Trail Steward Awards
Trail Steward Hall of Fame
About the Trail Steward Hall of Fame:
2021 was the inaugural year of the Trail Stewards Hall of Fame. Inductees provide countless volunteer hours advocating, educating, building, and maintaining trails in Eagle County. Please join us in recognizing and thanking these incredible individuals that make our community a better place to live and recreate!
2021 Inductees:
Lee Rimel
Lee can be referred to as the “Godfather” of our trails in Eagle County. He has volunteered his time for decades advocating for and building trails in our community. If there is a trail, public lands, or recreation related proposal in the works you better believe that Lee is rallying the community to get involved and provide input to improve our trails, public lands access, and conservation values. He is constantly advocating for our trails with local leadership and land managers.
Lee is Board Emeritus of the VVMTA and you can read his full bio here.
Jamie Malin
Jamie is a co-founder of the VVMTA (former Vail Valley Mountain Bike Association). Before the VVMTA, he was one of many often stating, “they should build this” or “they should fix that.” Once he realized that “they” is actually “we”, the trail users, he took action and ownership and formed the VVMTA. He put his money where his mouth is and helped build a small group of 3-5 individuals building and maintaining trails in 2011 to over 1,000 volunteers annually working on our trails 10 years later.
Jamie continues to serve as President of the VVMTA Board of Directors as well as a mentor to staff. To read Jamie’s full bio visit our website here.
Casey Wyse
It’d be hard to find another individual who has put more time and labor into our trails than Casey has. Year after year he puts in 100+ volunteer hours on the trail digging by hand and on the mini-excavator. He uses his vacation time from his full-time job to build trails like Everkrisp and the Minturn Bike Park uphill trail. What many don’t see is the behind the scenes work Casey does as Treasury on the VVMTA Board of Directors.
Ever wonder where those sweet trail signs in the West Avon Preserve come from? Built right in Wildridge in Casey’s garage, on his own time and own costs. To read Casey’s bio please visit our website here.
Adam Palmer
Adam was a co-founder of the Hardscrabble Trails Coalition (HTC). He was often referred to as “El Presidente” because he was the President of the HTC for many years but mainly just because of who he was as a great human being and leader. Adam played a large role in turning Eagle’s singletrack trail system into the experience it is for our community. As many know, he did things Adam’s Way, hence the new trail that opened in 2021 dedicated in his name, culture, and style. He was a visionary that made big picture ideas come to reality, both in the trails world and in our community.
Adam tragically passed away in a backcountry avalanche accident in 2021 along with two other amazing individuals. To read more about Adam, this pretty much sums it up.
2022 Inductees:
Mark Luzar
Mark, aka “Director of Dirt”, is one of the original VVMTA members and trail crew leaders. He has regularly been a part of trail work projects for the past 10 years. In 2022 alone, he contributed over 160 hours of volunteer time on the trail. Two of the bigger recent trail projects that Mark contributed significant time to, are building Everkrisp and Belly Up. 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 (donation). Mark will be out there every season sustaining current, building new, and reclaiming old unsustainable trails: so get out there and have some fun with him!
Mark is a board member of the VVMTA and you can read his full bio here.
Michelle Wolffe
Michelle has had an incredible impact on our trails. She was on the VVMTA board for years before she took on the role as our first Adopt A Trail Coordinator in 2017. She spent 5 years running, building, and growing our AAT program into the incredible success it is today. Additionally, she led the creation and execution of our Wildlife Trail Ambassador program. Her leadership undoubtedly has led to thousands of trails and public lands stewards in our community.
We can’t thank her enough for the incredible work and dedication she put into growing these programs into the successes they are today!
Tim O’Donnell
Tim is a true trail ninja. You may not realize it but he is at every VVMTA Volunteer Trail Crew event, contributing countless volunteer hours to our trails. He has been riding and using trails in our valley for over 30 years and is a true pioneer of many of our trail systems. You will more than likely find him in tow with a rock bar (pictured here) or rock net. Thank you Tim for all you have done for our trails!
2023 Inductees:
Kathleen Sedillo
Kat is the Vice President of the VVMTA Board of Directors. She has been involved with the VVMTA since the beginning of the organization dating back to 2011. She has provided countless volunteer hours out on the trail with a tool, digging in the dirt. She may have even contributed more hours behind the scenes advocating for our trails through marketing and communication initiatives and outreach. She is a current member of the VVMTA Fundraising Crew and played a huge role in the success of our “Trails For All! Trails Forever.” summer fundraiser. Thank you Kat!
Cody Wyse
Cody has been a staple and leader of our Wednesday Night Trail Crew since it’s beginning. He has also been the Adopt A Trail team leader for East West since 2016. He played a quiet but huge role in brining the West Avon Preserve to life. You can thank him for putting hundreds (if not thousands) of hours out there building Saddleridge and Wyse Way (may or may not have happened before full approvals) to ensure these trails were brought to life for our community. Thank you Cody!
Laura Turitz
Laura has been a leader and driver of the Hardscrabble Trails Coalition since the beginning. She has provided countless hours behind the scenes advocating for trails and rallying the Eagle community around it’s valued trail system. She has had, and still does, have a huge positive community impact in Eagle. Many trails would not exist in Eagle without her advocacy and drive to bring them to the community. Thank you Laura.
