said: “We consider it our social responsibility to reward our staff appropriately aligned to the Living Wage, and consistent with guidelines from Scottish Government's sustainable communities policies”. All our staff have had the opportunity to be trained in Food Hygiene and Barista Skills giving them appropriate qualifications in hospitality and catering.
In 2017, with support from the Energy Saving Trust, the centre installed two electric vehicle-charging points, which are a great addition to the network connecting Pitlochry and Kingussie with Roybridge in the West and also a facility for people working and living locally.
More recently with support from Energy Saving Trust, Cairngorms National Park Authority and Wee Bike Hub in collaboration with Laggan Coffee Bothy and Gallery, The Laggan Forest Trust acquired three e-bikes for community use.
Duncan Baileys, owner of Wee Bike Hub at the centre said, “We are proud to support the local community acquiring and looking after this small fleet of e-bikes. We intend local residents to use them for everyday journeys and to use cars less, ideally. These e-bikes present an opportunity for people to try before buying”.
Info: wolftrax@lagganforest.com.
