Women Trail Builders Spotlight: Ama Koenigshof
Ama Koenigshof: A Trail Builder’s Journey from Michigan to IMBA Trail Solutions
Get to know Ama Koenigshof! Ama grew up in Niles, Michigan, tearing around on go-karts and motorcycles, and roguing seed corn fields at just 11. With a fierce ‘prove you wrong’ attitude, she’s embraced every challenge, including taking up mountain biking in her thirties to stay connected to the evolving trails industry. She’s not hitting big jumps, but you’ll find her putting in the work creating and designing trails with a smile.
Background: Early Life, Riding History, and Finding Bikes Later
Interview Question: Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? When did you start riding?
I grew up in Niles, Michigan, a small town in the southwest corner of the lower peninsula. It is a place filled with cornfields, lakes, rivers, and creeks to explore, and I grew up ripping around my family’s property on go-karts and motorcycles or on a sled pulled behind a plow truck.
My first job, when I was 11, was roguing seed corn fields with a bunch of high school aged boys. I have always had a strong “I will prove you wrong. I can do anything that boy can do, but better” kind of attitude. For better or worse, that attitude has gotten me through incredible, beautiful, insane, difficult circumstances both in the frontcountry and the backcountry and brought me to where I am today in the trail industry.
My dad built my first big girl bike out of parts I assume he got from a junkyard. We sand blasted it and splatter painted it white, pink, and teal. It had pink tires. It was beautiful, but I preferred moving faster and spent a lot more time on things with engines.
I did not get my first inkling that bikes could be fun until high school when I borrowed a decent road touring bike to lead a cycling class as a summer camp counselor. After college, I finally got my own fast bike and it became my main means of transportation. I was a road warrior with that bike and it went with me to trail jobs all over the country.
If you ever saw a lady with a full pack and work boots riding through the streets of Tucson, Arizona at 3am, that was me on my way to my work rig.
I did not get into mountain biking until I was in my thirties, and I did not enjoy it at first. I started mountain biking because it is the part of the trails industry that is innovating and growing. I wanted to be part of that.
There is a stigma against builders who do not use the trails they build. So I started mountain biking, not at my own pace, which made it more terrifying than fun. But I am stubborn and eventually found places to ride that made it easier to get comfortable, build my skills, and enjoy myself.
I am not someone who is hitting big jumps or doing tricks. I am a cautious rider. But more days than not, I am out on my bike with a smile on my face.
Getting Started in Trail Building: From Service Trips to Career Path
Interview Question: How did you first start getting into trail building?
I was super involved with a student organization called Alternative Breaks in college. It is a student-driven organization that brings together students who do not know each other to go on service learning trips during their academic breaks. Through that I got into land stewardship and trails, with my first big foray into trails being with the Cumberland Trail Conference in Tennessee.
I started getting land stewardship and trail jobs in the summer during college and then worked on backcountry trail crews throughout the country year round.
There was a point where I realized I could either go back to school and get a graduate degree in environmental science and likely end up mostly in an office, or I could commit to trails and build a career through the skills I was gaining.
I knew there were very few people who stick with trails long term and even fewer women. I saw that as an opportunity to become one of the best in the field and stuck with it.
Women in Trail Building: Progress, Challenges, and Culture
Interview Question: What is it like being a woman trail builder in the current trail building climate?
For me it is the best it has ever been. Transitioning into construction management on the IMBA Trail Solutions team has been the easiest transition I have ever made. There was no period of needing to prove myself, just a welcome to the team and get to work.
Being a trail builder is tough work, no matter your gender. You are working hard in all weather conditions, often traveling or living in the woods, and balancing a demanding lifestyle.
There is also a unique loneliness in being the only female on a large worksite and acting as the site manager. Toughness in women is not always rewarded in our society, even though the work demands it.
Design Philosophy: Building Trails for Community, Not Ego
Interview Question: What unique perspective do you bring to trail building?
A lot of people get into trails because they love riding them. I am a trail builder because I love construction, finding creative solutions, being outside, and teamwork.
Because of this, I come to projects with less bias about what I want the trail to be and more openness toward what the client and the community need the trail to be.
My job is to figure out how to build what the community needs, both now and in the future, with finite resources while respecting the landscape. My job is not to build something I think is dope, although that is an added bonus.
Barriers and Realities: Challenges Women Face on the Job Site
Interview Question: What are the biggest obstacles you face being a woman trail builder?
Finding a place to pee.
Getting my coworkers to understand that just because I solve a problem differently does not mean it is less efficient.
Walking that tightrope of having to be a badass to gain respect but not so much of a badass that I am intimidating.
And the never-ending assumption that a man somewhere else on the project site is in charge.
Growing the Industry: How to Empower More Women Trail Builders
Interview Question: How can we encourage and empower more women trail builders?
By doing what you are doing with this series.
By showing women that there are other women out there who are making it happen.
By women getting into positions of leadership within the trail industry and helping shift what qualities define a good builder.
And by recognizing that public trails should be built by people who better represent the public.
Favorite Trail Project: The Bear Mountain Appalachian Trail Reroute
Interview Question: What is your favorite trail that you have ever worked on?
I have a special place in my heart for the Bear Mountain Trails Project. It was a three-mile reroute of the Appalachian Trail in Bear Mountain State Park in New York.
It was a massive project, with volunteers and conservation corps members building thousands of five-foot-wide stone stairs.
I managed that project from Fall 2012 to Spring 2017 and learned just as much from the volunteers and conservation corps members as they did from me.
Favorite Trails to Ride: Flow, Freedom, and Whiskey Run
Interview Question: What is your favorite trail to ride?
I love a nice hub-and-spoke flow trail system but I am just as happy riding side roads around the valley where I live with a friend on a sunny day or even when it is sleeting. I just like moving through the landscape.
I do have a soft spot for Whiskey Run in Bandon, Oregon. It is where I first felt comfortable riding trails and where I went to get back into mountain biking after I broke my back.
There is a lot of progression in the system and loop options that allow you to choose your own adventure.
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This article originally appeared in Volume 2, Issue 2 of Trail Builder Magazine.
Emily Williams
Emily Williams started riding mountain bikes about a decade ago in Central Oregon. The time spent with friends out in the woods was what made her fall in love with mountain biking. Emily’s background is in youth development and sports management.
