Summer Club Activities

With Skiing and Snowboarding being seasonal recreational activities, one can’t help but wonder how these athletes occupy their time during the “off-season”.

The ski clubs of the Chicago Metropolitan Ski Council manage to keep themselves busy by participating in a number of outdoor sports and recreational activities, all year long.
From biking to kayaking and whitewater rafting, these adrenaline junkies explore the outdoors in the most extreme ways, in order to keep them primed and ready for the next ski season to arrive. To learn more about each clubs individual activities visit Summer Activities.

Message from the President

The Chicago Metropolitan Ski Council president, Keith L. Fanta, shares recent updates and changes within the council. Fanta notes the advancements made towards promoting individual club members  through online search engine optimization tools, in order to help gain exposure to the public. To see this issue’s message from the President visit: CMSC Message

2009/2010 CMSC Member Clubs

The Chicago Metropolitan Ski Council’s mission is to promote member ski and snowboard clubs around the Chicagoland area and neighboring states. The 2009/2010 Member Directory, lists all of the Member Clubs in this year’s directory along with contact and meeting information. To see the full 2009/2010 directory visit: Member Clubs

Blind Skier Wins Gold

Founded in 1971, the American Blind Skiing Foundation is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to providing physical and psychological therapy to the visually impaired through their skiing program. Working with skiers of all ages and levels of expertise, the ABSF’s mission is to provide visually impaired skiers with an extra boost of self-confidence by engaging in a challenging and adventurous sport that those with full sight may not even attempt.
Proficient VI skiers can also choose to participate in Ski Competitions through the ABSF.
This year, defending champion downhill racer John Erickson retained his title by bringing home the gold from the NASTAR National Ski Racing Championship in Winter Park, CO.
To read more about Erickson’s victory, visit: Blind Skier Wins Gold

2009/2010 Chicago Metropolitan Ski Council Associate Members

The Chicago Metropolitan Ski Council (CMSC) has Associate Members across the country, ready to offer their assistance and expertise while planning your next ski group vacation. From resort contacts, to sports medicine professionals, to “where-to-get-your-gear,” Associate Members of the CMSC come from a vast array of disciplines.
No matter what your question, the Associate Members of the CMSC are always on hand to help make your next group ski excursion the best one yet. A comprehensive list of North American members can be found here: CMSC List

Midwest Ski Club Profiles

Want to know more about Midwest Ski clubs? Midwest Skier offers information on Ski clubs that make up the Chicago Metropolitan Ski Council. The Fall edition offers information on several area ski clubs. Learn more.

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Blind Skiers Amaze and Inspire

For the past 36 years, the American Blind Skiing Foundation (ABSF), with the help of hundreds of volunteer ski guides, has enabled hundreds of visually impaired children and adults to experience the thrill and excitement of downhill skiing.

One of those first visually impaired skiers was 16 year-old John Erickson. Three years earlier, Erickson had complete vision loss in one eye and had become legally blind in the other due to pressure on his brain.

“Skiing changed my whole attitude about my visual impairment because I suddenly found myself doing something I never thought possible,” Erickson said. And when others voiced their amazement in seeing him ski, he began to consider his visual impairment as an inconvenience, not a handicap.

When a volunteer guide suggested racing, Erickson gave it a try. At first, he said, “it was terrifying; it was skiing as fast as I could, barely in control, behind someone I could barely see. But when I finished that first race, the sense of accomplishment was beyond belief.”

“With the help of my guides, I started to think that almost anything was possible.” Last March, Erickson and his guide, Jennifer Gardner, won gold at the NASTAR National Ski Racing Championships.

Contact ABSF if you would like to volunteer as a ski guide – and help show another visually impaired person that skiing is too fun not to do just because you can’t see well!

Contact: absf.org.

Cycling Through Provence

By Dave Meisner

Nineteen people with Sanctuary Ski Club spent seven days touring Provence by bicycle, a great way to see this part of Southern France.

