Join us at the June 5, 2024 General Meeting and Happy Hour held at Arterra in Del Mar for Action’s Annual Membership Drive Event.

     Do you know someone interested in skiing and doesn’t want to plan their own trips? Know someone who used to ski and needs a nudge to get back into the sport?  Do you have a non-skiing partner or spouse who wants to meet the fun people you talk about when you get back from one of our legendary trips?  

     Bring them to the Membership Drive, and have a Happy Hour drink on us if they join Action!  You will receive a $10 drink coupon on us — and they will too!  Heard about us on your own?  Make your way to the meeting and get a drink on us.

     The timing of the Membership Drive is prime for attending the Action’s End of Year (Ski Year That Is!) Party. This is a Members Only Event that includes food, beverages, music, dancing and other end of year treats-all at no cost to members.  The Party is July 13, 2024-check the Action's website for details.

     Membership is required to sign up for Action hosted Ski Trips.  Ski Trip sign-up this year will be held on September 4, 2024 at Arterra, with any remaining spots open for sale on-line following that date.

     All new members who join at the Membership Drive Event (and their sponsor, if applicable) will also get a free raffle ticket for a special gift giveaway!

     Can’t make the meeting, but want to join? Contact Action at membership@actionski.org and we will get you signed up and send you a $10 gift card-25% of the cost of annual membership!

Note: Anyone who joins as a NEW member after April 1, 2024 will have membership through June 30, 2025 (end of Action 2024/2025 membership year-up to 3 extra months!)

Next Action Happy Hour + General Meeting

Top of the Whistler Gondola.

Recently Action Ski & Snowboard Club’s Activities Director, Jackie Ehlert, led a large group of Actioneers to Whistler Village in British Columbia for 4 days of skiing at Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.  Jackie, who has a residence in  Vancouver, has led many groups of skiers to Whistler over the years and is extremely familiar with this resort.  

     We all flew into Vancouver and took a two hour shuttle bus up to Whistler and got checked into our hotel in the village, just a 5 minute walk to the gondolas serving both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.  Owned by Vail Resorts, Whistler Blackcomb hosted several events during the 2010 Winter Olympics and is widely regarded as the largest ski resort in North America.  

Whistler Village is probably the largest and swankiest pedestrian only ski village I have ever visited.  In my eyes it’s bigger and fancier than Vail!  

Jackie took the group on a tour around the village showing us various shops, bars and restaurants and we ended up at a brewery for dinner.

     I was a little concerned how the snow conditions would be because in January and February very little snow had fallen. But luckily the “snow gods” intervened just in time and dumped 2 to 3 feet of snow before we arrived and more while we were there which made it fantastic!  

     The first morning some of the group joined up for a mountain tour with a resort host.  She showed us several runs and chair lifts so we got the layout of Whistler Mountain.  At the end of the day everyone joined Jackie for an Apres ski happy hour at Black’s Pub in the village. It was a great first day!  
     Unfortunately, on the second morning a new member, Ray, had a medical emergency and had to be taken to a hospital in Vancouver.  We are happy to know that he is recovering at home. A few hours later another setback occurred when Jackie informed the group that her father had passed away and would also have to cut her trip short and leave.  Luckily the trip was so well planned, she left bus vouchers and some instructions for us so that the rest of our group was able to continue on.

     Over the next three days Janet and I enjoyed skiing with Ken Hodge, Gina Bressinger, Denny Quan, Linda Marabian, Jan Schechter, Ted Brown, Jerry Job, and Steve Trudgen at both Whistler and Blackcomb.  We skied all kinds of terrain including double blacks (a few of us), blacks, blues, and few greens and found great snow everywhere!  I ventured into the trees a few times looking for fresh powder which I found.  But one time I went into a place that was too tight (for me) and ended up falling on and snapping my pole in deep snow.  What a bummer!  I felt like a beached whale as I wallowed around in the powder trying to get up!  I eventually managed to get out of that predicament but I’m glad there was no one there to take pictures!

     There were lots of highlights for me that week.  My top three were:

1. A group happy hour in the swanky Mallard Bar at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel (we were definitely drinking with the “blue bloods”!).
2. The fantastic views of the surrounding mountains and Whistler Village while riding with Denny on the 2.7 mile long Peak-2-Peak Gondola from Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb Mountain.
3. The group dinner Jackie planned for us at Wild Blue, a high-end restaurant (for me) across the street from our hotel.  Everyone had a fantastic meal and we all wished that Jackie, Ray, and Julie could have been there with us.

     The last day the group boarded the airport shuttle back to Vancouver Airport.  On the way it stopped in the downtown district where Ted, Janet, and I got off and checked into our hotel for a two night stay in Vancouver.

Downtown Vancouver has a spectacular skyline with more than 650 residential and office skyscrapers rising above the Burrard Peninsula, more than any city in North America.  The view is spectacular, especially at night!  

     The next morning our group, which now included Ted’s wife Jessica plus Mary Koto and John Thomas (no relation), followed Jackie’s planned itinerary to explore downtown Vancouver on foot.  We walked a few blocks down to False Bay and took a water taxi over to nearby Granville Island where we spent a couple of hours exploring the Public Market and had lunch.
     In the afternoon Ted, Jessica, Janet, and I rented e-bikes and rode around Stanley Park which borders the downtown district.  It is a large, beautiful and densely forested park with a very good trail system and perfect for bike riding.  It was my first experience on an e-bike and really fun!  

     What a fantastic trip with lots of fun experiences!  Jackie, our thoughts are with you during this difficult time.  Thanks for all your hard work in organizing the trip! 
John Thomas
    

Early April, our boutique trip to Frisco was all set for four days of Spring skiing, a time for t-shirts, bikinis, and apres ski in the sun — but no — we got a little bit of everything — sun, snow, wind and cold. I believe it was the coldest trip I took this year! That said, the overall conditions were pretty good, and we had a great time.

 The last two years we stayed in the same 10k square foot home. The design and decor of the home was the butt of many of our jokes, but I think it brought us all together in a nice way. It was a really great group of people. We'd start our day together in the large kitchen and dining area, talking about our plans for the day over breakfast, and after the slopes, we all usually had a little apres ski, or some jumped in one of the two hot tubs, then we cooked our own meals and share stories of the day.