Ski Trippin'

The sign-up deadline for this trip has been extended until Feb. 20, 2018.

I am pleased to announce that we have added Stowe, Vermont to our skiing schedule for 2018. With the cancellation of our Québec City trip, we needed another eastern option, and joining in on the Blue Ridge Ski Council's Winterfest trip to Stowe (Mar. 4-9) was an easy way to provide that.

Stowe is noted for its long runs, variety of terrain, and gondola system, as well as the historic village with its shops, restaurants, and brew pubs.  We'll be staying in town at the Commodores Inn, with transportation to/from the mountain on a free shuttle bus that runs every 20-30 minutes—much like our traditional Mount Snow trip.

PSC is working closely with the Richmond Ski Club on this trip, and we will be combining our group with theirs in order to boost our numbers and secure a bus originating from the Richmond area. I will be coordinating PSC's participation and interfacing with Richmond's trip leader (Sonny Clarke) and the Council's Winterfest coordinator (Dave Karczmarek from Baltimore Ski Club).

• Roundtrip BRSC motor coach to/from the Richmond area or northern Virginia
• 4 days skiing (M-Th)
• Ski & snowboard racing with awards
• 5 nights lodging at Commodores Inn, double occupancy w/ 2 queens or 1 king
• Daily hot breakfast buffet
• Indoor heated pool & hot tub
• Free shuttle service to/from the resort
• BRSC parties: Mon. welcome reception / Weds. après ski reception / Thurs. farewell reception

Participants may optionally choose to provide their own transportation (deduct $201), in which case they can add a 5th day of skiing (Fri.) for just $31. Non-skiers and Epic Pass holders can deduct $139, and single-occupancy rooms are available for an extra $196.

For additional details, see the trip flyer and registration page on our website.

The Blue Ridge Ski Council organizes three trips per year (Western Carnival, Eurofest, and Winterfest), aggregating participants from multiple clubs. Winterfest is the eastern trip, and participating clubs include Peninsula Ski Club, Richmond Ski Club, Baltimore Ski Club, Columbia Ski Club, the Ski Club of Washington D.C., and a few others.

From our standpoint, there are several advantages to joining in on the Council trip:

• With larger numbers of participants, the Council is able to leverage its buying power to obtain even better pricing than most clubs can command on their own. In this case, the lift ticket price is half the normal group rate and a third of what an individual would pay for four days.
• There is no minimum number of PSC participants required for the trip to "go". However, we do need a combined total of 10 participants from RSC and PSC to secure the bus from Richmond.
• Most of the work of negotiating a contract and working out the logistics has been done for us.

In addition, Council trips provide the opportunity to mingle and ski with folks from other clubs who share our passion for the sport. You get a hundred ski club people together in one place, you know it's going to be a good time! Plus it's a great opportunity to swap notes with other clubs and find out where they like to ski and how they do things.

There are a couple of disadvantages that I should point out as well:

• We are using BRSC's contract with the tour operator, which has somewhat more stringent cancellation/refund provisions than the contracts we typically negotiate on our own. You can read about the details on the registration page and in the trip flyer.
• As the most southerly club in the Council, and a late entrant as well, it is highly unlikely that we will generate enough participation to justify a bus leaving from the Peninsula. That means either an early start to catch a bus from Richmond, an overnight stay in the D.C. area to meet the bus a little later on its way north, or the option to make your own transportation arrangements. I would be happy to help coordinate ride-sharing arrangements among our members, either to the bus stop in Richmond or to Stowe.