It’s already getting to be the time of year when the TSC starts looking at next years trips so I thought it would be nice to let you know how the TSC decides which trips win. As part of the Pre-Select Committee we will be studying and rating the 30-40 proposals from various resorts and tour organizers. The 7 members of the committee are made up of representatives from 6 clubs throughout the state and the TSC V. P. or Marketing. We will meet March 7th to present our findings and as a group pare down the bids to the top 3-5 per TSC trip. Once this is completed the various parties involved will be notified of the results and the winners will send copies of their proposal to each of the clubs. The clubs will make a preliminary assessment of each proposal before the April 17- 19th Bid Meeting. At the Bid Meeting we will watch presentations from the bidders Saturday and Sunday. After cussing and discussing as clubs the entire TSC meets Sunday around noon and discuss then vote on each trip until we have winners for each trip. This entire process starts in October and ends in April and includes a ton of work by many people.

All members of TSC clubs are invited to the Bid Meeting that is to be held this year at the Omni Park West Hotel in Dallas April 17-19th. I want to encourage our members to be proactive and come to Dallas and see what is going on. Your $55 activity fee includes the Friday night dessert party, Saturday lunch & dinner/party/Silent Auction as well as the Saturday Ski Show and all the presentations, etc. All members get to participate in the clubs decision on what trips we want to support. There is also an inexpensive golf tournament Friday that matches club members with resort representatives. This is a fun weekend that I recommend to anyone who wants to get more involved. For more information go to http://www.texas-ski.org/insidetsc/Meetings.htm.

I want to thank the hard work by the Nominating Committee of Barb Erlich, Larry Hord, Chuck Pena, Nolan Badeaux, Craig Campbell, and Ellen Eastham. The February General Meeting will include officer nominations as well as a presentation by Sun & Ski Sports. See you at Dave & Busters.

Gone skiing at Les Trois Vallees, France.

Last chance for skiing in Lake Louise or Big Sky.

And don’t forget about our TSC

Summer Expedition to Panama from June 28 -July 5. See page 6 of this newsletter for dates, etc. For more details, you can also check out SCSCs website at http://ww.spacecityskiclub.org/.

February is going to be a big month for Galveston and Mardi Gras. Steve Geisler and Rick Jaeger are once again hosting the great Zestival Balcony at Trumpets on the Strand, February 21st. This venue is heralded as the best way to partake in all of the festivities while having the benefits of a great viewing location from which to toss beads (provided as part of the package), two meals, 4 drinks and best of all restrooms! SCSC has also been invited to join in the Downhill Krewe Parade which will be AC’d by Don Macken. Check for more details on the website and give Steve, Rick or Don a call. It is time we all got back to Galveston!

I don’t need to tell you March is Go Rodeo in Houston. We have secured 20 seats for the Rodeo and entertainer Trace Adkins for the first Saturday of Rodeo, March 7th. Contact AC, Craig Campbell, to secure your seat and join us for a great afternoon of entertainment, cold beer and midway treats. Stay the evening and throw in some dancing at the Hideout.

Sandy Wellhausen is organizing an incredible day, April 25th, to Wimberly for a Zipline Adventure. They boast over 2,600 feet of thrilling zipline located a maximum of 100 feet over the hillsides below. Wimberly Zipline promises to be an exciting experience that will definitely give you a big adrenaline rush. Discount reservations are available before March 1st so see Sandy now!

Rounding out the year we still have the AIA Sandcastle Competition coming up June 6th in Galveston. Ellen Eastham has volunteered to start coordinating the activity for us but we really need a volunteer to help us with this always fun event. Please give me a call if you think you might be willing to get some sand between your toes.

Don’t forget to make plans to join us at Bid Fest on April 17th – 19th in Dallas. It is a great way to get a sneak peek at the 2009/2010 trips and is a fun weekend to boot. Check the website or see Chuck Pena for all the details. Hope to see you there.

Sean O’Brien, our former President, started the trip off with style….he missed the flight. With a little luck, United was able to book him a few hours later and his rental car became an asset!

