Wow!  What a wonderful FSC week we had in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  Our group arrived in Hayden 30 minutes ahead of schedule and boarded the buses for the mountain resort. We checked into The Lodge at Steamboat condos and headed over to Terry Sports where they hosted a private wine, beer and cheese welcome party as they fitted us with skis and snowboards. The FSC registration was that evening and our race captain, Tom Venezia, starting recruiting then and there for our NASTAR team.  He ended up with 16 racers, several first timers, who gave it all they had on race day.  (Kevin Simmons, Sandie Arbitelle, and Jeannie Staubus brought home bronze medals for the club!).  On Saturday evening it began to snow and we awoke to 8 inches of soft champagne powder on Sunday morning.  It was the perfect powder day and we hit the slopes with a vengeance!  After skiing all day, many of us met at the Bear River Grille for an après ski beverage (or two) to celebrate a great day and watch the Colts and Patriots game.  John Haley and Phil Schwindler, our tripper from Indiana, cheered wildly for the Colts and got the whole table excited.

On Monday through Friday the days were beautiful and sunny with the bluebird skies for which Steamboat is famous.  The slopes were in excellent packed powder condition with stashes of fresh found in the trees.  The “Free Radicals” (Kevin Simmons, Carla Constantino, Tom Venezia, Jon Coerse, Wylie Ball, Mike Walter, and Theresa Parrot) were all over the mountain from the cruisers to the cliffs.  Wylie knows no fear!  On Monday evening we had the FSC Welcome and Get Acquainted party and dinner buffet at the Thunderhead building at the top of the gondola.   We enjoyed the music of the band Sun Dog at our club table conveniently located by the dance floor. Steve Spragins tore up the dance floor while Kathy Freeberg found a cowboy to dance with and broke in her condo cowboy boots.  Husband Tom later learned the two-step and broke in to give her a twirl.  Tuesday our club had an après ski gathering at the Slopeside Grill.  The Weeds, Websters, Quenzlers, and Ellisons were first in place for delicious appetizers and Fat Tire and 90 Schillings beer!  We all toasted and sang “Happy Birthday” to Donna Gasecki.  Weezie Robertson and Doris Franklin kept their end of the table lively while Jon Coerse ordered Patron shots for the gang who chilled outside.  Several trippers commented that this was their favorite event of the week.  Crazy Hat and Boxer Day was a riot with Van Reynolds’ Viking horns and long blonde braids.  Joni Reynolds and Pam Burdett looked adorable dressed as ski bunnies with fuzzy ears and powder puff tails.  Jeff Burdett’s moose hat was a stand-out as he sped down the runs.  Alma Stephenson wore her whitey-tighty panties with a ladybug on the front and “Don’t bug me” on the rear.  Alma and Dee Gabiger covered lots of long, cruising runs and really loved the sunshine.

At the Pirates theme party on Thursday, the SCSC was well-represented with sea dogs and saucy wenches who enjoyed a steak dinner and then dancing till they dropped.  It was great to see over 700 costumed participants get into the spirit of the evening and have so much fun.  There were contests (ex:  Best Pirate Couple, Best Pirate Gang, and Best Capt. Jack Sparrow Look-a-like) to keep us amused.  Cal Staubus made a dashing buccaneer with his scratchy stubble, hook and swinging braids.  On Friday, Stephen Gasecki took photos of our token teen, son John, at the terrain park “getting big air.”  John is a well-traveled, sponsored surfer in addition to being an excellent snowboarder.  Sandie and Jeannie enjoyed skiing with Fred Hahn and Bruce Kropschot, new SCSC members from Vero Beach.  Those guys skied all 6 days with little time thrown in for rest.  Norm Boucher put in his hours on the slopes and then rushed down after skiing to meet lovely wife Maria for some shopping and fine dining experiences.  Don Swem was our roving mountain photographer who specialized in action shots and/or embarrassing wipe-out shots after a fall.   Karen Sylvester enjoyed her ski lessons and got in some great practice time.  Vicki Hawks and Harry Daniel enjoyed skiing the steeps and then exploring the town afterwards.   Harry, from Brunswick, GA, fit in perfectly with our group and bought the greatest hat of the trip! 

I would like to thank our participants for being such a fantastic group and for making the trip so memorable!!!  It was my pleasure to travel and ski with all of you.

Trip Leader: Jeannie Kilpatrick-Staubus