About NAMBA Niseko Area Mountain Bike Association
The NAMBA Story
Why NAMBA exists
The Allegra Partnership
Growth Timeline
Six mountain bikers in Niseko look at the mountains around them and see year-round potential. They start figuring out how to build a nonprofit from scratch.
Officially founded as an NPO. The founding board comes together. Trail design goes out to tender, and Allegra win by unanimous vote. Kutchan town grants us permission to rent the land that becomes Twin Peaks. COVID visa lead times for Allegra's crew cut the first build window short, but we still finish Ezo Shika and the upper part of Easy Ryder, all built under a 1m trail-width restriction and without cutting down a single tree.
Our biggest build window yet, the fastest-growing project Allegra had ever seen. Sponsorship is tricky, but every trail finds a backer. We learn (the hard way) that every excavation has to be revegetated before opening, so the community shows up: volunteers building bridges, installing signage, hand-seeding grass. On 16 September, Twin Peaks opens to the public. That summer, Hokkaido hosts its first Soil Searching event. At the closing weekend, Grand Hirafu approach us about building at their resort.
Work begins at Grand Hirafu: new trail goes in and the existing Kaikan is reworked, with a future link to Twin Peaks in mind. At Twin Peaks, the rocky upper section we'd been wrestling with the year before becomes Taki Tech, the park's first double-black. Dirty Dames launches with 30+ women at the opening ride.
Cruise Control opens and becomes one of the park's most-loved trails. So does Twin Peaks' first jump line, paired with a dedicated climb trail for hot laps. Loic Bruni visits to ride and to discuss a new project with NAMBA and Nico Vink. Building begins at Hanazono.
Hanazono opens in summer 2026, joining the network. Grand Hirafu shifts operations to the new Ace Gondola, with new singletrack going in. The vision the founders sketched in 2021, one connected Niseko riding region, is becoming the map.
Questions about NAMBA
Why does NAMBA do this? What's in it for you?
Honestly, it started for a selfish reason. In 2021 six of us wanted somewhere decent to ride our bikes, and we knew nobody else was going to build what we wanted. Since then some of us have had children, and we want them to grow up with trails like these on their doorstep. These days we're asking a bigger question: why can't Niseko be a world-class mountain bike destination? Financial gain has never been what drives us, and nobody on our board takes a salary or any personal payment from NAMBA.
Is anyone at NAMBA paid?
NAMBA pays salaries to its trail crew, who maintain the trails and run Twin Peaks day to day, and to nobody else. Every board member, the founders and auditor included, is an unpaid volunteer, and board salaries have been ¥0 every year since NAMBA became an NPO in 2022. Companies that work for us, such as Allegra, which designs and builds the trails, are paid for that work.
Do board members' businesses make money from NAMBA?
Three of them are paid for services. Holiday Niseko, run by co-founder Ashley Nicholls, houses Allegra's trail-building crew at a heavily discounted rate. Mina-Kamuy Legal Services, founded by our auditor Satoshi Yoshida, handles NAMBA's legal work, and North Design, founded by board member Hiroshi Yamada, makes our trail signage. All three give NAMBA a discount because we're a nonprofit. We check every arrangement for conflicts of interest, and any other company is welcome to quote so we can compare prices. Like everyone on the board, none of them takes a salary from NAMBA, and several board members' businesses also sponsor us.
Where does the money come from, and where does it go?
NAMBA has raised over ¥196 million since 2022. About 74% comes from local businesses and resorts, 11% from cycling and outdoor brands, 8% from grants and subsidies, and 7% from riders through donations, merchandise and fundraising. Of what we spend, 84% goes on building trails and 11% on maintaining them and running the parks. Marketing and events take 2%, and admin 3%. The year-by-year figures are on our Impact page.
Why is Twin Peaks free? Who pays for it?
Anyone can ride Twin Peaks, and we want it to stay that way: you don't need a ticket, a membership or a booking. The sponsors, grants and donations above pay to build and maintain it. NAMBA also builds trails with the Grand Hirafu and Hanazono resorts. Those trails are served by the resorts' lifts, so riders there need a lift pass from the resort.
Is NAMBA a registered nonprofit?
Yes. NAMBA has been a registered NPO (tokutei hieiri katsudō hōjin) since 2022. Like every Japanese NPO, it files an activity report and accounts each year.
