Board of Directors & Staff
Join our Board of Directors or a Committee
Interested in joining our Board of Directors or a Committee? Please review our commitment requirements and complete this interest form.
We review interested individuals on an annual rolling basis and when openings occur.
Jamie Malin, President
After juggling a fast paced career that left minimal time to play outdoors, Jamie decided to make a lifestyle change and move to the Colorado mountains full-time. He traded a suburban fenced lot for a million acres of national forest as their backyard. Jamie’s favorite rides are when he leaves his car at home and rides out his back door. He likes to go for long rides followed by a cold beverage. When he is not looking for the next VVMTA project Jamie is outside biking or skiing. Powder days and flowing singletrack are his happy place. If you want more great places to ride don’t standby and wait for someone else to make it happen, get involved.
Kat Sedillo, Vice President & Secretary
Kathleen “ Kat” Sedillo has been calling the Vail Valley home for more than two decades. When she is not out searching for the perfect singletrack on her mountain bike or the best snow on her skis, she is busy researching her next outdoor adventure to take with her husband Guy and their puppy dog, Ajei. As an OSI certified trail crew leader, USFS trail steward, and IMBA Trail Care Crew-trained, Kat is always eager to give back to her playground. She happily blisters her hands to help build and maintain world-class trails throughout Eagle County, CO with the VVMBA. Recently, Kat was appointed to the Town of Avon, CO Trails Committee. She knows that trails don’t just happen – Trail Fairies wear boots and are real!
Casey Wyse, Treasurer
After graduating high school in Wyoming and college in South Dakota, Casey Wyse was lucky to land in Colorado with his twin brother Cody in 1996. Already an avid skier, mountain biker, hiker, and overall outdoor enthusiast upon arrival, twenty plus years in Colorado added a few more blessings. Casey got to add husband, father, trail builder and crew leader to the words that can describe him. With two budding trail builders/mountain bikers in the works(Jane & Thomas) you can be assured to see Casey with family and friends improving, building and enjoying trails in the future. Earn your dirt.
Mark Luzar, Board Member, Director of Dirt
Mark came to the Vail Valley as “the” director of leisure time activities for his wife Pegasus and dogs, Winston and Grayson. After serving as a microelectronics mercenary for 28 years in the silicon mines of a few US cities, Muenchen, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Taizhong and Kokubungi the Chips fell his way. Why Vail? Pegasus has had family living in Minturn since the early 1950’s and it’s not such a bad place to practice Mark’s new career. He is one of the initial VVMBA members and is a trail crew leader for weekly grubbing and special events. He is stoked to see the growth of the local trail systems and thanks all of those who have participated with time and/or scratch. Mark will be out there every season sustaining current, building new, and reclaiming old unsustainable trails: so go have some fun with Winston and him on the trails (Grayson is a bit too senior to participate any more)!
Pete Seibert, Board Member
Pete Seibert Jr moved to Vail in 1962 for the first season of the fledgling ski area his father started. Three years of ski patrol in Vail lead to supervisory and management positions at Snowbasin, UT, Sun Valley, ID and Arrowhead Mountain now part of Beaver Creek. When the family grew from one child to three with a set of twins, Pete opted to stay in the valley and pursue a career in real estate. Now the fourth child is 26 and Pete has been in real estate 30 years. Pete and his partner, Kate Allan, live in the Chamonix neighborhood in West Vail, spending their time in the mountains on skis and bikes. They love to travel to Kate’s first home in Cape Town, South Africa. Pete volunteers with the Vail Veterans Program, sits on the Board of Directors of Access Unbound, is a member of the Minturn Economic Development Council, and member of the Town of Vail Planning & Environmental Commission.
Brian Rodine, Board Member
Brian loves nothing more than skiing and biking with his wife and daughter. Based in Minturn, he loves alpine late season rides and rocky descents. He also runs and backpacks wilderness trails that the VVMTA maintains, because life outdoors in the mountains is great. His biggest ask is that if you support trails, write a email to your local government telling them that!
Fritz Bratschie, Board Member
Fritz moved to the valley in the late 2000’s from Michigan. He’s been involved in the local trail and racing scene ever since when not at his day job as a Sustainability Manager or with his wife and dogs ripping turns behind his ski boat.
Megan Carter, Board Member
Megan (she/they) is unapologetically from the Pacific Northwest, where she decided early on that she wanted to find a way to “work at summer camp forever” and received a BA in outdoor recreation and environmental education from Western Washington University. With that degree and a childhood full of soggy outdoor adventures, she would go on to take a variety of outdoor roles across the western US from national park ranger to raft guide, climbing coach, boat builder and more. Her adventures and array of outdoor jobs brought her to Colorado in May of 2017. Since then, she has held roles locally at Eagle Climbing and Fitness, Vail Rec District, Ptarmigan Sports, and Walking Mountains Science Center where she earned her wilderness first responder certification. She now is the Outdoor Recreation Supervisor for Mountain Recreation, working closely with partners like VVMTA and others across the valley to ensure everyone in Eagle County has equitable access to the outdoors. She resides in Eagle with her adventure partner Anna, and when she has a minute to play outside herself, she can be found squeezing in a Mayer Gulch lap or getting out on her SUP. She also enjoys cheering on the Seattle Kraken, skiing at Ski Cooper, and is proud to also serve on Mountain Pride’s Board of Directors.
