After approving a request from the Grizzly Valley ATV Club for $26,250 to create “a dynamic marketing collaborating with renowned off-road powersport figures to capture backcountry adventures in and around Tumbler Ridge,” town council removed that funding, in an attempt to reduce the amount of new taxes residents will have to pay this year.
But, taking a page from the Tumbler Ridge Lions’ playbook, the ATV club returned with a lower request. “We’re writing to you regarding our recent grant-in-aid application,” say Tim Croston and Ryan Lamming in a letter jointly written to council. “It’s our understanding that the approval of the funding has been reversed due to a strict budget. Although we’re disappointed, we completely understand and would like the opportunity to clarify a few items, as well as ask for a reduced amount of funding.”
They say that, after hearing feedback from certain councilors on whether to fund the filming project, it became clear to them that they may not have answered all questions adequately when they appeared as a delegation.
“We want to emphasize that this project is much like that of the snowmobile filming that was completed by the same videographer and project manager a couple of years ago,” they write. “ All the content will be available for the District and for anyone else to use/share. It can be used for marketing campaigns, trade shows, and social media outlets. The content will be focused on not only our beautiful trails, but ethical, environmental, and respectful powersports usage. What many don’t realize is that Ostacruiser’s content is primarily filmed on private land, and in areas where mud bogging is permitted. This aspect has made him famous, but also paints him with some as being somewhat ‘reckless’.”
As with anything, they say, there is another side to the story. In this case, it is that Ostacrusier loves both trail riding and nature equally. “They also believe in preserving access to our trail systems. Dave and his wife Carrie are not paid to be here. We’ve made it easier for them to continue the long haul from Saskatchewan by way of donations for accommodation, etc.”
The pair write that access to the backcountry for powersport users is under heavy scrutiny, and something like this is a great opportunity “to reach the masses and spread the positive side to powersports. Ostacruiser’s fanbase is massive and relates to many that travel here. To put it in perspective, he shares the same stage as all the headliners for all the Grizfest festivals, combined. 804k subscribers, and 348 million views just on YouTube.”
Asking for a tangible return on how many people the videos can bring to Tumbler can be tough, admits the two. “We’ve had numerous people reach out on social media platforms asking for more information about Tumbler Ridge after viewing his content. We’ve had enquiries from all over North America. We ran into folks that travelled over 24 hours to ride our trails after seeing our beautiful area on his platforms. Just last week Tim had a call from a group of five in Ontario. They enquired about riding our trails, hotel accommodations, restaurant’s, etc. Their plan is to travel here this fall, stay in a local hotel, eat meals in local restaurant’s, buy fuel locally, and ride our area. Tim asked them how they got his contact information assuming it was from his outdoor Facebook page. They told him no, they don’t use Facebook, but rather got his information off one of the YouTube videos where Dave had interviewed us about riding in Tumbler Ridge. Tim had shared his contact information for anyone that had enquiries. This wasn’t intended. No professional content was captured in the previous videos and there was no real promoting of Tumbler Ridge other than that one 30 second interview.”
They two say the marketing potential is excellent. “More importantly, the impact it can have for keeping our backcountry open to respectful powersport usage can be significant.
We mentioned that we have applied for other funding opportunities. The grants are still open to applicants and close this week. Both grants we’ve applied for are match funded. Please see the attached proposal below, and the new amount of $14,000 we are asking from the District of Tumbler Ridge.”
Councillor Gulick says she thought the letter was very mindful of the budget. “They accepted that we were in a tough position and I really appreciated how they approached their letter,” she says. “I really appreciated that one of their main priorities will be about responsible backcountry use and for me, that’s worth it. We really need to make sure that as we develop our tourism that we’re responsible about it.”
The motion to provide a grant-in-aid at the lower amount passed.
Above photo: Ryan Lamming (left) with Carrie and David Ostapiw, aka Ostacruiser during a previous visit to Tumbler Ridge. Photo by Lainey Daudelin.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.