Volunteer of the Year
About the Volunteers of the Year:
Volunteers of the Year are the folks who standout throughout the season. They show true leadership and a passion for our trails. They volunteer their time across many different aspects and give back to our trails community.
2021
Ellen Miller
Ellen Miller put in over 50 hours of volunteer time in 2021. She is a rockstar volunteer trail steward just as much as she is a rockstar legend of a mountaineer. She deeply values and protects our wilderness, trails, and wildlife. There’s a good chance you can find her at the Son of Middle Creek trailhead in the Spring educating trail users on the why and importance of seasonal wildlife closures and Leave No Trace Principles.
In 2021, Ellen enthusiastically volunteered her time to lead hikes on East Vail wilderness trails. She educated attendees about the value of wilderness, connection to nature and trail etiquette all while filling up garbage bags of trash left behind by uninformed or ignorant trail users. Surprise surprise, every hike was at full capacity and she is already looking forward to leading more in 2021. Thank you Ellen!
2022
Hailee Rustad
Hailee is the creator and leader of the VVMTA Ladies Trail Crew. In 2022, Hailee put in over 97 hours with the Ladies Trail Crew, VVMTA Volunteer Trail Crew, and with our Soul Dirt program. The Ladies Trail Crew put in a combined 453 hours of trail work in 2022 thanks to her recruitment, engagement, and fun!
Our 2021 Volunteer of the Year, Ellen Miller, had this to say about Hailee:
“Hailee has created something positive and unique, and she draws a nice number of participants to each session. I had the opportunity to speak with many women who would not ordinarily volunteer to do trail work if it wasn’t for this opportunity. Hailee pours her heart and soul into each event, making it not only a trail work session, but also a delightful Culinary experience!” and “She has mastered the art of being fun and easy going while being strong and inspiring. She is changing lives out on the trails.”
Jim Yurcak
Jim contributed over 40 hours of volunteer trail maintenance in 2022. He does not miss many Wednesday night VVMTA Volunteer Trail Crew or Tuesday night HTC Volunteer Trail Crew events. In 2022, he volunteered at 7 different trail projects including the Minturn Bike Park, Game Creek, Mill Creek, Boneyard, Turniphead, Extra Credit, and Charlie Brown. Thank you for all of your great trail work Jim!
2023
Lara Carlson
Lara contributed over 24 hours of volunteer time towards our trails in 2023. She is the Adopt A Trail team leader for Walking Mountains Science Center, completed our Trail Crew Leader Training, and overall awesome human being! Lara has led the Walking Mountains team and many youth on the trails surrounding their campus including Buck Creek and the Avon Overlook Trail. Thank you Lara!
Tim McCabe
Tim contributed over 35 hours of volunteer time on our trails in 2023. He showed up and volunteered his time at eight (8) different projects and events in 2023. These include Wednesday Night Trail Crew, Adopt A Trail team trail crews, Vail Craft Beer Classic, Vail Oktoberfest, and at Minturn Bike Park Ambassador work nights. Tim has been a solid volunteer for many years now and this award is well deserved. Thank you Tim!
Supporter of the Year
About the Supporters of the Year:
The Supporter of the Year awards goes to someone who supports our trails in many different ways through financial contributions, in-kind donations, connections, and volunteering with a shovel in hand.
2023
Chris Anderson
2023 is the first year of this award and we couldn’t think of a more deserving person than Chris. He has contributed to our trails as a donor, in-kind contribution of a bike for our Spring Membership Drive, gets us bikes for Soul Dirt at a significant discount, and puts a shove in the dirt numerous times per year as the Kind Bikes & Skis AAT team leader. Thank you Chris!
Soul Dirt Superstar of the Year
About the Soul Dirt Superstar of the Year:
The Soul Dirt Superstar of the Year is awarded to someone who shows the true passion and happiness for being out on our trails. This person comes to multiple events with smiles on their face and truly uplifts all of the other participants there. They believe that getting outside and on our trails improves our individual and community’s overall health, physically and mentally.
2022
Juan Carlos
One of our first and frequent participants, he is sure to make good use of his new bike! Juan Carlos came to every ride he could and helped out on trail maintenance days. Always eager to get on the bike, his joy was contagious! We hope his new bike will make it that much easier for him to enjoy all that our trails have to offer.
2023
Chantal Washington
Our second season of our Soul Dirt program came to an exciting end with the giveaway of a bike to recurring Soul Dirt participant Chantal Washington! Chantal showed up to many events, always having a smile on her face and uplifting everyone around her. We hope to see her out on the trails on her “new to her” bike for many years to come!
Volunteer Teams of the Year
About the Volunteer Teams of the Year:
Awarded annually, our volunteer team awards are for those who put in some quality work and time out on our trails. Ranging from Adopt A Trail teams to our Ladies Trail Crew and Wednesday Night Trail Crew, these volunteers put in some serious trail work that deserves some recognition.
2023
Eagle River Water & Sanitation District
Most AAT Team Volunteer Days – 4
Vail Club 50
Most Volunteer Hours – 115
BG Building Works
Best Post Party AAT Team
VVMTA Ladies Trail Crew
Trail Project of the Year – Minturn Bike Park
VVMTA Volunteer Trail Crew
Rock Work Team of the Year
Eagle County Dept. of Human Services
Adopt A Trail Team of the Year
