Junior Development Community Match

Through the Campaign for Mt. Telemark Village we have been able to build this incredible venue with the help of all of you in our community. The trails and facilities have blown us away with the hundreds of thousands of users that have come so far! One of the incredible uses we are excited about is the number of youth teams and groups have been coming to use Mt. Telemark Village as a venue for their training, racing, and camps! Seeing this next generation of skiers and outdoor enthusiasts is endlessly inspiring and we have identified some additional upgrades that will make it easier to host them and create even better experiences for them.

These infrastructure upgrades will help make these youth team experiences more enjoyable while making them more efficient to operate for the Birkie and for the organizations that host events on the trails like the WI Nordic Ski League, NICA, collegiate teams and youth clubs. The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation is also excited to be hosting the Junior National Ski Championships March 9-14, 2026. Hundreds of junior skiers from across the US will make the pilgrimage to Mt. Telemark Village just as thousands of Birkie skiers do every February!

We’re challenging the Birkie community to help us raise $400,000 to complete these upgrades for the 2025-2026 season and thanks to Brent Carlson and other generous donors we have raised over $220,000!

These funds will go toward building permanent infrastructure that is currently created with temporary solutions.

• Electrical expansion instead of running generators.
• Team infrastructure for indoor waxing space instead of tents.
• Solid spaces for timing, announcing, and race day offices.
• Permanent way-finding signage and maps instead of temporary laminated paper.
• Lighting and video board upgrades.
• General venue flow improvements and trail rerouting to create numerous multi-course options. 

All of these advancements serve two main goals of better experiences for youth programming and efficiency enhancements for all Birkie events. 

Consider a year-end donation to not only support and inspire future Birkie skiers, but also enhance the experience of all-season Birkie Warriors for decades to come!