Robert Tadlock, Board Member
(Hardscrabble Trails Coalition President)
As of January 2020, Robert is the new Hardscrabble Trails Coalition President (HTC). Robert is just a guy in town that likes to ride bikes and ski. He’s lived in Eagle a little over 5 years and loves the community. He joined HTC to help maintain trails and bring a little progressive push to new trails and riding areas. His favorite trail in town is Mike’s Night Out and he can often be found biking around Eagle and Gypsum. The VVMTA is excited to add Robert’s knowledge, insight, and passion to our board and trails community!
Board Emeritus
Lee Rimel, Board Emeritus
A native of Pennsylvania, Lee moved to Denver in 1969 where he was the founder and co-owner of an integrated real estate company. After selling his business in 1984, he moved to Vail with his two children, Wendy & Brent, so they could enjoy the benefits of growing up in a unique mountain-town environment. Lee retired from the Real Estate business December 31, 2016 to pursue his dream of building cabins that would become a part of the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association. Two cabins are now constructed, the Continental Divide Cabin and the Point Breeze Cabin. They occupy a unique 20 acres on the Continental Divide, 10 miles North of Leadville Colorado, the acreage completely surrounded by National Forest.
Lee has been long active in community activities. He was a founder of the Colorado Manufactured Housing Association, served as Treasurer for the Vail Board of Realtors, worked with Jimmie Heuga during the formative years of Can DO MS (formerly the Heuga Center), organized the Gore Valley Soccer Club, was on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Mountain Club, served on the Colorado State Parks Trails Committee, is co-founder of Unity of the Mountains Church and co-founded Eagle County Adopt A Trails, AAT, which coordinates with the Forest Service volunteer trail improvements & maintenance on 50 trails. The AAT Team was awarded the “Chief’s Award”, one of only 12 awarded nationally, in 2018, The award was presented in Washington, DC by the United States Forest Service. Lee currently resides in Edwards, CO with his life partner, Gracie Campbell. When not adventuring with Gracie or playing with his Grandchildren, Keegan, Chase and Kaiya, or serving his community, Lee is found hiking, back-packing, canoeing, backcountry skiing, camping and biking in Colorado’s mountains and Utah’s Red Rock Country. Among his recreational accomplishments are climbing all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, mountain biking extensively in Moab, Utah, sailing in the Caribbean and rafting the Colorado River from Grand Junction, CO to Lake Mead.
Executive Director
Ernest Saeger, Executive Director
Ernest came to the Vail Valley in 2014 to work on events such as the GoPro Mountain Games and the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships. Prior to that he ran so many events all over the country that he can’t even remember them all. Luckily one of those events landed him in West Virginia and North Carolina where he began to mountain bike and backpack and quickly fell in love with trails, mountains, and outdoor recreation. He currently resides in Eagle with his adventure partner Hailee. Ernest believes that like the reward of a downhill after a long climb or setting a skin track, trail work provides that same “earn your turns” satisfaction. When you can’t find him on a trail or skis, you’ll most likely still find him on the river, and if not there then he’s in an ice rink. Ernest is also a member on Vail Mountain Rescue. He is truly excited to help bring new and improved trails to our community for all to enjoy for many years to come.
Trail Operations Manager
Sam Chipkin, Trail Operations Manager
Sammy grew up riding BMX bikes in New York City. Transitioned to racing downhill throughout college and has spent most of his time in Colorado on a trail bike. While living in Minturn, right near the new bike park, there was a pull back to his roots and the dirt jumper came out of the shed. Sam moved to the Vail Valley in 2012 and has been involved with the VVMTA as a volunteer for a lot of that time. It isn’t hard to take a great volunteer and hire them. Sam is thrilled to have an opportunity to work with our local community to maintain and improve a cherished resource in our valley, our trails.
Program Manager
Shawna Wood, Program Manager
Originally from Chicago, Shawna moved to Colorado in 2005 after being accepted to Colorado State University to study natural resources. Now an Eagle resident, dog mom and experienced nature lover, you can find her biking, rafting or on one of her boards — snow, split or paddle. An avid outdoor recreationist, Shawna is eager to get outside and share her love for the trails with the community.
