100s in the Hills is a registered non-profit 501(c)(7) in the State of Colorado. That allows us to carry insurance and host annual events as a club. Your registration fee each year is considered club dues, even though we keep the cost low enough to just cover event expenses. This year was slightly different because the location cost was way more than we anticipated. We felt it was an investment into the future of the event.
Chris and I will never make a living off of this event, and we never expected to. We would like to cover our own expenses going forward. We try to stay very transparent in what we do. We never take a raffle ticket for ourselves (although we'd sure like a shot at some of those fantastic raffle prizes!) and we try to keep the costs low so folks can afford to buy an extra shirt. We were able to cover our expenses this year by selling the extra shirts and stickers. We didn't have a large amount of extra shirts because we were that close on margins. We literally couldn't afford to order so many extras for fear of having a bunch of leftovers.
Most other events are charging $300 for registration and selling shirts for $25+. We will always offer more, for less. We already have an idea of what we need to charge going forward. It will be more than this year, but still way less than any other similar event. Having volunteers will help take some of the burden off of Chris and I. The number of hours involved in getting permits, insurance, locations, stickers, shirts, lanyards, nametags, trail assignments, trail leaders, raffle prizes, bags, registration, logistics and just generally answering questions is overwhelming. Once we have all of that, we need to build the bags, sort out the shirts, sort the stickers, create the nametags, etc. We literally had our kids helping with the work this year. Chris' daughter, Lauren, a fantastic driver in her own right will handle registration next year. She has 3 years of experience helping us with registration and will take over those duties along with my wife and a few other volunteers. That will allow Chris and I to help folks get situated as they arrive.
The downside of all of this growth is that we lose the laid-back, loose feel a little bit. But, without a structured process, we simply cannot host 300+ people. Trail assignments will be in your registration packet and switching trails at the last minute may be a little more difficult. There will be designated staging areas for each trail and Chris and I will not be able to be at each one to make changes. From the second that we arrive, we are inundated with questions and requests. We're also trying to meet new friends and reacquaint with old ones. We do our best to accommodate everyone, but that can get overwhelming very quickly. We will have additional help next year to alleviate some of that. Guys like
@B-RAD,
@DanInDenver and
@ENGINE er have over 3 years of experience with us and will have more prominent roles going forward. They have been dedicated and loyal to HIH since year 3 and can answer questions, lead and describe trails and conditions or take on other HIH roles as needed.
This is still the HIH6 trip report, but talking about HIH7 is part of the process. We learned a lot this year. Chris and I already spoke this morning about securing shower facilities for next year. That cost is incredibly expensive. More than double what we paid to have the land this year. HIH7 will be much more of a destination than an event. We will have many other activities other than, and along with, driving your 100. More of an adventure lifestyle event. Hiking, climbing, rafting, mountain biking, fishing, mine tours, kids activities, family day, wine tasting, beer tasting, catered meal, etc. It will also run an extra day to allow folks more time to enjoy all that we can offer. Wednesday through Sunday will be jam packed with trails and activities. Seriously..... get ready for a life-changing event.
