~Da President, Arman Gutierrez ~
Ski season is officially over (unless you’re planning on a trip to Valle Nevado or Bariloche) and June marks the start of the 2014-2015 NSC membership season. As usual, you can take advantage of the $5 membership discount if you sign up and send in your membership form before May 31st.
NSC In The News (Again)
Last month NSC was featured in the BAC website with an article about our ski trip to Sun Peaks, BC. Well, NSC has done it again! In the May-June 2014 issue of the National Ski Club Newsletter (NSCN) there was a short article about our Sun Peaks trip in the “Ideas from other clubs” section. This is not the first time NSC has been featured in the NSCN. The other time was when we were featured with a two-page write-up for our 2007 Panorama, BC trip. The purpose of the NSCN is to provide a forum for sharing ideas amongst the nation’s ski clubs and the publication is sent to the officers of approximately 2,100 ski clubs. I try to submit relevant articles to BAC and NSCN in order to showcase our trips and get publicity for our club. Alas, a confession must be made because I did not submit this article to NSCN, but a big Thank You goes to whomever did submit it.
A New Season, Same Old NSC?
Some may consider that NSC has reached a point of stagnation with the same board, no new ideas, and a declining membership. Well, it’s hard to dispute those notions, but I would like to think that there are opportunities for NSC to consider that could affect the club.
I’ve been told, and recognize, on many occasions that NSC needs new blood and younger members if the club is to be self-sustaining. As our membership gets older we need to focus on getting younger members that are interested in skiing & snowboarding and participating in NSC events (e.g. hikes, potluck picnics, etc.). On our last weekend ski trip to Tahoe we had a family from the Monterey Ski & Social club join us and they brought their teenage son, and since they hadn’t been to Alpine Meadows before I gave them a morning tour of the ski area. Although the parents preferred the groomed runs it was obvious that the young boy was interested in something a bit more challenging. So, the parents were directed down the groomed runs and their son joined me down several black runs, which he handled fairly well. The next day at Northstar he managed to find all the black runs on the backside and enjoyed skiing so much that he was one of the last ones to return to the bus at the end of the day. So what does this tell me? Perhaps the club should consider allowing parents with kids to join NSC and bring them on our ski trips and other events. This might get more people on the trips and introduce the young folks to NSC, and potentially they would become future members. This subject will be brought up again at one of our future board meetings and I would like to invite anyone interested in joining the discussion to attend that board meeting. Can’t wait that long? Very well, please send in your comments and ideas to any of the board members. Incidentally, our next board meeting will be held at the Texas Roadhouse in Union City on May 18th at 11:30am. Join us for lunch if you can.
Code of Conduct for NSC
Last month there was a discussion about creating a Code of Conduct for NSC. This effort is still in progress and once it gets to a final stage it will be presented to the membership.
