2019 - 2020 Far West Skier's Guide - 41

Just a Few Reasons Why
I Attend the FWSA
Convention Every Year...

by David Felker

Regina Reilly - Los Angeles Council
of Ski Clubs; Colby Nelson - Intermountain Ski Council; Tama Lamm Intermountain Ski Council, Victor Chan
- Los Angeles Council of Ski Clubs,
Sheila Van Guilder - Orange Council
of Ski Clubs. RIGHT: The 2019
winners of the Councils' Man & Woman
of the Year Recognition Award were
Todd Hood - National Brotherhood of
Skiers - Western Region, and Becki
Robinson, Northwest Ski Club Council.

NORTHWEST SKI CLUB COUNCIL
Becki Robinson and Ryan Rooper
Becki is a member of the Bend Ski Club
and is the Social Media Director. She has been
a successful fundraiser and outreach coordinator. Becki is on the NWSCC Board as social
media director and regional rep for Bend and
Eugene, OR, and a social media contact for
the National Ski Council Federation.
Ryan is a member of Cascade Ski Club,
where he has been the liaison for youth racing since 2014. He is the club racing coordinator for PACRAT and NASTAR. Ryan also
participates on the board of the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association and coaches
for a local high school.
ORANGE COUNCIL OF SKI CLUBS
Sheila Van Guilder and Drew Young
Sheila is a member of Balboa Ski & Sports
Club, where she has served in several board
positions. She is currently the president of
Orange Council, and served as the Host Convention Chairman for this year's fabulous
convention!
Drew, also a member of Balboa Ski &
Sports Club, has been a director for five years.
Drew has worked hard on charitable events,
including sending packages to deployed military, and collecting Toys for Tots for families
of deployed military.

SAN DIEGO COUNCIL OF SKI CLUBS
Mary Jo Lau and David Arnold
Mary Jo is a member of North Island
Snowdrifters, where she's held several positions, including treasurer (present), Mammoth
Club Trip leader and co-travel director. She
races in the Alpine League, and has participated in several FWSA ski weeks, and is "always in costume"!
David, also a member of North Island
Snowdrifters, is a past president and has held
other board positions, as well. He has worked
on FWSA Conventions, and is the current
Vice President of San Diego Alpine League.
SIERRA RACE LEAGUE & COUNCIL
Debi Phelps and Steven Kelly
Debi is a member of Tahoe Donner Senior
Alpine Ski Club, where she's provided active
support to numerous ski and non-ski-related
club activities year-round. She is the current
BAC Race Director, and Sierra Council Travel
Director. Debi is also on the board of the Far
West Racing Association.
Steven is a member of the Reno Ski and
Recreation Club. He has served as secretary of
the club for two years, and also as club president. ss

Century City Ski Club, LA Council
The Councils' Man & Woman of the Year
Program has been sponsored by Big White Ski
Resort, Canada for over 15 years. I was honored to be the FWSA Man of Year in 2015. My
wife and I enjoyed the four day, four night ski
trip award to their resort the next winter.
We checked out its amenities, and in 2017 we
brought a group of 70 skiers back there to
share this beautiful resort with our peers from
Los Angeles.
In 2016, we participated in the Convention Silent Auction, and won a bid offered by
biketours.com for a bike tour of Denmark.
Again, my wife and I so thoroughly enjoyed
that trip that we've organized an internaional
group bike trip each of the next two years, always including biketours.com on our bid list.
We've run a bike/ barge trip down the Danube;
and chartered a yacht with bikes in Croatia.
Each trip we partner with several other ski
clubs, and we continue to make new friends in
other clubs.
This year, we were looking to organize a
trip to Winter Park, Colorado, and found the
Convention Travel Expo the perfect opportunity to meet with the tour operator and resort
representatives to work out some details for
our trip. We'll be heading there in February,
2020. While discussing the trip that same day,
Sigrid Noack of the Unrecables Ski Club mentioned that their club loved Winter Park and
would love to join our ski club on the trip.
We'll make it happen.
Every year, we find good information to
bring back to our ski clubs. Last year, when
Big Sky talked with us about their new amenities, including their giant swing and heated 8
seat chairlift, we used that information to promote a trip to their resort, and over 100 skiers
joined together this past February for a week
at their resort.
A few years ago, we had little knowledge
of Schweitzer, Silver Mountain, or Whitefish Resorts, but after meeting their representatives at
the Convention, we brought large groups to
their resorts, as well. The Convention is a great
way to promote resorts and adventure travel
to active athletes.
Each year, motivational keynote speakers describe overcoming challenges and rising
to meet a physical challenge. It makes us want
to go out and reach for our own goals.
At the conventions, FWSA offers Snowsports Leadership Academy sessions to provide
timely, relevant information to ski clubs. A few
years ago, I hosted a session on California CST
requirements, and last year I attended Todd
Hood's succession planning seminar.
Then, there's the social aspect. After attending nearly 20 FWSA Conventions, we've
come to know many of the representatives of
resorts and other councils; and we look forward to seeing them again each year. ss

Far West Skier's Guide 2O19 - 2O2O

http://www.biketours.com http://www.biketours.com

2019 - 2020 Far West Skier's Guide

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2019 - 2020 Far West Skier's Guide