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Club Gives Area Skiers A Lift

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Marcia Biggs

Published: October 5, 2007

You should possess a few traits if you plan to join a ski club:

You must like to ski or listen to people talk about it.

You don't mind letting someone else do all the planning (you are not a control freak).

You like to be around high-energy people who may, on occasion, persuade you to dance into the wee hours or slip into a hot tub in the middle of a snowstorm.

Jim Rose found the Tampa Bay Snow Skiers and Boarders just the ticket to finding new friends when he moved from Chicago to Tampa in 2000.

"The first thing I did was get on the internet and do a search for ski clubs in Tampa," says the single, 49-year-old auto salesman. "The first trip I went on was to Telluride. It was great. There was a big group of people who all got along, so we started going out and doing things after the trip. Now we get together throughout the year and all try to go on the same ski trips."

Rose is typical of many members in this highly social club that claims nearly 3,500 members and is run by volunteers. Lots of them.

From Tampa To France

The roster for 2007-08 includes 31 trips to destinations such as Vail, Big Sky, Breckenridge, Snowmass, Lake Tahoe, Quebec, Jackson Hole, Whistler-Blackcomb, Steamboat, Alta/Snowbird, Winter Park and Taos. Foreign destinations include Val d' Isere, France, and Zermatt, Switzerland. Each trip is organized and hosted by two volunteer trip leaders.

Then there are the non-ski social events — bowling nights, tubing and camping, kayaking, bicycle rides, a charity golf tournament — and the large monthly social parties.

During bowling night at Splitsville Channelside in August, social director Julie Santos is a ball of energy, bouncing between teams and making mental notes for awards to be handed. Pizza and buckets of beer are delivered to the 40 bowlers. It's like a class reunion for many who have skied together on trips throughout the years. And it's an easy and accessible way for newcomers to evaluate the club.

New members Jeff and Kathleen Benzel of Riverview seem to fit right in. After joining the club last winter for a ski trip, the Splitsville bowling night is their first social event. They have signed up for the tubing and camping weekend later in the month and a ski trip to Big Mountain in February. The Benzels look at the ski club as a travel planning service and a social outlet.

"For many years, I organized trips for up to 40 people — friends and their families — to go skiing," says Kathleen, whose two children are college-age. "As all the kids got older, it got harder to organize … trying to schedule a date and collect money from everyone got to be a real hassle. I decided let's just join the ski club and let them organize it."

The Benzels' first club trip last winter to Telluride was a smashing success.

"We loved it," beams Kathleen. "I didn't have to plan a thing for the first time in 18 years."

Group One Of Nation's Largest

Club President Pattie Housewright is proud of the ski club, which she says is one of the largest in the country. She figures it's pretty evenly split between couples and singles and the average age range is 40s and 50s.

In all fairness, though, she does admit that only about half of the 3,500 members ski. The others show up occasionally at the social mixers and events, or not at all. But she also mentions the skiers from outside of Florida who regularly join a Tampa Bay ski club trip every year because they have so much fun.

"A couple guys from D.C., call every year to sign up for a trip," she says. "They tell me, "you guys have more fun and plan more parties and go to better places than any ski club in the Northeast.'"

Housewright, like many of the club leaders, has been around awhile. She led trips for seven years and has been on the board for the past five years. Many of the trip leaders and board officers have been club members for decades.

The not-for-profit club dates back to 1970 and has gone through several name changes. It operates under elected officers and a board of directors, with bylaws and a monthly newsletter.

Along with a diverse array of ski destinations, social outings and parties, what else is key to the success of the Tampa Bay Snow Skiers and Boarders?

"What we offer is not your structured ski trip," Housewright says. "And we make it easy. A lot of people don't have time to put a vacation together. With our club, you are entertained for an entire week of skiing and parties — and with great rates. And you don't have to organize a thing."

Check out the Tampa Bay Snow Skiers and Boarders' trip list and newsletter at www.tampabaysnowskiers.com. The next monthly social will be a ski expo at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Quorum Hotel in Tampa's West Shore district.

Marcia Biggs can be reached at mbiggs@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8305.

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TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE

tampa bay snow skiers • charity golf tournament • whistler blackcomb • snowmass lake • buckets of beer • zermatt switzerland • volunteer trip • bowling nights • control freak • social parties • social director • bowling night • channelside • d isere france • ski clubs • trip leaders • ski trips • lake tahoe • big sky • val d isere

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