Development & Engagement Manager
Nicky Asselin, Development & Engagement Manager
Back in 1998 Nicky moved to Vail to start her career in marketing with her husband Greg. They only spent two years in the valley but the love of all things Vail never left their heart. In 2014, after a brief detour to Denver, they decided they had to move back up to share this life with their two boys. The first organization she joined was the Hardscrabble Trails Coalition in Eagle and quickly fell in love with all things trails and the amazing community. She is truly excited to be a part of the VVMTA in a position that combines all of her passions, giving back to everything that she loves the most. When she’s not out biking, skiing, golfing, or hiking you can find her in Fruita, Moab, Lake Powell or surfing in California.
2023 Season - Trail Conservation Crew
Sam Armstrong – Champ, TCC Crew Leader
Born and raised in New England, Sam is a nature lover by default. During his early teenage years, Sam volunteered for trail work to gain community service credits in high school, not realizing it would lead to his passion for many summers to follow. Sam loves getting out on any trail, hiking, biking, or skiing and enjoys sending time in creeks trout fishing. His goal for the summer is to bag is first 14er and go line dancing.
Bay Stephens, TCC Crew Leader
Bay was born in the Vail hospital and raised on the valley’s trails. Time in the mountains with his dad as a kid taught him 1) to enjoy the uphill as much as the downhill and 2) that it’s not an adventure until something goes wrong. He attended Montana State University in Bozeman to ski, kayak, mountain bike, and (of course) learn things in school. During his summers he raft guided and safety kayaked here in the valley for Sage Outdoor Adventures. After school, Bay did a stint as a journalist in Big Sky, got married, tried to spend a year in Ireland, got booted back stateside by a pandemic, spent a year in Tennessee, then nine months living out of a short bus. Finally, his wife, Katie, landed a fellowship at Walking Mountains Science Center in Avon, bringing Bay back home. Last season was his first on VVMTA’s trail crew, followed by a winter as a ski patroller at Beaver Creek. He’s stoked for another summer on the trail. Although Bay loves the mountain sports we enjoy here, he delights as much in an afternoon spent reading in a hammock.
Molly DeLaloo, Trail Stewardship Coordinator
Although Molly grew up in the Green and White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, the peaks of Colorado were calling. She has been working in education for the past few years but uses any chance she can to spend time on the trails. Molly can usually be found running up Berry Picker in Vail or springing over to Moab to get some desert riding in (and eating post-ride potato chips). She is stoked to be part of the TCC this season!
Jack Smith, TCC Crew
Jack is returning for his second season with VVMTA and is excited for his first season with the Trail Crew. Last summer he filled our role as Wilderness Ranger where he hiked over 600 miles and his tent became his second home. Jack originally came to Colorado to chase his love of snowboarding and instructs at Beaver Creek in the winters. While he still straps in over 100 days a season, his time in the Vail Valley has drawn him to many other outdoor activities like splitboarding, mountain biking, and trail running. If Jack’s not recreating outside, he’s probably at a concert, drinking a bloody mary, or helping improve our trails through VVMTA!
Trey Dever, TCC Crew
Originally from Kenosha, Wisconsin. Trey moved to the valley about two and a half years ago, and quickly fell in love with the mountains and nature of the area. Some of Trey’s favorite outdoor activities include; hiking, biking, camping, and swimming. During his first year on trail crew, Trey is extremely excited to be apart of this organization and see the difference our team has made at the end of season.
Jay Spaly, TCC Crew
Jay moved to Colorado in 2015 for the love of hiking and snowboarding. After first working as a Corrective Exercise Specialist, he made a career change to pursue a more active and outdoors lifestyle. Since then, he has traveled around the world and trekked mountains on 5 continents. He now strives to better understand the outdoors in his own backyard and contribute to conserving the trails in Eagle Country.
Gregg Salaz, TCC Crew
Born in Pueblo, CO and raised in the Vail Valley, Gregg truly loves to call these hills and mountains home. While working in a local Italian restaurant in Eagle called Pastatively, Gregg has a background in the food industry spending most of his time bringing pasta to the people! Following high school Gregg spent a few years dialing in the art of ski bumming in Steamboat Springs where he went to school at Colorado Mountain College. In his free time you’ll find Gregg wandering the trails and mountain tops with his girlfriend and her two dogs. Sometimes trying to catch fish in the rivers and creeks. Often times chasing as much powder as he can find, and occasionally trying to bring out his inner monkey scaling the sides of cliffs.
Dominique Derouen, TCC Crew
Dominique was born and raised in Colorado and fell in love with the mountains and skiing. Upon moving up to Eagle County she has been out gardening, hiking, stand up paddle boarding, and skiing. When she discovered trail conservation she set her heart on preserving the trails that she fell in love with with the TCC crew. This summer she hopes to explore one cave to try something new.
Zosia Skiba, TCC Intern
Zosia was born and raised in the Vail Valley where she grew a love for mountain biking. After racing her mountain bike in the valley for the last 6 years she decided to branch out and find new trails to ride. She currently attends Montana State University and is joining VVMTA as an intern this summer in hopes to learn more about trails and land conservation. She is excited to be back for the summer and help be a part of the community that not only rides our amazing trails but gives back to them.
