Sun November 11, 2007

State groups promote fun in the snow

By Chris Jones, Staff Writer, Daily Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Ski Club treasurer Crystal Caruthers, Norman, rides a ski lift in Crested Butte, Colo., during a club ski trip in 2005.

Oklahoma City Ski Club

•What: The Oklahoma City Ski Club, organized in 1954, is a year-round nonprofit club dedicated to skiing, snowboarding, social activities, fishing and scuba trips. Skiing experience is not required.

•Membership: Open to anyone 18 years or older. Single memberships, $35; married couples, $45; Wild-card membership designed for the single individual who would like to take a guest, $45.

•Meetings: First Thursday of the month, October through March, 7 p.m., at The Elks Lodge, 4711 N Tulsa, Oklahoma City.

Skier's Night Out (SNO) meeting is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Buffalo Wild Wings, I-40 and Rockwell. The meeting is open to visitors.

•Trips: The club sponsors eight trips per ski season to various ski resorts.

•Information: www.okcskiclub.org.

Tulsa Ski Club

•What: The Tulsa Ski Club was organized in 1961 as a nonprofit organization to promote the common interest of skiing.

•Membership: The membership year is May 1 through April 30. Dues range from $40 for singles to $55 for families.

•Trips: The Tulsa Ski Club plans 10 ski trips a season to various destinations.

•Meetings: Second Tuesday of the month at the Elks Lodge, 5335 S Harvard, Tulsa. Skier's Night Out is a monthly social held the third Thursday of each month at various locations. Details are posted on the home page of the Web site.

•Information: www.tulsaskiclub.com.

Robert Foster likes the blues. The 45-year-old member of the Tulsa Ski Club prefers to stick to the intermediate slopes, though he'll move to an advanced slope — with its black rating — if he's feeling frisky. His wife, meanwhile, plays it safe on the bunny hills.

Crystal Caruthers goes for double black. Her husband is a snowboarder.

Caruthers, 33, is treasurer of the Oklahoma City Ski Club.

As ski club members, Foster and Caruthers enjoy the social networking, shared enthusiasm for skiing and snowboarding, and the benefits of well-planned, cost-saving ski trips to a variety of ski destinations.

These skiers cite the benefits offered by their clubs, and yet both say membership has declined.

Jim Constantine, Tulsa Ski Club president, said people may hesitate to join a ski club because they think membership is geared to experienced skiers.

"The purpose of our club is to provide opportunities to ski,” Constantine said. "I am an advanced-level skier, and we have people who are going on their first ski trip. The club is a way to meet people, discuss ski levels and find a ski buddy.”

He said the club is encouraging people to join. He said a single-parent membership is available as is a family membership.

Year-round activities include backpacking, camping, canoeing and white-water rafting trips. A skiers' night out is held the third Thursday of each month at a restaurant or club in Tulsa.

The Oklahoma City Ski Club recently held a chili cook-off, one of many gatherings it plans during the year.

Despite the variety of activities, great ski trips and cost savings due to the group prices, the clubs don't see the membership growth they would like.

Constantine said he believes membership in ski clubs throughout the country is declining due to aging members, computers and iPods.

Skiers who aren't in a club or don't enjoy planning their own trips have another alternative. Skihaus Sports Travel in Oklahoma City and other travel agencies in the state plan ski trips throughout ski season.

Internet influence

"I don't think clubs are as popular as they were in the 1980s,” Caruthers said. "I think the Internet is the No. 1 reason. The Internet makes it easier for people to plan their own trips.”

Caruthers said she found information about the Oklahoma City Ski Club on the Internet and joined in 2001. She said the main attraction for her is that all the trips are planned and well-organized with good accommodations, and she said the group discounts offer savings she couldn't get on her own. She said she had planned ski trips on the Internet before she joined the club, and she thought it was time-consuming and more expensive.

The Tulsa Ski Club usually has 10 ski trips in a season. U.S. destinations range from Crested Butte, Colo., to Taos, N.M., and each season also includes a trip to Europe or another foreign destination. This ski season, the club will travel to a ski resort in France. Most of the trips are by bus, but some are by plane.

The Oklahoma City Ski Club has eight trips planned this season. These include several Colorado ski resorts, as well as Taos and Santa Fe in New Mexico and Whistler/Blackcomb Ski Resort in Whistler, British Columbia.

Foster said bus trips to Colorado usually leave at 6 p.m. There are bunks on the bus for skiers who want to arrive rested. Some people sleep, and others play cards and socialize.

"When you wake up, you are in the mountains,” Foster said.

The trips are planned so club members can have three days of skiing and miss just one day of work. Lodging at the resorts is usually at condos with two people to a room.

Caruthers said the Oklahoma City Ski Club finds good places for its members to stay. Rates are good because the club members are repeat customers.

The Oklahoma City Ski Club began in 1954, when Bud Dunbar placed an advertisement in The Oklahoman. The first ski trips were made by cars to Colorado and New Mexico.

The club's first official president in 1959-60, Harvey O'Mealey, liked to tell members about the club's first trip to Aspen.

In those days, a week's lodging in Aspen cost $70 per couple. There was one single chair lift, and it took 45 minutes to get to the top. The lift operator would throw a fur coat around the skier on the way up, and then it would be sent back down.

The first bus trip was chartered in 1962, and in 1966, the club had access to a sleeper bus. That year, there were 13 trips.

Current club members believe their club offers everything skiers need for an enjoyable ski trip. They just don't think people realize the clubs are active and open to them.

"I love to promote our ski club,” Caruthers said. "I've made so many good friends, and we have so much fun. We are always trying to find new members, and we love snowboarders, too.”