After arriving in Paris, we got in some afternoon sightseeing before catching the TGV high-speed train (very slick!) the next morning to Avignon, where our bike tour started. We took in all the sites time allowed and will cherish the memories.

Everyone got up to Les Baux, an impressive hilltop fortress dating to medieval ages and, as advised, the four-mile incline was not that bad. A few folks walked a bit near the summit. That day was a favorite – we also did the St. Remy market, saw the Roman Barbegal aqueduct and mill site, stopped at a winery on the way into Pont du Crau and took in Arles at the end. Sisters Natalie and Valerie interrupted their grape crushing to serve us samples of their wine at Mas Baracan, and we obliged by stocking up. The 2,000-year-old Pont du Gard aqueduct near Remoullins is a true wonder and so is the Roman arena in Arles, which is still in use.

Few of us of ever saw flamingos in the wild before riding through the Camargue and Rhone River delta region. At the hotel courtyard in St. Gilles (more of a working-class town but the small museum just up a narrow alley from a famous Romanesque church was a real sleeper) we sat under a small palm with a lime tree behind, drinking our wine and asking ourselves, “How great is this?!” Much of this countryside, village and city scenery was the subject of Van Gogh paintings.

When we arrived back at our starting city, Avignon, many took in the palace of the French popes. Everyone enjoyed our two-night stay in Saintes Maries on the Mediterranean, too. After dark, bats were flying all over the place and there were lights in the sky─ET was rumored to be there. On our off day in Saintes Maries we had another market day; some went to the beach, some went on a jeep tour of the area and some biked around. Many of us also spent time at the hotel patio and pool kicking back and drinking more wine.

There were absolutely no complaints from folks about the hotels─most were rated just 2 stars rated, but they were all nice and so French! The hotels had no elevators, so we lugged our bags up the stairs. This was not a problem since, after all, we are sporting people! Everyone enjoyed La Ferme near Avignon and Mas de Salicorne at Saintes Maries. All our included dinners were all simply excellent, so riding 25 to 30 miles a day helped reduce our weight gain. French cooking’s reputation is well deserved. “Love handles” are now known as “baguettes”.

The weather? Perfect! We encountered no rain during our ride, and it was warm and sunny but not hot. Getting started in mornings was an adventure sometimes. Oddly, it wasn’t unusual to lose a few riders in the first two kilometers. Merci to Linda L. for riding “sweep” at the rear. I managed to navigate from the cue sheets fairly well without making any unrecoverable errors, but I was really glad I studied the route using Google and Yahoo maps before we left home.

We rode lightly traveled country roads, and the only complaints were about the roughness of the unpaved paths in a few places. Dave W. had a couple broken spokes on the tow path out of St. Gilles and limped some to Remoullins, but France Bike brought out a fresh bike the next morning. The only minor injury was when Dave D. got a road scrape on his knee when we got a bit congested rounding a turn.

Merci beaucoup to Jackie Q., whose command of the French language was greatly appreciated, especially when it came to ordering dinners. When we got back Paris a bunch of us enjoyed an evening “Fat Tire Bike Tour” of the city that Georgia L. arranged (http://www.fattirebiketoursparis.com). Our four-hour guided tour from near the Eiffel Tower included the Latin Quarter, Louvre area and a boat ride on the Seine, with wine of course. What a great finale that was.

Maureen K. chronicled the trip in a diary, and we are looking forward to getting her account of our tour. Thanks, Maureen. Just don’t ask her about how French ATMs work.

Ski Club Family Western Trip

The Nomad Ski Club ran another successful Family Trip , with the Second Annual Family Western Ski Trip to Copper Mtn., CO on January 11-16, 2007.  Trip participants included 33 adults, four teenagers, and 10 children (ages 4-12); it included airfare, bus transportation between Denver and Copper, five nights lodging, four days of lift tickets, plus four parties.

This trip proved to be just as successful as our first Family Western Ski Trip to Steamboat, CO, and included similar arrangements with flights in and out of Hayden and a short bus ride.  Both trips had excellent participation by not only families, but couples and singles too; and it was great to see some of our hibernating/older members with their sons and daughters, and even teenagers skiing together!

