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“Holt showed me how awesome mountain biking could be. He let me, a 15-year-old punk, tag along on group rides up Idaho Peak or Rossland, he’d drive me to races all over the Kootenays, and put up with my little crew spending hours in his bike shop, poring over catalogs and bike movies. He eventually relented and gave me a summer job wrenching on bikes. Mark showed us how to build bike trails, and instilled in us the importance of giving back to the community you live in. My first awesome (and to this day my favourite) bike I bought from Mark was a custom painted Dekerf Team hardtail, with matching painted Judy DH forks. I didn’t think it could get any better than that. Simply put, Nelson mountain biking would not exist without Mark Holt.” – Joe Schwartz – Born and bred in Nelson, legendary freerider and mountain guide

Trailbuilder Mark Holt is a legend of Nelson. Riley McIntosh is a legend of B.C. trailbuilding. Read McIntosh’s Pinkbike.com interview as he walks us through Holt’s legacy as one of the baddest trailbuilders of all time. Big props to Pinkbike and McIntosh for recognizing one of our Kootenay mountain bike icons.

Read the full (awesome) interview here.