Membership revenue is a huge chunk of Tsalteshi’s annual operational budget, helping us pay for everything from trail grooming to toilet paper for the outhouse. Tsalteshi Trails Association is a nonprofit organization, not part of a municipal parks department. Our budget is covered through memberships, donations and grants. Costs have steadily increased over the last five years — fuel, equipment maintenance, insurance, even that toilet paper costs more these days. Tsalteshi is facing a growing deficit in our operational budget if we don’t make up the difference. Our board spent a lot of time crunching numbers and decided it’s time to adjust membership rates. (We also spent a lot of time trying to figure out the last time rates were changed and it’s been so long no one could remember for sure. Safe to say it’s been well over a decade.)
Membership benefits: Tsalteshi members get discounted admission to Tsalteshi events and activities, can qualify for the Tsalteshi Track Patch, can run for our Board of Directors and can vote in board elections. Plus, you get the warm and fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re doing your part to keep up the trails.
Starting Nov. 1, memberships will switch to a new rate structure. The new structure includes tiers to recognize how often you use the trails. Some of you are out here once in a while, others are on the trails multiple times a week, year-round. Please think about how much the trails mean to you and how often you use them and select your membership level accordingly:
- Student — Tsalteshi is the premier facility for cross-country running and skiing practices and races on the central peninsula. It’s always been a priority for us to groom the trails and provide race supplies for school teams to use, even if that means our volunteers are out working in the middle of the night before an event. We don’t get any funding from the school district or borough to do so. Student memberships help cover some of those costs. We ask that all students on cross-country teams who use Tsalteshi and who participate in our youth ski and bike programs have a membership so we can afford to keep rolling out the white corduroy carpet for our kids.
- Basic — Do you visit the trails once in a while? Get out to ski, hike, run or bike once a month or so? This tier is for you. Tsalteshi is a rare exception to Nordic ski facilities in the country because there is no daily admission fee to use our trails. In the Lower 48, you’d be paying $20 or more for a one-time visit to a trail system. You don’t even pay a parking fee to visit Tsaltehsi. If you want to support the trails and have the benefits of membership but aren’t out here daily or weekly, this tier is for you.
- Active — Are you more than a once-in-a-while visitor but aren’t on the trails weekly or more? If you can give directions to the Wolf loop or find the Slikok parking lot without having to ask (we do have a highway sign in the works!), this tier is for you. OR you’re a seasonal warrior. You tear it up in ski season or bike season but ghost us the rest of the year. (That’s OK, we’re happy to see you when you come back.)
- Year-Round — Could your mail be forwarded to Tsalteshi? Is your vehicle recognizable to other Tsalteshi regulars? Can you find your way to all our trails and back to the parking lot without a map? If you use the trails weekly or more throughout the year, this is your tier.
Want to support the trails but don’t want a membership? If you don’t use the trails yourself but you want to see us continue our mission of providing a venue for healthy, human-powered outdoor activity, please make a donation.
Thank you for supporting the trails!
Tsalteshi annual membership rates, as of Nov. 1:
- Student $25
- Individual Basic $50
- Individual Active $75
- Individual Year-Round $100
- Family (up to 5) Basic $150
- Family (up to 5) Active $200
- Family (up to 5) Year-Round $250
If you’d like to renew with the current rates, do so by Oct. 31.
We’re also researching other membership software programs. We know ours can be a bear! In the meantime, if you run into any problems logging into your account or starting or renewing a membership, please let us know!