Our First Trip Is History – But We’re Ready For More!  

The 2012 ski season got off to a great start with our trip to Marquette, Michigan (UP).  We left the Wild Country parking lot at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday (Dec. 29), in our charter bus loaded with twenty-nine skiers, lots of ski equipment, and plenty of food and drink.  Our skiing enthusiasts ranged in age from 6 yrs to 70+  - and conversations and visiting among members made the time pass quickly.  Once we arrived at the Super 8 Marquette, and checked into our rooms, we were treated to a wonderful, catered meal featuring:  spicy artichoke dip, a tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, and Baked White Fish or Baked Chicken Ratatouille. Subsequently there was ample time after dinner to swim in the pool or visit around the hot tub.

On January 29, 20 Champaign Ski Club members, along with 68 people from the Peoria, Bloomington, and Springfield clubs began their trip to Mammoth Mountain, CA, this year’s annual Ski Kouncil of Illinois (SKI) trip.  Many were repeat participants, including Joe Finnerty, who last year won a $50 travel voucher towards this year’s SKI trip.

When you are a winter trip leader there are two things that keep you up the night before: will everyone make it to the bus on time and will there be snow. Both of these things are usually out of the trip leaders control, but this is what we worry about.

To address the first issue I had asked Steve Elkins to check everyone in for the bus ride leaving Champaign at 4:30 am and arriving in Bloomington at 5:30 am. You see, my wonderful wife Deb finally convinced me that it would be silly to drive from our house in Bloomington at 3:30 am to Champaign just to make sure the bus was there and everyone had boarded. As it turned out, Steve had no problems and they all arrived in Bloomington on time to pick up the Peoria and Bloomington club members and head for O’Hare.  Members from all four clubs met up at the Reno Airport, and traveled by bus to the Mammoth Mountain Inn.

The second concern was the snow. Everyone on the trip had been monitoring the Mammoth website for snow reports. I received several calls asking if there would be snow on the mountain. Of course I said yes, and for added measure, a week before the trip I asked CSC members on the trip to do a snow dance. I believe Ann Pollok’s snow dance did the trick, because 4 feet of snow dumped on Mammoth Mountain. All that worrying for nothing!

(See Chuck's Photos)

Curling with S.K.I.

Saturday, January 7th, marked the 5^th annual SKI Curling Outing in which members from all 5 area ski clubs get together to enjoy this unusual winter sport. The strange thing about this year is that the temperature inside the Waltham Curling Club was colder than outside!

The sport of curling has been increasing in popularity both as a spectator sport and participant sport every year since it was officially added to the Olympic program in 1998. It has been said that curling is an easy sport to learn but hard to master. That’s why people describe it as a cross between shuffleboard and chess.

However, finding a location to curl is not that easy. In Central Illinois we are fortunate to have Illinois' oldest curling club (since 1884) located in the small town of Triumph, which has a population of less than 100! The village is home to a large grain elevator and two restaurants, one called The Curl Inn named, you guessed it, after the curling club. The town is located just east of I-39 and north of LaSalle. Travel time is 2+ hours northwest of Champaign.

We had people there who were new to the sport of curling along with seasoned players. Those representing Champaign were the usual curlers, Tony & Deb, Randy & Judy, John Gentry, Chris Haydel, Bill Roth & his son Chris. Joining us for their first time curling were Mike & Anja, Donna Mensching, Libby Johnston and Joyce Goggin. Eight teams of 4 were selected by random draw. The Waltham Curling Club has 3 sheets of ice available, which enabled 6 teams to play at one time. Teams would rotate in round-robin style. It is surprising how fast 4 hours of curling can go.

When it was time for your team to sit out a game that was the time to load up on food. A special thanks goes out to Deb for bringing plenty of minestrone soup to warm us up. People also brought a variety of snacks and desserts to share. When the curling finished we announced the winning teams and gave away 2 door prizes, $50 gift certificates toward the next SKI trip in 2013! Door prize winners were Mike Metz and John Gentry. Congratulations to both!

Afterwards, in accordance with tradition, most everyone went to The Curl Inn for dinner. The place has the charm of an old Wisconsin bar. Everyone is friendly and the food is surprisingly good. Come out and join us next year!

Click here to see all of Anja Kohl's photos of the event.

Anyone Can Ski With CSC - 2012

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The Champaign Ski Club is sponsoring a person with disabilities along with their guardian to ski at Winter Park, Colorado.

Anyone Can Ski with CSC is a paid trip sponsored by the Champaign Ski Club. This will be the third year that the club has sent persons with disabilities and their guardians to have the thrill-of a-lifetime in beautiful Winter Park, Colorado. The winner will receive private skiing lessons from the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD), lodging at the beautiful Beaver Lodge, and travel by train to Colorado.  This is an opportunity-of-a-lifetime for our lucky winner and their guardian.

Winter Park is home of the National Sports Center for the Disabled being located at the bottom of Winter Park Mountain.  The NSCD is dedicated to providing opportunities and instructions to persons with disabilities in skiing, rafting, hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, camping, and much more.   

Beaver Lodge is a beautiful ski lodge just five minutes from the Winter Park Ski Resort.  Breakfast buffet and Supper will be available at the lodge before venturing to the mountain each day.  The lodge will also arrange all transportation to and from the mountain and around the beautiful town of Winter Park.   

Amtrak’s California Zephyr out of Galesburg, Illinois will take the winner and guardian through some of the most beautiful parts of our country including the beautiful Rocky Mountains on the journey to Frasier, Colorado.

Day one: Winner and guardian will travel to Galesburg to catch the train to Colorado.    

Day two: Upon arriving in Frasier, a van from Beaver Lodge will meet them at the train station.  After unpacking, the lodge will transport them to NSCD at Winter Park where they will be greeted and introduced to the instructors, equipment techs, and anyone else they will have an association with.  The winner then will get fitted for his or her sit ski or skies and any warm gear or clothing the skier may need.  When finished at NSCD, they will have the evening to enjoy Winter Park and the Beaver Lodge.   

Day three and four: Upon arrival at NSCD, the winner will meet the assigned instructor and a helper (a Green Volunteer) for a full day of fun on the slopes.  The NSCD Instructor is chosen to match the needs of the disabled person.  After each day on the slopes, another wonderful night “on the town” of Winter Park is available.

Day five: Starting out as the previous days, the skier will have a shortened day on the snow before returning to the lodge to pack and head to the train station for the journey home.  Arrival home will be the next day.  

Day Six is optional at winner expense:  get up late and do what you want then catch the train for an extra $100 cost.  

A deposit of $200 from winner is needed to cover NSCD Deposit if canceled and then used to cover Sleeper cost on train.   

The ski trip is scheduled for February of 2012.  The disabled applicant must be able to travel by train and have the desire to ski.  The winning applicant will be chosen by the Champaign Ski Club Board.

RAFFLE TO SUPPORT PROJECT  

Champaign Ski Club is selling raffle tickets for partial support of the ANYONE CAN SKI project.  The prizes are gift certificates to the outdoor activity store WildCountry in Champaign:  $500, $200, $100, and four $50.  

The $20 raffle tickets may be purchased from Ski Club Members or Marvin Bell at:

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 217-590-4265

Applications should be mailed by December 9, 2011.

Mail application to: Marvin Bell, 806 Timber Ridge Dr., Mahomet, IL 61853.