After unloading, we had a wine & cheeses party in the condo to pass out lift tickets, badges and ski lessons. All went well until we realized the adult lessons were missing, so Sean escorted me on Wednesday to secure our vouchers and everyone was set.

Doris Escobar was a first timer and a real trooper. Unfortunately, she twisted her ankle on day one, but that didn’t slow her down too much. With Jose Araujo’s expertise and encouragement, she will become a regular.

JoAnne Dougherty traveled with us for the first time. A retired RN, she was one of the first on the slopes every day. And when we were told the TSC could make “first tracks” on a section they opened during our visit….real early…I am proud to report that Sharon Simandl, Bill Bomberger, and John and Laura Zavala were there…while the majority was still hugging our pillows.

Jeff Hanrahan brought his Aggie family….Victoria and Patrick. Patrick spent his time boarding while Victoria skied. Word has it that a certain fence and Victoria collided and the fence won? Kristina

Ritter was skiing happily down a slope until another skier pushed her over. Mom (Laura Zavala) just happened by and recognizing the cry for help…climbed back up the mountain to her rescue and then everyone thought she was the perpetrator!

Race day turned out to be eventful. Steve Ying, a new member who I can guarantee always has more than his share of fun, was due to race and to his dismay found his skis missing at the base right before the race. Now…this is true guts and glory…..Mike Hotho loaned Steve both his boots and skis and Steve medaled! (Mike offered to loan his European Speedo on the trip, but none of the guys took advantage of this generous offer.) Fortunately, someone only “borrowed” Steve’s equipment for the day and the skis were turned into security. Then, there was a mix-up on names, and Elyse Turla did not have a racing bib. However, Tor Lileng, who had decided to try a different ski area that day, was issued a number…so Elyse came down the mountain as Tor…and life will never be the same for “Tor” Turla!

Jason LaRosa just thought he was going skiing for some peace and solitude. He forgot to check the rooster. He quickly joined the regulars for Après Ski. Sarah Watson-Treadgold and hubbie Ben were all over the mountain with Sarah boarding and Ben skiing. They made the best of the slopes that were open.

Lisa and Duncan MacDonald kept busy making sure their three children had all their warm clothing, equipment and lesson instructions – a full time job! Tom MacDonald meant to do a 180 on a snowboard and made a really good friend from Dallas. Alice became buddies with another child from Los Amigos club and was sad to leave her at the end of the trip. Harriet won first place in the children’s race!

Keiran Brehany-Wellman (age 5) was a first time skier and had a great time skiing and eating pizza. Older brother Kaelan (age 11) was on skis for the second time and breezed through ski school level 3 & 4 – yee haw! Penny, (AKA Mom) took lessons and enjoyed every minute and Dad (Paul) enjoyed skiing with local friends. The kids won hats for racing.

All of us shared a very nice Thanksgiving meal  together at The Vintage. During the meal, the hat was passed and trip members generously contributed $200 for the Youth Camp promoted by the Texas Ski Council. When the children were reluctant to volunteer for Guitar Hero, Elisa Meadow, a kid at heart, said she would be more than willing to participate. Elisa’s sister and son, Melanie Knapke and Cannon Cruz were “shadows” on the trip and we were delighted they joined us.

Former SCSC President Marti Turner and Nelson also shadowed and as usual were a big help with all. Their war stories evolved with driving blizzard conditions on the way home. Nelson states Marti is a “white knuckle” passenger.

I skied three days and boarded the final day when they snow improved. I got a brand new demo Burton for my riding pleasure. The young man filing out the forms just had to know my age and weight. Turned out, I was his “grandmas” age. Ok – so I was the oldest woman boarding that day. Just because I still think I am 18….

Thanks to my husband, Walter, who was Race Director and a major help to me on this trip. Between working on his laptop and playing with his early Christmas present, the Blackberry “Storm” he avoided a skiing injury, but almost cracked something on the bus as we were leaving. He hit the floor when our bus dropped into a snow-covered hole as we left the hotel. The back wheels fell into the hole and the bus was resting on the chassis. The hotel quickly dispatched a front-end loader to our rescue. Fortunately, we had given ourselves extra time so the delay didn’t cause a 50-yard dash to Denver. I think everyone heard my sigh of relief as we boarded the plane to Houston.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to make this trip a great success – especially your VP Trips, Marsha Lutz and DOT, Diane Stotz. They spent hours helping me with all the details. And we all appreciate the numerous pics taken and shared by Sharon Simandl and Steve Ying!

