On Sunday, September 13, the outdoor community filled Bancroft Park in Old Colorado City for the Pikes Peak Outdoors Awards and Celebration Hoedown. Between the music, dancing, and auctions, we paused to honor seven people and organizations who make this region better to play in, work in, and care for.
Here are this year’s winners.
Outdoor Educator of the Year: Tom Schermerhorn
The outdoors is one of our best classrooms. This award goes to someone who helps people not just get outside, but understand why those places matter.
Since joining Catamount Institute in 2025, Tom has helped an education team connect more than 5,000 kids across the Pikes Peak region to outdoor experiences and deliver more than 40,000 hours of standards-based environmental education. He brought that same mix of teaching, recreation, and leadership from earlier work at the Denver Zoo, the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, Seven Falls, and Woodland Park Parks & Recreation.
The numbers are impressive. What stands out more is the focus: confidence, curiosity, and a lifelong tie to the natural world.
Nominees: Mary Wilson, Barrett Weishepl, Tom Schermerhorn, Phil Wortmann, Brenda McCreight
Elite Athlete of the Year: Alyssa Secreto
Alyssa went from getting on a bike to some of the hardest endurance races on the planet in just a few years. A Chicago native now at home in Colorado, she finished her first Tour Divide in 2024 — only her third bike race — covering nearly 2,700 miles in 24 days and placing sixth among the women.
This year she won the Grand Loop in just under four days, completed the Mid South Double, and was sitting second among the women in the 2026 Tour Divide with about 60 miles to go when a vehicle struck her. The race ended. The record of courage and grit did not.
Nominees: Vanessa Gaviria, Phil Wortmann, Alyssa Secreto, Kathy Hubel, David Everson
Emerging Leader of the Year: Susan Kolbush
Leadership does not always start with a title. Sometimes it starts with finding a community and deciding to make it stronger.
Susan brought 35 years in the energy industry, nearly two decades in London, and a mountain-biking habit that began in 1990s Southern California to Colorado Springs. As Board Chair of the Women’s Mountain Biking Association, she helps a volunteer-powered group give women of every ability a place to ride, gain confidence, and belong.
Nominees: Elias Wilcox, Kendra Mullins, Aaron Rogers, Susan Kolbush, Lynn Mattix, Tom Schermerhorn, Kylee Taylor
Career Achievement Award: Allen Beauchamp
Some careers are measured in titles. Allen’s is measured in the people and partnerships he has pulled together since moving here in 2001.
He has spent more than two decades making cycling more accessible and turning ideas into projects that connect neighborhoods, nonprofits, and public agencies. Now Community Engagement Manager with Trails and Open Space Coalition, his work has always been larger than any one job: get more people on bikes, and build a healthier, more connected community along the way.
Nominees: Jess Verplank, Allen Beauchamp, Dr. Howard Drossman and Julie Francis, Brandon Stapanowich, Dr. Claire Ramos, Colton Emick, Cindy Keating, Bob Falcone
Outdoor Business of the Year: Timberline TrailCraft
The best trails look like they have always belonged there. That takes design, dirt work, and a belief that recreation and conservation have to travel together.
Over the past year, Timberline TrailCraft advanced construction and restoration at Blodgett Open Space, Lost Canyon Ranch Open Space, Austin Bluffs Open Space, Catamount Reservoir, Lathrop State Park, Anemone Hill, and other sites across Colorado. Those miles create places to hike, ride, and run — and they are built to last, shed water, and protect the land around them.
Nominees: Mountain Chalet, Timberline TrailCraft, Wayfarer Vans, Valor Archery Challenge, Mountain Equipment Recyclers, SUP Colorado Springs
Volunteer of the Year: Paul Arlinghaus
Paul moved to Manitou Springs two years ago, found the trails, and decided they were his to help take care of.
He joined the Open Space Advisory Committee, adopted an open space, jumped into Iron Mountain projects, and helped bring a Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado work day to Black Canyon Open Space. Then he made stewardship a weekly habit: Monday evening workdays after work, plus a stocked Volunteer Trail Tool Trailer so more people can show up and actually get the job done. This year he has coordinated crews, marked alignments, and connected volunteers and partners to the next stretch of trail.
He reminds us stewardship is not someone else’s job. It is muddy boots, one Monday at a time.
Outdoor Nonprofit of the Year: Fremont Adventure Recreation
A stronger outdoor community starts with a trail. It does not end there.
For more than a decade, Fremont Adventure Recreation has built a culture of community and healthy living through human-powered recreation in the Royal Gorge region — trails, events, education, volunteerism, and stewardship. They publish guides for residents and visitors, create resources for young people, support a growing trail system, and pair access with care through trail work, cleanups, and efforts like 1% for Trails.
Nominees: Women’s Mountain Biking Association, UpaDowna, Vibe Tribe Adventures, Fremont Adventure Recreation, Garden of the Gods Foundation, Blackpackers, Catamount Institute, Friends of El Paso County Nature Centers, Orophile Outdoor Adventures, Colorado Mountain Club
Thank you
Awards nights work because a lot of people never make the stage. Thank you to every nominee, volunteer, sponsor, and neighbor who showed up at Bancroft Park — and who keeps showing up on the trails, in classrooms, and in the organizations that hold this region together.
The Hoedown is Pikes Peak Outdoors’ largest fundraiser of the year. The awards are the reminder of why the work is worth it.
