Schenectady Wintersports Club

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This year’s Ski Clinic at Stowe enjoyed new snow and the new 6 passenger Sun Rise high speed chairlift on good learning terrain.  We had a good group of previous and new attendees for the lessons with some of Stowe’s best instructors.  There was new snow Friday night that allowed Stowe to open more of the mountain for instruction on Sat & Sun. 

The Clinic started with a welcome party at the SWC Clubhouse where we all gathered and socialized talking about the skiing and what we had done during the summer.  For some, this was going to be the first-time skiing Stowe and for others a time to renew old friendships.  

Our maximum class size this year was 5 and as usual, my instructor was able to erase some bad habits I had from last year. I had been blaming it on my January ski crash but it’s really due to lack of focus on my part.  

The classes started Friday at 9:00 AM in the Mansfield main lodge where we met the instructors and had our first warmup runs down the mountain.  Then it was time to split up into classes and the instruction began on both Mt Mansfield and Spruce Peak depending on the class abilities. A late morning break for lunch was followed by more instruction.  By then, we had skied about 2,000 feet of vertical and some called it a day, and some took a few more runs with the instructor.  Saturday started at 9:00 again and the classes ate lunch together with more instruction in the afternoon.  Some skied till 3:00 while others tried to save their legs for Sunday AM class.  Sunday saw some drop out due to a long drive home while others of us got in some last morning instruction.  

I admit that my body was not quite as responsive as I was hoping for.  But I had a good time on the mountain, and I learned some new ways to improve my skiing.  As Walt Kangas has said in the past, the Ski Clinic Instruction has improved my skiing and enables me to ski the whole mountain with confidence but not as much speed as I had in the 70’s.

We all thank Karen Simmons & Brenda Streed for stepping in when Bill Romania had to drop out of the Clinic leadership.  They had to interface with Stowe Mountain Resort (Vail Inc) and Stowe Motel on short notice and had never participated in one of the Clinics in the past.  The Clinic came off without a hitch and is now on the SWC schedule for December 11-14.  Mark your calendar and make sure this year is the year that you start off the season with new skiing skills. 

Below is an email from Bryant George, a first time Clinic participant.

Hello Bill –

Cindy and I had an amazing time this past weekend, we are so appreciative of the club. Our instructor’s name was Erik Timmerman.  I will send a text with the picture we took with him. Thank you for the warm and welcoming atmosphere the club and the lodge have. We look forward to spending time together again. Best wishes and happy holidays.

"Schenectady Wintersports Club Inc." is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization. P.O. Box 2072, Wilton New York 12831