Blog
The Trails Fund builds your trails, but not without YOU!
Funding for trail projects comes in many forms, grants, contracts, major donors, and what we call #RiderPowered. Our #RiderPowered projects depend on the community collectively digging into their wallets and donating to build our Trails Fund.
More Great Trails - More Great People: New Hires and Promotions.
Your small, scrappy, trusty, professional and passionate Evergreen Team is getting bigger and better!
In 1989, we started with an all-volunteer crew and operated for a long time before hiring our first (part-time) employee and Executive Director, Justin Vanderpol in 2004. Justin then hired our first-ever staff trail builder, Mike Westra, forgoing half of his salary so Evergreen could afford to bring Mike on board!
Fast forward 18 years to today, and we're happy to say "Welcome and Congrats!!" to our expanding and evolving team. From our humble all-volunteer beginnings in 1989, we now employ nearly 100 staff in mid-summer, serving the whole state and supported by over 9,000 members - how amazing is that?
Read on to see who and what is new, and check out our whole team on the "Our Team" page, please reach out to each to help them celebrate their growth and new careers with Evergreen:
Next year could be off the charts for Evergreen, and as the new Statewide Board President, I have big boots to fill and I'm grateful to be part of this exciting time.
I moved to the Seattle area 12 years ago knowing the mountain biking would be amazing, even back then. I spent the first year digging some of the initial trails at Duthie Bike Park and riding the three trails at Tiger Mtn.
Fast forward to 2021, and Washington state has made its mark, as a destination and paradise for riders across the country.
A time to dig, ride and connect
Thirty women from around the state met below the Raging River trailhead above North Bend, some in their 20’s, others in their 50’s, new riders, racers, and freeride shredders, all movers and shakers in their part of the mountain bike community, invited to join forces for a day of trail work, party laps and fun in the rain to dig, ride and connect to build the women’s mountain bike community.
We are incredibly grateful to be a part of a collaborative, and supportive community of riders and businesses!
Evergreen supporters come in many shapes, sizes, and even flavors, and we love them all! Thanks to our Colab partners we are able to share their stoke of great trails with a great deal for you!
In addition to your ability to get a special offer on an all-around awesome group of products, each of our Colabs is generating revenue for Evergreen! That means that your purchase not only gets you a sick beer, bag of coffee, pair of shorts, or 1st Aid Kit - but, your trails will get some love too!
Read on to learn more!
Is your business interested in a partnership?
Each year we reach out to our chapters to find the outstanding volunteers who make Washington a great place to ride, and we honor them here.
Evergreen volunteers provide more than 25,000 hours of their time each year across the state.
Our volunteers build trails, maintain riding areas, cut trees, lead rides, serve on boards, coordinate chapter events and teach skills to hundreds of riders each year.
We wouldn't be where we are without our amazing volunteers, thank you all!
Volunteer instructors are some of the unsung heroes of Evergreen, known to only a few and doing good work for so many. With a passion for giving back, a love of spreading the stoke and helping others, volunteers are the backbone of Evergreen’s education program.
Check out what these education superstars accomplished this year:
- 100 volunteers lead education programs in six Evergreen’s chapters across the state
- Volunteers donated 750 hours of their time to teach, train, and plan programs and fellow riders
- Volunteers led 200 classes and camps
- Volunteers served 1500 students aged 6 – 65, from beginner to advanced!!
No matter our differences in backgrounds or how we choose to enjoy the great outdoors, trails create a common ground that connects us. Access to trails is a privilege we acknowledge and can only safeguard through our actions toward one another... Everyone deserves to pursue happiness in nature. Let’s rise together to ensure a positive trail experience for all.
Trails Are Common Ground
It's September...finally.
We love this time of year. After a long hot summer, we are ready for the change of season! Temps are cool, dirt is damp and tacky, sweaters are getting unpacked, and the riding is as good as it gets!
The Evergreen team enjoyed a full summer of trail work, camps, education programs, campouts, and rides going on all over the state. During the ride, or afterward hanging out with our friends, we often found ourselves reflecting on how good mountain bikers have it here in Washington, and how much work that takes.
Fall is also the time where we reach out to the riders of Washington to ask for their support and to become a member of the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance. We tell stories about how your support leads directly to great trails for you to ride. But rather than we tell you, we're going to leave it to Evergreen member Scott Edison. Scot has been a member since 2005, with over 140 personal contributions to Evergreen. It's an amazing level of dedication and support that we appreciate so much.
Scott's story offers a great perspective of how our sport, the riding, the equipment, and the capability of Evergreen have improved over the last 30 years, and how valuable your membership is. Although Scot's story applies specifically to his local riding area, Tiger Mountain, the same can be said about your local riding area. We've seen the same thing play out in every chapter and on so many trails around the state, including yours.
It's a story that we love to hear, we think you'll enjoy it too.