Unofficial Trail Authority · FN-3 · Revised 7 November 2026 · https://trailauthority.org/notices/fn-3/ · Uncontrolled copy when printed. The Unofficial Trail Authority is an independent fictional organization. It is not a government agency or land-management authority.
FN-3 · In force
Minimum Viable Gnarliness
Fun is a condition that can be kept or lost. The Authority proposes a minimum: the trail should still be interesting to a person who came to ride, not merely to arrive without incident.
A line that has been graded, widened, or explained until nothing remains to negotiate is below the minimum. The remedy is not a fresh line invented on the way down. The remedy is to stop removing the part that made the descent worth doing again. Directive EC-14 already forbids that removal when the feature belongs to its builders.
Gnarliness, in this standard, means the feature still asks a question. It does not mean the largest available hazard, and it does not mean a surprise inflicted on someone who has not agreed to it. The question should be visible enough to accept or to decline. A decline is a complete result. Once the question is accepted, it should not have been filed down by the previous group for the sake of their nerves.
Company belongs in the minimum. A difficult trail ridden alone because no one was asked is a thinner good than the same trail ridden with the people who wanted to be there. The office counts the speed, and it counts the friends.