We had one injury – Betty Storms took a fall on Monday, but she was such a trooper that she continued skiing before finally going to the clinic on Tuesday, only to find out that she had a dislocated thumb. Pete Mathieu took a Level 7 ski lesson on Sunday, on Monday he had boot trouble, but after that he was a skiing maniac! Mary Jo and Tony Loverdi also had boot problems and spent quite a bit of time having those boots worked on – comfortable boots are a necessary factor, as we all know. Ross Baker, Keith Kirkman, Bob DeBell and Bob Olsen were all seen looking for the black and double black runs.  Chuck Ratliff made a deal with American Ski Exchange in Vail Village to demo skis for $20/day. Bruce Fleming took advantage of that as did several others. Shirley DeBell didn’t ski, but she shopped and shopped and shopped! Tom Huzzey talked Alice Snider into joining SCSC and going on this trip. She is a great addition to the club. Thank you Tom!

On Tuesday evening we had our Club dinner at Blu’s in Vail Village. Dale and Alice Allbritton asked Craig Campbell how to go about getting on Craigslist. After dinner, Tony Loverdi and David Gunn were good sports practicing East Coast Swing dance lessons in their condo with music provided by Nancy DuFrane’s iPod speakers. Janet McKenzie was seen skiing with Michael Testa, Roberta and Ron Rambin. Pat Piech and Melinda Hughes seemed to get out on the slopes later and later each day. Said something to the extent that they were on vacation and didn’t care if they were the first ones on the slope each day! Jim Edwards hid from everyone and was seen only at lunch. He said he was skiing easy and didn’t want to get in anyone’s way – not that he could do that anyway. Dale and Alice Allbritton skiied with Roger Holzman and Carmen Mikhail until Alice left on Wednesday. Then he was seen with the big dogs. Jim Walker and Chuck Ratliff skied with both the puppies and the big dogs. We appreciated them skiing with the puppies and giving us pointers in the hopes that we would improve. A snowboarder saved Ron Hayes’ life. It seems that after taking photos on the mountain of our group that he forgot to retrieve his ski poles, only to realize after a few turns down the mountain he had forgotten them. We flagged down a snowboarder and he return them to us, saving me the trouble of killing Ron! Anne Marchetti skied with the group. Barry Caspar and Larry Edmondson skied with the big dogs. Marie Henry joined Ron, Larry Edmondson, Barry Caspar, Effie Rubenstein and myself for drinks after dinner. Mary Jo and Tony Loverdi purchased new boots and had to have them worked on.

On Wednesday morning before the short trip left Mary Jo Loverdi, Nancy DuFrane, Ash Moza, Tom and Chaille Hutcheson all tried to ski, but the mountain was all sleet/snow. When they came down their clothes, and goggles, were all covered in ice. – So, on Wednesday, both Houston and Vail had something in common – sleet and snow. Who would have guessed that. Even though Brenda Herman lost everything due to Hurricane Ike, she managed to join our group and forget (momentarily) about starting over. Frank and Ellen Donnelly played it safe on Wednesday morning and shopped in Vail before leaving.

On Thursday we had an Englishman by way of Pennsylvania join our small ski group. He had a mix-up with his skis and had made plans to meet up with his 70+ group at lunch. But, he was having such a good time with us (actually Carmen – but what guy, no matter the age, doesn’t want to be with Carmen?) that he stayed all day and through apres ski. He was such a wonderful treat. We looked for him the next day but I guess he decided to rejoin his own group.

Our long trip had our own problems with travel, too. It was snowing very hard when we left Vail (they were expecting snow for the next week of an average of 3-6 inches of snow a day). There were mechanical problems with the airplane leaving Houston coming to Denver so our flight was delayed a while. We suspect it was the lavatory as there was a very strong smell emanating from that area. But we all arrived home safely.

I hope all of the participants had a wonderful time. I know I did.