2022 - 2023 Far West Skier's Guide - 86

round outdoor activities (skiing
in winter; mountain biking, hiking
and camping in summer). This is
also where most of the council
races happen, and are part of Far
West Racing Association.
Los
The Los Angeles
Council of Ski
Clubs was well
represented at
the 89th Annual
Far West Ski
Association
Convention held
in Portland,
Oregon in June.
Joining them
were the Keynote
Speakers,
Olympic
Medalists, Phil
and Steve Mahre.
photo by Convention
photographer,
Adam Bacher
Los Angeles
Council of Ski Clubs
by Sandra Blackwell,
President
The Los Angeles Council of
Ski Clubs, Inc. has 20+ snowsports
(skiing, boarding, and social)
clubs that cover almost all of
the Los Angeles County. LAC is
one of the largest of the 10 councils
of the Far West Ski Association,
and is included in the
National Ski Council Federation.
There are many, many very
active, very enthusiastic members
in the Los Angeles Council
clubs. Summer finds the clubs
out for hiking, biking, kayaking,
sailing, and up to Mammoth
Mountain Ski Resort for their
summer programs. Winter, of
course, sets the mood for wonderful
snow covered mountains, with
trails that twist and turn, or - just
go straight down the hill! With
California and our western states
`
Bruce Bailey, President of
Kronenstadt Ski Club of
Pasadena, enjoys skiing at
Mammoth on a club trip.
photo provided by Kronenstadt Ski Club
ski resorts having some of the
best winter snow that can be
imagined, there are lots of opportunities
for our clubs to go skiing.
Due to the large population and
number of ski clubs in the Los
Angeles area, the types of clubs
are quite different. We have
small clubs and large clubs, with
a myriad of winter and summer
sports programs offering activities
for everyone. Sometimes,
the clubs get together to obtain
better pricing on their trips, offer
different events to do, and more
people to attend, which just
makes for more fun!
The main ski resort for ski
trips, by bus or drive up, is Mammoth
Mountain, a five hour drive
from central Los Angeles. Mammoth
offers a myriad of year
Angeles supports its ROKKA
race leagues, and our own Laura
Preiss (also our VP of Travel) is
its President. Included on the
schedule are: ROKKA Race
Camp; the Ski, Ride & Race
Week; three race weekends, the
SoCal Championships, and the
Far West Racing Association
Championships.
Los Angeles Council participates
in the FWSA Annual Ski
Week each season, and earlier
this year found 40 council
members at Snowmass, Colorado.
This year gave us some of
THE VERY BEST SNOW I've
seen in years. Laura Priess did a
wonderful job of hosting, connecting,
checking, and leading or
keeping up with all the groups in
our council that attended. Due
to a COVID outbreak in the local
area - this ski week had its challenges
(thus no welcome party,
no banquet), but we were lucky
enough to find a restaurant in
the lower village that was welcoming
and accommodating to
most of everyone's needs. So all
was good! The week was made
so special because of all those
that attended. Everyone was
very gracious, very accommodating,
and happy to be at a great ski
resort.
For the FWSA 2023 annual
ski week, our participants, 40 of
them, are so looking forward to
Jackson Hole Ski Resort, with the
races at Snow King in town. We
are also hoping for a jaunt out to
Grand Targhee and a trip into
Yellowstone for a side trip or
two.
LAC also takes advantage of
FWSA's international trips with
Zermatt, Switzerland coming up
in 2023 and the " Mini Week " ski
trips, where we are headed to
Taos, New Mexico in 2023. The
FWSA trips have become popular
for their interesting ski resort
choices and great pricing.
We also have a few of our of LAC
ski clubs with trips going to
Banff and Lake Louise, Canada
(Century City Ski Club); Thailand
with a Twist (Conejo Ski
Club), and others as their plans
come together.
As the clubs post their
Mammoth and other ski trips on
their websites, the LAC website
posts those trips and dates to
make it easy for someone to find
a group to join to go skiing.
The 89th Annual Far West
Ski Association Convention in
2022 was conducted in Portland,
Oregon. It was lots of fun, was a
beautiful area and hotel, and LAC
and its clubs won a variety of
awards:
n Council Website -
Novice: 3rd place LAC
(Sandra Blackwell, webmaster)
n Club Website - Master:
3rd place Unrecables (Dee Armstrong,
webmaster)
n Council Newsletter -
1st place LAC (Gordon
Cardona, Editor)
n Club Newsletter -
2nd Place Unrecables (Gordon
Cardona, Editor)
n Jimmie Heuga Award
for outstanding humanitarian
service to Dr. John Gray
(Unrecables)
n Elizabeth " Schatzi "
Wood Award for outstanding
service to organized skiing to
Sandra Blackwell (Wailers)
A highlight of this convention
was guest speakers, Steve
and Phil Mahre (World Cup and
1984 Olympic Medalists). There
are always fun and very interesting
speakers at the Convention.
So, the upcoming one in Boise in
June of 2023 should not be
missed.
Iris Williams, VP of Programs,
along with the board,
plans social events for our council.
An event is being planned
with the highlight being meeting
each club's Volunteer of the Year
(formerly Man and Woman of the
Year) and announcing the winLOS
ANGELES COUNCIL OF SKI CLUBS
2022 - 2023 Far West Skier's Guide

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