Both trips had a pleasant mix of adults and children with the kids quickly finding new playmates, moms and dads looking forward to their first Western Trip in a while (or since becoming a parent), and everyone enjoying a low-stress trip (except for maybe the Trip Leader).  Both trips were over the Martin Luther King Holiday, which has turned out to have good snow, reasonable pricing and moderate crowds (unlike President’s Day Weekend). In addition, our return flights have had mid-afternoon departures on Tuesday which gets the kids home in time for a good night’s rest for school on Wednesday.

Other drawing points for our family trips have been spacious two- and three-bedroom condos (kids sleep free on the Sofa Beds), nearly ski in/ski out arrangements (five-minute walk at Steamboat and 200 feet at Copper), four full days of skiing (with kids under 13 ski free), a pre-trip Pizza Party (kids and adults get to meet before the trip and make plans), Welcoming Party (everyone meets again and gets resort info), Club Nastar Dual Race Courses and a Club Luncheon.  All and all, these have been good trips without a preset schedule or need to take buses, etc.

We’ve also done a few other things up front to ensure a pleasant trip for all. Condos are set aside for singles and couples only (no kids). The rooming list is built as people sign up and participants are asked about roommates. Also, children must be related to at least one adult on the trip (no child’s friends), and we try to pick resorts that are family friendly and have good shuttle service.  It’s also helped that both resorts offered five-hour children’s lessons, which allows those of us with small children a few days to ski with our friends in the morning and our kids in late afternoon.

The Club Nastar Races have also had excellent participation especially with the kids (who like to compete against their friends and parents on the dual courses).  At Copper we had 19 adults and 10 children (ages 4-16) participate with 15 medal winners; and at Steamboat we had 21 adults and 10 children (ages 4-12) participate with ten medal winners.  (If a four-year-old can do a Nastar Race, what’s up with the rest of us?)  These last two trips have also offered good value with adults paying $825-875, and children 12 and under paying $320-375 (unless they want their own bed).  We’ve also been able to offer some discounts for teenagers too, which have made these family trips affordable.

About the Author:

Rich Clausius is a Trip Leader with the Nomad Ski Club of Chicago.

Granite Peak “Beginners Ski Trip”

The Hustlers Ski Club always knows how to have a great time on a Midwest ski trip.  We returned to the Granite Peak Ski Area in Wausau, Wisconsin for a third year with 90 intrepid souls.  The first bus made it in a record three hours and 46 minutes while the second coach held up its tradition of being the “Party” bus with Jell-O shots galore, and more!

Saturday presented us with good snow conditions so Cindy Giba, Director of our PSIA certified Ski School, and her team of 16 instructors (were up and about early to begin providing lessons to 70 eager students, ranging from “Never-Evers” through advanced-level skiers and boarders.

The après ski pool party on Saturday was a tremendous success again this year.  We had lots of wine, meats, and cheese and crackers, and reviewed video footage of each of the day’s 12 Ski School lesson classes.  The pool party was followed by the ever-popular Hoffman House prime rib dinner buffet, including a selection of to-die-for desserts.  Several Hustlers gravitated to the bar following dinner to enjoy the entertainment, cocktails and karaoke.

On Sunday, our instructors were up again bright and early to get the day’s lessons started.  Later in the morning, we had 10 racers who braved an icy NASTAR racecourse but added some “bling” to their medal collections.  After lunch, we held the annual “Beginners Slalom,” which brought wide smiles to both the wildly cheering audience and to our newest skiers.

A pizza party and medal/award presentation wrapped up Sunday evening before we journeyed home, tired but happy.

Everyone agreed that this trip offers fantastic value for the money. For only $290 each person received round-trip transportation, two nights accommodation, two breakfasts, one lunch, a wine and cheese party, dinner buffet, pizza party, two days of lift tickets, two days of free ski instruction and the opportunity to make some great new friends – what a deal!

Learn more about the Hustler’s Ski Club @ hustlersskiclub.com.

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