Feature: Alternative Vollie Collective

There’s only eight of the shovel-wielding kids swarming Stewart, but for all the world it could be a mob of ten thousand. The Alternative Vollie Collective, or AVC, are fondly referred to as Ōtautahi’s official trail pirates, and they’ve been digging dirt for a while now. In 2022, Stewart and a couple of mates decided a favourite track of theirs was in desperate need of some work, and they’ve been digging, building, and hacking their way to some impressive feats ever since. MetroNews scrambled up the hill and under the pines to chat to the crew.

Since ‘22, the AVC has built a following of nearly 1,000 on the gram, and a couple hundred live in the Vollie group chat. We followed this lot into the park on a warm Thursday evening and watched as they battled some dusty dirt in the name of a new trail build. Stewart’s leading the charge, and has sent the groms up the hill so the adults can hear themselves think. “It’s good to have a whole lot of our young people keen to build and maintain trails,” he says. “The more, the merrier, really, the more Vollies we can get the, the more we can do, and we can do it faster, so I’m keen for anyone to come along.”

Stewart says the plan is for a tight and technical Grade 5, and the whole team is twitching to get on the bike for a test ride. “We’re not too far away on this, we’ll be cracking on over the summer, clearing some lines in for next winter when we can use the moisture to pack it in.”

Stewart’s right hand man Aaron Coster is well versed in everything trails. He worked overseas for a couple of years building them professionally, before returning to Ōtautahi’s home soil. “The dirt is unfortunately not the best quality here at CAP, but we do the best we can with what we’re given,” he laughs. “The thing is if you come and you build it, you can sort of help design the trail, where it’s going to go and what it’s going to do, and then work with others, and take everyone’s ideas and mold that into a finished product.” Coster’s built a community up here on the hill. “It actually just enhances your riding experience cause you see people you’ve been digging with, sit on the chairlift with them, do some laps, do some crazy trains, and it’s really good fun.”

Talking to the ‘groms,’ or junior riders themselves makes the mission up the side of the hill look like nothing. The adults have their beers, so naturally the kids have downed a massive blue Monster between them and are absolutely buzzing despite it being well past their bedtimes. They’re all keen riders themselves, so to have the outlet of digging some trails in a controlled environment is awesome to see. Fifteen-year-old Lucy is a long time Vollie. “It’s really rewarding, like we built a trail last year, and it’s really cool to ride down it and you know, being able to ride stuff you’ve built and help contribute to making the trails.” She’s put in the hours, returning to dig nights for over two years. At only 15, that’s nothing to sneeze at. “It’s pretty cool to have this on the doorstep.”

Frank’s only 14, but he is already dead set on taking the Collective over, come Stewart and co’s retirement. “Mark’s been doing it the longest. He’s like the founder of this whole thing. He’s always just getting so much done.” It’s high praise from one so young. “I’ll probably carry this whole thing on, me and these guys, when Mark’s too old and he’s got back problems or something.”

Despite it being a kid-heavy crew tonight, that isn’t the standard for AVC. It’s usually adults, chipping away on Tuesday evenings. Tonight though, for some reason that has even Coster bewildered, he’s been left with the “ratbags”. “It’s really good to see them up here, they can be challenging sometimes, but it’s good to see the younger generations come up, and start to experience the building of trails and features that they want to ride at the end of the day.” He hopes that the work ethic involved will set them on good paths in the future too, in and out of mountain biking. “I think it gives them an appreciation of the trails as well, cause you know the groms get a bad name, ripping up trails and shredding it for the instagram and stuff like that, but once they spend two or three hours on the tools they start to understand somebody’s put a lot of work into this stuff.”

Stewart’s keen for anyone to get involved, weekend warriors and pros alike. “It’s not like you need to turn up every week, you can turn up one week then we mightn’t see you for a month or two, it doesn’t worry me.” The first and best port of call for the Collective is their Insta. “Flick me a message on the AVC insta, that’s how most people have got involved and word of mouth as well, sit on the chairlift and you’re talking about digging trails and they’re like oh yeah, that’s cool, I’d be keen on that.” As long as the world keeps turning and the chairlift keeps spinning, you’ll be able to find the Vollies in some remote spot on the hill, yarning and digging. How good.