For the first time in its eight-year history, the Tour of Tsalteshi has been canceled.
The event, which is ski and fat bike races held on the trail system just outside of Soldotna, made it through the pandemic without having to cancel, but it could not survive the low snow winter of 2024-25.
Jenny Neyman, the administrative coordinator for the Tsalteshi Trails Association, said the decision to cancel the race was a tough one because there still is good skiing on sections of the trails.
“If conditions were either 20% better or 20% worse, it would have been a much easier decision, because it’s skiable,” she said. “There are some trouble spots, and they are in some pretty important pinch points, and there’s nothing in the forecast that’s going to make any of that better.”
Neyman said those pinch points and corners would only get worse with the traffic of the race, leading to unsafe conditions with which the organizers were not comfortable.
There will still be a ski event at the Tsalteshi’s trailhead on Kalifornsky Beach Road. For no fee, skiers and bikers can come and ski or bike the trails. The event will run from noon to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16.
The race will then still host a party at Kenai River Brewing at 3 p.m. There also is no fee to get into the party.
“The lower trails are still in pretty good shape,” Neyman said. “They do not get the level of traffic that the upper trails do.
“They avoid the trouble spots and pinch points we’re struggling with on the upper trails.”
The ski trails at Tsalteshi are normally closed to fat bikers, but that won’t be the case at the event Sunday. Foot traffic and dogs still will not be allowed on the trails.
“This is the one time a winter where the fat tire bikers have free rein on the ski trails,” Neyman said.
The first 50 to show up get Tour of Tsalteshi water bottles. There also will be music, a fire, water and hot chocolate. The party at Kenai River Brewing will have raffle prizes.
A donation bucket will be set up to help defray the costs of this year’s tour. There also is a “Nothing But Party” option on the Tour of Tsalteshi registration page if people wish to donate that way.
“At this point, we’ve already spent all of the organizational costs to hold the event,” Neyman said. “Without actually holding the event and having those race fees, we’re definitely going to be in the hole.”
Those who have preregistered will have their fees applied to next year’s Tour of Tsalteshi, as is the policy of the race.
