After 40-plus years in the outdoor recreation industry – with 11 of those years leading the Mountain Trails Foundation – Charlie Sturgis is stepping down this June.
The youthful 69-year-old can still be found out on the local trails skiing and riding and this summer, he will have even more time to be outside doing fun things.
The executive director announced he will be retiring from Mountain Trails Foundation in June.
“I've had a great role doing what I'm doing, and I truly believe that it's time for me to maybe step aside and actually not so much retire - maybe transition - see what else is out there, see what other challenges might be there and take a little bit of personal time and family time and just see what the world has to offer as we go forward,” he said. “It’s kind of, you know, it's always a little scary maybe meaning, going into that fourth quarter of your life, ‘oh, what should I be doing now.’ So anyhow, we're gonna take a look.”
If his replacement is hired, he will step aside in early June. He thinks the new director could be found locally.
“The board feels certainly that it's really important that they do a thorough job, I think we have internal candidates and we also probably have incredible amount of talent in town as well,” he said. “So, they're going to start the hiring process here shortly.”
Sturgis is proud of the accomplishments made during his tenure – things that couldn’t have been done without the financial support of the community. The nonprofit is well-loved and consistently wins the Live PC Give PC leaderboard every year.
Over the last 11 years Sturgis has seen a lot of new trail built – the WOW trail, new trails in Bonanza Flat, the 9,000-foot trail expansion in Round Valley as well as new trails coming to the Treasure Hill open space. The foundation has opened up winter trails to snow bikes throughout the area as well and in Bonanza Flat.
He says he has also ensured the organization’s financial security and found a place to call home. Currently, Mountain Trails is leasing a 10,000 square-foot warehouse on two acres that they eventually hope to buy. It has lots of room for employee parking and their machinery. With plenty of space, he’s hoping to find a roommate to share the costs and look to the future as rents only get more expensive.
“My advice to all nonprofits out there would be, make sure you're securing your place to live, because it's gonna get more and more difficult and it's going to get way more expensive,” Sturgis said. “So, I hope that what we're doing will ultimately ensure that money that we get from the community, from individual donations and otherwise, actually still continue to go back in the trails, and not necessarily into rent.”
For those who are interested in applying for the position, it’s posted at the Mountain Trails Foundation's website.
