In early May, we hosted our Annual Meeting and celebrated our 40th anniversary. It was amazing to see so many friendly faces and reflect on 40 years of work by the Adirondack Ski Touring Council and the Barkeater Trails Alliance.

We were honored to be awarded a citation from Assemblyman Cashman recognizing BETA's impact and role within the community. Cashman spoke briefly about the importance of recreational trails as vital infrastructure and the majesty of the Adirondacks and the people who call it home.

Thank you so much to all the folks who came out to celebrate with us -- it was great to see you. Cheers to another 40 years!

Thanks to a huge outpouring of community support, we reached and surpassed our $8,500 goal in only three weeks. Because the Tool Drive Fundraiser goal was tied directly to a specific list of needed tools, we closed the public campaign on May 1st shortly after reaching our target.

Shortly after the campaign closed, an additional donor stepped forward and generously offered to purchase the power toter for BETA directly, bringing total restricted support connected to this effort to approximately $12,700. The additional funds raised will remain exclusively dedicated to future tool and equipment needs, including repairs, replacement tools, and equipment purchases in the seasons ahead.
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We are honestly blown away by the response to this fundraiser. Thank you to everyone who donated, shared the fundraiser, and helped make this happen. Because of your support, BETA staff and volunteers will head into this trail season well-equipped and ready to get to work.

​We are so excited to have Dusty Grant, Scott "Grover" Citari, and Chris Gosling back on staff for the 2026 season. Dusty has already been out and about doing trail work and meeting with Local Trail Committees to identify priority projects. Chris started his season at the beginning of the month and has been working with Dusty and Community Partners to plan volunteer work days. Scott will rejoin our ranks in mid-May. Good to have you back, fellas!

We've been fundraising for a wide assortment of tools for our trail crew and volunteers since early April and our community has really showed up.  We're rapidly approaching the end of the fundraiser -- whether we hit our $8.5K goal or reach May 8th -- and we wanted to give everyone a heads up that this is your last chance to snag a limited edition t-shirt as part of the fundraiser.  

Folks who donate $100+ to the Tool Drive Fundraiser can claim  the limited edition t-shirt pictured below.  If you want to get your hands on one of these shirts, we highly advise that you donate sooner rather than later. 

Thank you all so much for making this fundraiser such a success and so much fun to run.  It's clear that our community cares about the trails, the trail crew, and the volunteers all a great deal and that's always awesome to witness.

​After careful consideration, we have decided not to hold BETA’s Wilmington Mountain Bike Festival this year. 

One important reason that led us to make this decision is that Crankworx -- a massive international mountain biking festival -- is coming to Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec over Labor Day weekend which is when we have always hosted Bike Fest.

There are a number of other factors we considered, including a busy calendar of mountain biking events around the northeast, that made this the right call.

Bike Fest holds a special place in many people's hearts. It’s created a lot of good days, great memories, and connections that have lasted well beyond a single weekend. While we will not host Bike Fest this year, we remain committed to hosting events that build community around our shared love of trails and riding. We are planning other events across our region that do just that. For the latest updates, please visit our events page. 

Thank you to everyone who has been part of Bike Fest over the years, and to the volunteers, ride leaders, and partners who helped make it possible. It has been a joy to host it and we are excited to bring that energy to more events this season.

It's time for us to retire some of our most well-worn tools, grow our tool inventory, and add a few new items to the mix. The biggest acquisition is a tracked material hauler (AKA mechanized wheel barrow) for faster, less painful, and less dangerous hauling for years to come. We're also planning to order new hand tools, battery tools, chainsaw and personal protective equipment, and leaf blower.  The curious can find a bit more information later in this blogpost.

From now until May 8th, we're fundraising for these exciting tools.

Did You Know: The work done on Bob's Bridge (pictured below), the longest bridge built as part of the new Jackrabbit Ski Trail section at the Keene trailhead, was built entirely with personal tools? Power drills, saws, personal protective equipment (PPE), and more were lent by our dedicated and skilled trail crew. While their tool donation was incredibly generous, it is not sustainable nor fair.

We owe it to our staff, our volunteers, and our community to invest in tools that we own and can count on, but quality tools cost a pretty penny. We are prepared to invest in tools for the good of our community -- please help us make this much needed tool inventory update by donating to this fundraiser by May 8th.

This story was also featured in Adirondack Explorer in an article skillfully written by Tim Rowlands.  Thank you Tim for such a great piece about this project, the people involved, and the ceremony to celebrate it all.

​When we launched our Year-End Campaign in mid-November, we trusted that supporters would respond. What stunned us was how quickly and generously people stepped up. Thanks to this incredible community, we unlocked the full $20,000 match by mid-December, weeks earlier than anticipated. But you didn’t stop there.

All told, BETA raised more than $29,000 in community donations, for a total of over $49,000 with the match. That is remarkable – our biggest fundraiser ever!

This gives us a strong foundation for 2026 and allows us to keep investing in the trails. Trails that link us from place to place and person to person, that dare us to challenge ourselves, that invite us to connect with nature. Trails that bring our community together.

Because of your support, we look to 2026 with excitement and momentum. Thank you for making this amazing moment happen.