01Jan 2022 by Neyman, Jenny

Besh Cup Jan. 15 & 16

Events

Volunteers needed! Tsalteshi is hosting Besh Cup races Jan. 15 and 16 at the Skyview Trailhead, and we need your help! Besh Cup is the premier cross country skiing competition series in Alaska, used to select the Alaska Teams to the Junior Olympic National Championships. It’s a phenomenal opportunity for our young skiers, ages 10 and up, to get experience racing at a high level with a home-trails advantage. Besh Cup draws hundreds of skiers from around the state and it takes a small army to make the races happen. This is a great way to support the peninsula’s youth skiers. Please help! 70 volunteers needed Training provided, no prior experience necessary. Youth volunteers welcome. This is an outdoor event — dress accordingly. We will have warm-up sheds for our…

01Jan 2022 by Neyman, Jenny

2022 Tsalteshi Ski for Women

Events

The 18th annual Tsalteshi Ski for Women is Sunday, Feb. 13, at the Skyview Trailhead. (Same day as that TV sportsball thingy... Don't worry, you'll be home in time for kickoff, if that's your jam.) Costumes encouraged (and rewarded)! Prizes for the first three finishers in the 5k skate and classic races and raffle prizes available for all. Register online in advance and save. Bib pickup is 9:45-10:45 a.m. Feb. 13, with the race starting at 11 a.m. The main event is for the ladies but guys can play, too — wear your feminine finery and ski in the Drag Race (make a donation at bib pickup, no preregistration necessary). Proceeds benefit a local charity serving women.

01Jan 2022 by Neyman, Jenny

2022 Tour of Tsalteshi

Events

The fifth annual Tour of Tsalteshi is Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, at the trailhead behind Skyview Middle School. A 40-kilometer freestyle race — two laps around the trails — starts at 11:30 a.m. A 20-kilometer race — one lap around the trails, with freestyle and classic divisions — starts shortly thereafter. New this year is a 20-kilometer fat-tire bike event, in partnership with Cook Inletkeeper, starting at 2 p.m. Prizes will be awarded for the first three men and women finishers in each race and raffle drawings will be available to all participants. Awards will be given at a post-race party starting at 3 p.m. at Kenai River Brewing in Soldotna. Discounts are available for early registration, TTA members and members of neighboring ski clubs. The first 150 to register…

06Dec 2021 by Neyman, Jenny

Embrace the Brrr — film fest and annual meeting Dec. 11

Events

Tsalteshi Trails Association will hold its annual membership meeting and screening of the 2021-2022 Backcountry Film Festival, "Embrace the Brrr," from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 11 in the conference rooms at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the membership meeting at 6:30 p.m. and films starting at 7 p.m. Admission is free for Tsalteshi members and $20 for nonmembers. Renew or start a membership now and get in free! Admission includes one free beer or root beer from Kenai River Brewing, with additional beverages available for purchase. Find out what's new at the trails, heard from Board of Directors candidates and celebrate winter with the BFF! Check out the trailers here: https://winterwildlands.org/backcountry-film-festival Contact info@tsalteshi.org for more questions or more information.

06Dec 2021 by Neyman, Jenny

Application period open for TTA Board seats

TTA Board of Directors

Tsalteshi Trails Association is accepting applications for four seats on the TTA Board of Directors. Ideal board candidates are passionate about the trails and want to work toward improving the management, sustainability and function of the TTA organization and the trails and build a strong community within our user groups. Here’s an opportunity to do just that! Use your energy and expertise to improve the trails Work within our mission, vision and values Work toward accomplishing our strategic plan objectives Participate in events and programs on the trails Do you have experience in finance/accounting, leadership, trail design/maintenance or recreational management? Are you a skier, biker, runner and/or walker who is passionate about the trails system? Consider applying! Must be a member in good standing of the Tsalteshi Trails Association for…

23Nov 2021 by Neyman, Jenny

Tsalteshi Tree Ski

Events

Help Tsalteshi brighten up winter with the Tsalteshi Tree Ski! We're looking for volunteers to sponsor and decorate trees on the Moose Loop by Skyview Middle School. Provide your own decorations, decorate your tree by Dec. 17 and take them down after Jan. 8. Tsalteshi members will vote for their favorite tree and the winner will get a Viewer's Choice Award. All TTA members who vote for their favorite tree will be put in a raffle for prizes, as well. Businesses, organizations, families, friends, groups of complete strangers who happen to like holiday decorating — come one, come all! We've got small, medium and large trees available, with the tallest requiring something to climb on or a pole to place decorations — but don't worry, we're not assigning any 30-footers.…

22Nov 2021 by Neyman, Jenny

Bylaws update

TTA Board of Directors

The Tsalteshi Trails Association Board of Directors has been working on updating the TTA Bylaws, to better reflect growth in the organization and current operating procedures. Proposed changes are available for review below, as well as existing bylaws, revised in 2019. Most changes are inconsequential — formatting and grammatical cleanup. Proposed changes of any substance are highlighted in yellow. Submit comments to info@tsalteshi.org by Dec. 5 for our Board to review before voting on changes. TTA Bylaws Nov. 2021 TTA Bylaws March 2019

16Oct 2021 by Neyman, Jenny

Tsalteshi receives Outstanding Organization Award

General

[caption id="attachment_4230" align="alignnone" width="300"] ARPA members take a tour of Tsalteshi Trails on Oct. 7 during the conference in Soldotna[/caption] Tsalteshi Trails Association is thrilled to have received the 2020 Outstanding Organization Award from the Alaska Recreation and Park Association. ARPA held a conference in Soldotna Oct. 6-7, including taking a bike tour of area trails. The award recognizes entities that make great contributions to their community and to the improvement of recreation in Alaska. Tsalteshi was recognized for its efforts to meet the increase in users when COVID hit, stepping up maintenance, grooming and programming to make sure we had a safe, fun and welcoming place for people to get out and enjoy. [caption id="attachment_4231" align="alignnone" width="300"] Sen. Peter Micciche presents Jordan Chilson, secretary of the Tsalteshi Trails Association Board of…

16Oct 2021 by Neyman, Jenny

New signage

General

New trail signs are going up throughout Tsalteshi this fall. We started with the Slikok main trails and are working on the Wolverine-Porcupine-Vole section off K-Beach now. We'll tackle as much of the other trails as we can before the ground freezes too hard. Keep an eye out for the green kiosks for our newly updated maps. We're getting loop names on all our newest trails. And we've heard from enough of you, who have mistakenly taken longer-than-intended routes back to your vehicles, that you sometimes just want to be done when you want to be done. We get it! You'll find lots more signs showing the shortest way back to the K-Beach and Slikok parking lots, Isaak Road and the school. Thank you to the 100 Women Who Care…

14Oct 2021 by Neyman, Jenny

Vandalism

Safety

Tsalteshi has seen a rash of vandalism recently. Several signs between the Skyline neighborhood and Skyview Middle School have been ruined — scraping off letters to leave profanity and racial slurs. Signs are expensive to replace, and every cost we incur to repair vandalism is money taken away from grooming, lights, parking lot plowing and all the other things we do to keep the trails safe and fun. If anyone sees or hears of anyone tampering with signage, please let us know. Please also remember to keep your vehicles locked and valuables secured. A trail user had a pair of skis stolen from their vehicle in the Wolverine lot recently. We like to think theft doesn’t happen at our happy place, but you never know. Let’s not give thieves easy targets.