Professional Builder Profile Interview: Uriah Steber of Benchmark Trails in South Dakota
It’s been a few months since we last published an interview in this series. In the rapidly changing world that we live in, especially as professional trail builders with projects constantly starting and finishing, even if we wait only a few months between when we get responses back from an interview to publishing it, so much has changed. I say that as a backdrop for posting this interview with Uriah Steber of Benchmark Trails.
It seems over the past couple of months, there’s been a growing awareness of the volatility of the trail building business as a profession. When we posted Greg Mazu’s self-written article about closing down his trail building company, followed by another article on the hustle and grind culture of startups, those were two of our most read and shared content not only this year, but ever.
Those of us who don’t run trail building companies found a more profound respect and appreciation for those pushing all of their poker chips to the center of the table on the gamble of making their startup company dream a reality. I feel the same kindred spirit with starting and growing Trail Builder Mag, even if I’m wielding articles and social media content instead of a McLeod or working hard to submit bids for the next gig. In other words, I have grown even more grateful for the stories of those getting after it and chasing their trail building dreams.
Without any more delay, let’s jump into this latest interview with Uriah Steber, who actually submitted responses to my questions last year. I trust you’ll find nuggets of wisdom and encouragement in this. Let’s do this …
Sean: What are you currently doing?
Uriah: I'm just now purchasing some heavier equipment, including a 3.5-ton mini-excavator, packers, trailers, etc., all in preparation for my next project in the Black Hills this spring. I'll be starting construction on the first Phase, a 1 & 3/4-mile Green Flow Trail, for a new lift-access bike park at Deer Mountain Village in Lead, South Dakota.
Sean: What prompted you to take the plunge in launching out and starting your own trail building company?
Uriah: It was 2017, living in Pierre, South Dakota, and we didn't have any riding opportunities with elevation ... duh, right? It's Central South Dakota? Well, in Pierre, you are right at Lake Oahe, a massive body of water created by the Oahe Dam 6 miles north of the Capital of South Dakota, Pierre and Ft. Pierre.
Over 2k miles of shoreline make up what's considered Lake Oahe, which is almost 300' deep. We have sailboats that can track the Lake from the North Dakota border south down to us, and it is about a 9-day sail. People don't know about it, but the Lake has bluffs that range up to a couple of hundred feet in elevation, and to me, it just screamed for a bike trail.
I started by finding public land, riding game trails, and sometimes cow trails along the Lake. Eventually, I contacted the local US Army Corps of Engineers office and asked about riding out there because I wanted to avoid getting in trouble. The land manager met me on the property, and I described the riding opportunities I envisioned, and he got it. So he offered to help obtain a partnership grant with the organization to create what is now West Shore MTB Trails.
We have 5 miles of hand-built single-track and three stacked loops with different skill levels: Green, Blue, and Black. I've spent over 400 hours hand-building the trails with a handful of other dedicated volunteers from the Oahe Wheelmen Cycling Club. That project taught me that there was a place for professional trail builders; once that set in, it was hard to turn away from it.
I started my company, Benchmark Trails LLC, in mid-summer 2022. That fall, I secured my first contract with the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department doing what was essentially "wilderness" trail work, no motorized equipment, to an extent. It was on a point A to B, a hiking trail to the summit of Bear Butte, on the Northern end of the Black Hills. It is managed as a Tribal Site, and the Lakota consider the mountain sacred; comparably to European religion, it would be a cathedral. The work was mostly erosion control and replacing old stairs with newly treated timber that the South Dakota National Guard flew to the summit a year prior and staged using a Black Hawk helicopter.
Sean: What's been the craziest story or a-ha moment so far?
Uriah: I'm new to the game, so I don't have a ton of history to reflect on here. However, I do think how the Deer Mountain Bike Park got its start was fairly crazy.
This old ski resort in the Black Hills has sat vacant for 10 years. The lodge needed to be torn down, and there were just two non-detachable chairlifts serving an Eastern front and a Western backside. It had been turned back over to the bank and I started to look into how to secure the funds, maybe lock in an investor to transform it into a shuttle bike park.
I was told the lifts weren't serviceable at the time, so being it had about 600' of vert, a shuttle park made a ton of sense, and if you know the layout, it fits well. Someone bought it before I could make a move, and I had given up on the concept.
A news article showed a father and son from Nebraska had made the purchase and intended to run a family tubing slope and then transform the 650 acres into 200 residential lots; they had no plans of skiing or MTB at the time. I decided on a Hail Mary and googled until I got a phone number. I got ahold of the new landowner, and he listened to my pitch on bike park vs. skiing and why it made sense. A few weeks later, we met and discussed the idea further. They didn't know anything about a bike park, and after a bit of convincing and offering examples, they loved the idea; that was almost three years ago.
Sean: What was the biggest obstacle you faced when starting?
Uriah: I think the biggest issue I face is probably the same for seasoned trail companies as well: talking trail to non-trail people. Conveying the message of healthier-happier residents, increased tourism and economic impact from tourism, pride in community, environmental preservation, and then helping organizations find funding is always difficult, too.
Sean: What is one thing you wish you knew when you started?
Uriah: I guess I need to wait and see.
Sean: What advice would you give to someone thinking of venturing out to start their own trail building company?
Uriah: Again, I am new, but the more I talk with land managers, the more projects I see needing to be done in the future in my area and many other places. The industry is still relatively new, and there are many ways to be a part of it. Tapping non-riders or new-riders who bring to the table experience and skills with project planning and development vs. the traditional skilled trail builder would be very beneficial in taking things to the next step for the industry.
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That concludes our interview. If you have a story to tell, click the button below and drop me an email.
Interview by: Sean Benesh Photos: Supplied by Uriah Steber
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sean Benesh
Sean is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Trail Builder Mag. He is also the Communications Director for the Northwest Trail Alliance in Portland, Oregon. While in grad school, he worked as a mountain biking guide in Southern Arizona. Sean also spends time in the classroom as a digital media instructor at Warner Pacific University.
