Eric W. // Pathways & Perspectives
How has my life been positively impacted by the trails in NWA? In a word: life saving. That's two words, but you get the idea.
I was a professional ski patroller in Montana skiing the toughest terrain, carrying injured skiers out of heinous terrain and carrying bombs in my pack to mitigate avalanche danger. But eventually age caught up with me as my L4/L5 L5/S1 discs deteriorated to the point where walking, let alone skiing, became nearly impossible. I experienced stabbing and debilitating pain through most of the 2023/24 ski season that at times left me couch-bound and depressed. Talk about a devastating blow that ultimately led to my leaving the ski industry completely!
The kicker was I could still ride my bike without pain, in fact, I felt better physically and mentally when I did ride. The question became: where can I ride my bikes all year round and find a community that offers everything we need? Google searches ultimately led me to Bentonville. But...Arkansas... really? On a whim we flew down here in June 2024 and stayed at an AirBnB to properly explore the area. Needless to say after a week here we knew that this place, the community, the biking, the infrastructure and the airport ticked all of our boxes.
We flew home, put our house on the market, sold it, and before we knew it had everything loaded up in a Uhaul bound for this new adventure. In short order we found our dream home here, bought it and moved in by Mid October. Talk about a whirlwind! Since arriving I've been hitting the trails every chance I get because being active again makes me feel good and, best of all, my back is feeling so much better! To have access to so many trails is beyond words important to me. I'm definitely not as good on my bike as I was on skis but I'm learning quickly and looking forward to eventually riding everything in the area. Thank you so much to all of the trail builders at Coler, Slaughter, Blowing Springs, Huntley and Hand Cut, you're making such a difference in my life and so many others'. You are appreciated.
Interested in sharing how the trails in Northwest Arkansas have positively impacted your life? Submit here!
