There are plenty of perks involved with belonging to a ski club.
Sure, a few ski resorts offer discounts on lift tickets to clubs, the travel is nice, and the shopping in Vail isn't half bad this time of year.
According Connie Wiley, president of the Fredericksburg Ski Club, the best part about belonging to a ski organization isn't the resorts she's visited or the slopes she's skied, though--it's the people she's skied with.
"It's a lot of fun to be with these people," said Wiley, a 53-year-old librarian. "We generally all kind of stick together because everybody has more fun that way."
The club, which is offering three trips this winter, is open to anybody with an interest in skiing.
Novices need not beware here as the group's more advanced members tend to take shaky skiers under their wings.
"A lot of the good skiers will take time to lead some of the beginners around during the day," Wiley said. "They want to see everyone enjoy their time on the slopes since they enjoy the sport so much."
In the past few years, the Fredericksburg Ski Club has hit the slopes in Argentina, gone heli-skiing in Canada and toured more local destinations like Colorado's Vail and Aspen, Mammoth Mountain in California and Sun Valley in Idaho.
Off-the-slope highlights from the trips include lunches, apres-ski cocktails and dinners where the FSC's members discuss their days and enjoy each others' company.
Whether at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Telluride or the Swiss Alps in Davos, the times with other skiers have made the biggest impression on Wiley.
"They're all just fun people to be around," she said. "The times off the slopes, at dinner and having fun afterward, are the things that I remember most."
The FSC will be heading to Winter Park, Colo., in January, Heavenly Valley at Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border in February and to Bormio, Italy, in March for a crack at the Italian Alps.
For local skiers who have not ventured away from East Coast resorts, Wiley highly recommends these trips.
"Obviously the skiing is more challenging, and the runs are longer because you're in a more mountainous area," she said. "The elevations are higher, and the ski area itself is much more expansive.
"The resorts are also much bigger and developed. They're also usually built around towns, which helps the nightlife."
Membership in the Fredericksburg Ski Club is $20 annually for an individual and $30 for family membership.
Carden Hedelt
Email: chedelt@freelancestar.com
UPCOMING Jan. 17-23: Winter Park, Colo. Cost: $1,065. Feb. 20-27: Heavenly Valley at Lake Tahoe, Calif./Nev. Cost: $1,510. March 6-14: Bormio, Italy. Cost: $1,870 (Cost w/Italian Riviera post-trip extension: $2,350). The Fredericksburg Ski Club meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at Carlos O'Kelly's. Non-members are encouraged to attend. Annual dues are $20 for an individual, $30 for family membership. For more info, visit fredericks burgskiclub.org. |