Alan shares the journey of how his childhood love for BMX and skateboarding evolved into a full-fledged career, his philosophy on sustainable and inclusive trail building, and his vision for Todo o Nada, the groundbreaking freeride mountain bike event he created in South America. Through his innovative approach, Alan is redefining what it means to build for the biking community while fostering growth and access for riders of all levels. Our Marketing Director sat down with Big Al for a candid conversation about his journey of trail building and what drives his passion for creating spaces where riders can connect, grow, and push their limits.

Melanie: I am here with Alan Mandel, owner of Trail Co Inc. What does Trail Co Inc. do?

Alan: Trail Co. Inc. builds and designs mountain bike trails and jumps for courses for events.

Melanie: What is your role?

Alan: I am the owner of Trail Co Inc.

Melanie: How did you get into building trails?

Alan: I started building my first trails and jumps at my parent’s house growing up. My family lived in a small town in Lander, WY, and we didn’t have any proper trails yet, just hiking and game trails. I began experimenting and learning what worked and what didn’t. This led me to attend the Mountain Bike Operations Program at Capilano University in 2013. At the time, the program had one of the only trail-building certification programs in North America. This taught me the IMBA trail standards, and the Whistler bike park guidelines, allowing me to have amazing guidance from builders such as Dylan Dunkerton and Curtis Robertson. They are the main guys behind Coast Gravity Park on the Sunshine Coast BC.

Melanie: What got you into biking?

Alan: My best friend, Joe McGowen, got me into biking. Originally, I started off skateboarding and wasn’t very interested in bikes until around 14 years old. I discovered a YouTube video series called “Drop In”. It was essentially a group of 18 riders from all over Canada and they would road trip across the country riding everything and anything from trails to skateparks. This inspired me in so many ways; the locations they would go to; the crazy tricks they were doing; the amount of fun it looked like they were having. So after that, I started learning how to jump and do tricks and set my goal on becoming a professional slope style / freerider.

Melanie: What are your five favorite tools as a trail builder?

Alan: Flat head, pick axe, rake, Rogue Hoe, compactor.

TODO O NADA & THE CONDOR AWARD

Melanie: Tell me about this event you host in Chile, Todo o Nada.

Alan: Todo o Nada is a freeride mountain bike event based on the foundation of unity. It’s using freeride and big jumps as a vehicle to connect people internationally with the locals of Latin America. For most people in Latin America, traveling to this kind of event in North America or Europe is not feasible. So I wanted to create something for the Chileans have access to. What it has turned into is truly a unique and special experience.

We have also created The Condor Award, which is support for the rider who is ready to take their career to the next level. The park provides complete career support to the winner of the Condor Award. They have access to PYTS Park to train, live, and have support with travel so they can make it to international events. The Condor Award is a real thing that has been changing lives and it’s so cool to see.

Melanie: As you build these trails, where people are riding in these new spaces, how do you balance maintaining the natural terrain, awareness of the area’s environmental impact, and recreational aspects?

Alan: My philosophy is that trails exist everywhere and that a trail builder’s job is to reveal the trail that already exists and not force a trail into the land. If you are looking at the terrain you’re designating to have a trail network within, there will already be many natural corridors, pathways, and lines that you can find and accentuate. The land will offer the best terrain of where to put things. But it’s essential to have a solid plan in the beginning, in place with the community, the land managers, the trail builders, the riding demographic, and the user groups. Is there going to be equestrian use? Are there more hikers and runners? Is it mostly biking? All of those things play a lot into the overall design and layout of a trail network.

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Melanie: It sounds like you think of the whole process in the future state, too. You’re not just thinking of getting bikes on the trail. You’re thinking about people walking, horses, and adaptive sports, too.

Alan: When you have a good understanding of who you are building for, what the terrain offers, and what kind of stuff you can build on that terrain, you’ll create a network of a variety of trails for everyone and it will only strengthen trail use.

Melanie: Is that a common consideration, or is that something you’re employing in your own trail-building practice?

Alan: I always try to think about how you can maximize the amount of good experiences for all the different user groups in a trail network. Putting yourself in their shoes and trying to plan ahead to accommodate everyone’s needs from the adaptive rider to the equestrian rider.

Another aspect I look at is the past, present, and future. Every piece of land has history and some places are more sacred than others. This means more intention might be involved or even additional levels of support from archeologists helping guide where the trail can go. Other locations can be pretty easy to work in. It’s always different and that is why I think you should respect each build as its own unique and authentic project specific to that environment.

Typically, trail networks will have an archaeological assessment completed before they start any master plans or designing. It really depends on the location and client.

Melanie: Do you like to build in one place more than another?

Alan: I would say so far my favorite places to build have been Virgin UT, Sunshine Coast BC, PYTS park Chile.

FREERIDE

Melanie: As you look to the future, how do you see Todo o Nada evolving, and are there any goals you’re excited about?

Alan: I see Todo o Nada continuing to grow and expand across Latin America. You never really know what’s going to happen though. There’s a lot of excitement and motivation there and it’s an honor to be behind the scenes helping it grow.

I am mainly just looking forward to another awesome year of doing what I love to do with my awesome Trail co Inc. crew.

Melanie: Rampage reached over a billion people this year. And you know, I know you’re putting on more than just another big bike trick event, and I know you just touched on this. But if you could summarize, how does that affect you and your event and also the outcomes? Or have you had any shifts in your thinking while you’re doing your own event?

Alan: I think it’s awesome that freeride has been seen by 1 billion people. My honest thought is I am in awe of how much it’s grown and feel extremely fortunate to be involved with helping bring more access to Freeride in other parts of the world and connect the global Freeride family.

TRAIL BUILDING ADVICE

Melanie: What advice would you give to a newbie trail builder or an event organizer inspired by what you’re doing?

Alan: I would say to the trail builder, this is one of the most unique and satisfying things you’ll experience. It takes a lot of time to become proficient and then it clicks. You discover in time that you can actually create anything you want.

You start to ride what YOU always dreamed of. You get to share your ideas you created through shared experiences with your friends. It opens doors across the world and connects you to so many people who have walked the same path. It cultivates a deep connection with nature and your creative gifts. There are only positive outcomes I believe when someone is trail building with intention.

To the event organizers, I think it’s about having fun; making sure your guests are all taking care of and always look at every situation from everyone else’s perspective. Because it’s easy to get overwhelmed and take on too much stress, and that all ends up rippling into the guests experience. Organize everything, have a really clear plan, and watch the magic happen.

Melanie: That’s nice. Is there anything else you wanted to share that I didn't touch on?

Alan: … maybe?

Melanie: Haha, let's hear it …

NO BUILDERS, NO SPORT

Alan: My only last thoughts are that great riding comes from great trails and those come from great trail builders.

There has seemed to be a decrease in interest from the youth for trail building and I think we need to encourage our youth to pick up shovels again and build the dirt jumps they want to ride.

Melanie: How do you suggest someone gets involved and start digging?

Alan: I suggest contacting your local cycling clubs first and they can hopefully get you in touch with the local trail-building organizations and trail maintenance volunteer days. If you have a zone where you can start trying to build and learning about drainage and water and the destruction and erosion. Nature always wins, so I think it's good for people to experiment and, through trial and error, you can find really quick ways that work well and ways that don't. You will see your work get destroyed by a rainstorm or it will hold up. You will ride something, and it will feel great or not feel very good.

You don't learn those things without trying and getting your hands dirty and doing it. Grab some shovels, move some dirt, pack the dirt, try to ride it, and see if it holds up. I am pretty sure everyone started off with 2x4s and cement blocks in the street, just going for it. There is no right or wrong way.

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