The SCSC ski trips are in full swing and the snow keeps coming down! It’s funny how my friends and relatives in the north constantly complain about snow, when all my friends here in Houston’s SCSC only cheer for snow!

I am sure you are all getting very excited about your upcoming ski trips. I’ve also heard the completed ones to date have been terrific! Speaking of snow, did you know Bruce Lowther just added a snow reports link on the bottom of the trips list? Also, make sure you take a few minutes to go into the website and update your membership profile. If you aren’t getting the SCSC email blasts, that is the reason. You can update your mailing address, email address and phone numbers, as well as give us input as to what activities you’d like to see run through SCSC. You can also check boxes to volunteer for a multitude of positions. And speaking of volunteering, don’t forget John Rice and his great committee are actively looking for officers for next year. If you are considering an officer position at all, make sure you fill out an officer application, which can also be found on the SCSC website. Make sure you mail it to John Rice.

Thanks to the hard work of AC Ann Dorn, Director of Programs Jessica Halter and V.P. of Programs Jose Araujo, the SCSC Holiday Gala was a huge success! If you missed it this year, you missed a memorable and classy event. Van Lang kept the dance floor packed until midnight, when there were still many people who just didn’t want to leave (including me!).

Pick up your Sun & Ski discount cards from Pat Piech and Kayleen Kill at general meetings, happy hours and ski trips. (Trip leaders will be given some to distribute on their trips.) This benefit of SCSC gives you ski labor sessions and ski deck lessons at 50% off! We also get 10% off of non-sale ski apparel and accessories.

Also, if you’d like input into where the Texas Ski Council and SCSC skis next ski season, plan now to attend BidFest, which is back in San Antonio this year from March 31st through April 2nd, 2006. Lunch, dinner, a dance party, the vendor presentations and the vendor ski show/exhibition are all included in the low price of $55.00 if you pay prior to March 1, 2006. The venue will be the fabulous Crown Plaza River Walk at $135.00 a night.

See TSC Representative Leyla Ozkardesh for all of the details and to reserve your spot. You can contact her at Leylajo@spacecityskiclub.org. Information about BidFest will be on the SCSC website under activities with a link to the registration form soon. Happy skiing! Stay safe!

Even with most of our thoughts to skiing and other winter sport activities, there are still plenty of opportunities for members to socialize right here in Houston. Most recently was the SCSC Holiday Gala held on December 2nd, and it was a tremendous success! Those of you that missed it, really missed a great time. The party goers enjoyed the music from Van Lang, along with the excellent food and the ambiance from Chateau Crystale. A Big Thank You to Ann Dorn, Jessica Halter, Katy Halter, Penny Chancey, Ron Hayes and Bruce Lowther for  volunteering before and during the party. And a special Thank You to Ann Dorn who coordinated the entire event.

This month our Happy Hour is at Arcodoro located at Post Oak and Westheimer on Thursday January 12th. The General Meeting is on Monday, January 16th at Chateau Crystale. We are always working on activities that our members will enjoy, so please check the web page and read the e-blasts, you do not want to miss them!

Jessica has some more news to announce:

Happy New Year! Can you believe it is January 2006? We hope you have made your plans to join in the February Galveston Mardi Gras fun and Rockets Basketball. There might still be space available, if you hurry! At the November meeting, I ran a poll to see what activities you wanted to do. Overwhelmingly, short weekend trips drew the most interest, so I am working with a group travel planner to get that together for us. The most popular destination was Vegas followed by New York City. Details will be coming as soon as I have them. Anyone wanna volunteer to be trip leader to an exciting non-ski destination? Contact me at jessicahalter@yahoo.com.

Other activities to look for this spring include a Galveston Bay fishing trip, Road Rally, and Golf Tournament. Be sure to sign up for these activities as they become available as I expect them to fill quickly.

Have great fun on upcoming ski trips, but don’t miss out on other club activities, too. Sign up early! -

Jessica

As I write this article, they are getting tons of snow out west. This is going to be a great year to ski, so I hope you’ve signed up for the trip(s) you wanted. The final payment dates for all the trips have passed, so openings on the trips will be harder to come by. But don’t despair, there are always cancellations in the last couple of months before the trips take off. So, be sure to get on the waitlist if there is a trip you really want to go on. Occasionally we actually find we can add air and lodging, so always ask.

Those who were on the Keystone trip are saying, “WOW, what a trip.” We had 14 children who participated in the youth camp and I understand that all the  families said the camp was incredible. Next year Breckenridge will be hosting the camp and we hope all those that were at Keystone will also go to Breckenridge and tell others about this opportunity. Many thanks to Louella Steller and Laurie Haischer for leading this great trip.

By the time you receive this issue, Vail will have been back a long time, and Steamboat will be about to leave. I happen to be on both of these trips and my excitement is building. Vail is led by TC Dana Wardell and ATCs Judy Schiro and Shirley Lang. On the Steamboat trip, TC Thuy Tran is assisted by Richard Rocque and Leyla Ozkardesh.

In January, we have trips to Mammoth and Finland leaving. And don’t forget Aspen, Big White, Snowbird, Breckenridge and Big Mountain in February and March. All of these areas are sending us pictures of their great early snow.

Can you believe we will start working on the 2006-07 ski season soon? I am a member of the Pre-Select Committee for the Texas Ski Council. I will be receiving bids from the various ski areas and tour operators in February for next season. The Pre-Select Committee will be meeting February 25 to narrow these bids down to about 4 per TSC trip. The final selection will be made at the Bid Meeting on March 31-April 2 in San Antonio. If you are interested in seeing how we select TSC trips, come join us at the Bid Meeting. I guarantee you’ll have a great time.

We always want to know where the members want to go the next year. Feel free to shoot me a note or email with your desires.

If you’ve had a great time on a trip this year, consider being a TC or ATC for next year. We are always looking for new people to help with the trips. The club can’t run without volunteers. Without people to run the trips, there won’t be any trips.

See you on the slopes!