Connecticut Ski Council

[loafer89]

I am about to join the Central Connecticut Snow Snakes ski club and I was curious if anyone else has experience with how a club works with this organization. It seems as if this is a seperate organization that the ski clubs have joined that provides additional benefits?

 

[Geoff]

National Ski Council Federation:
http://www.skifederation.org/

Connecticut Ski Council:
http://www.skiclub.com/

The ski councils exist to aggregate buying power for lift tickets and trips. Some also exist to provide a venue for racing. Bulk ticket buying for Connecticut ski council clubs happens around October 1st and it's a pretty good discount.

Ski areas have 'council awareness days' where you get a discount at the designated ticket window if you show your membership card.
http://www.skiclub.com/documents/CSCAwdays08-09.pdf

There are also 'anytime discounts'
http://www.skiclub.com/documents/CSCseadis09.doc

There are basically two flavors of clubs.... those that own ski lodging and those that don't. The ones without lodging will typically take anybody and everybody as members and the membership is pretty cheap. The ones with lodging tend to be quite a bit more expensive to join, limit membership, and are more selective about who they let in.

Some clubs sponsor a lot of bus trips and self-drive weekend trips. Some clubs are pretty active with social activities and off-season things like cycling and kayaking. Depending on your interests, it's worth researching several clubs to see the one that aligns with what you're looking for.

If you are skiing on day tickets, joining any ski club to get the discounts is a no-brainer.

 

[loafer89]

Thank you for the information. I am joing a club because I wanted to have more social interaction for my son and myself in the local ski community as well as the potential to save money on lift tickets.

I did look at several clubs last night and we choose the Snow Snakes due to the close proximity of the club to my house and work as well as the fact that they are not to pushy to attend meetings or have strict membership criteria. I am not really interested in a ski club with a house at this time, but I see that the Manchester Ski Club has a house in Ludlow.

 

[Geoff]

Thank you for the information. I am joing a club because I wanted to have more social interaction for my son and myself in the local ski community as well as the potential to save money on lift tickets.

I did look at several clubs last night and we choose the Snow Snakes due to the close proximity of the club to my house and work as well as the fact that they are not to pushy to attend meetings or have strict membership criteria. I am not really interested in a ski club with a house at this time, but I see that the Manchester Ski Club has a house in Ludlow.

The Aetna ski club (now called AE Ski Club) is usually the cheapest and easiest to join in Connecticut. You don't need to work for Aetna. You don't need to live in Connecticut. The ACE Ski Club in Massachusetts is cheaper to join and has New Hampshire and Maine ticket deals you don't get in Connecticut. I point people who want to get in on the Killington "Club Card" deal that requires a ski club membership card at those two ski clubs. $199 plus 7% tax for four days of skiing and a card you can reload is a good value for Killington.

 

[gymnast46]

Geoff did a nice summary of the advantages to joining a club. I'll be writing an article on ski clubs for topiaroad.com soon.

The Snow Snakes are a fine club. I belong to Mt. Laurel Skiers (also a member club of the Connecticut Ski Council) and I've run the club's website for the past ten years. We meet at Zabbara's Restaurant at Stanley Golf Course in New Britain, CT Wednesday evenings at 8 pm.

I joined it for the social aspect and things worked out great. My future wife and I joined at the same Open House in November 1996 and have now been married seven years. Some clubs are focused purely on skiing while others are more broadbased. We have a terrific lodge that sleeps 38 people in Proctorsville, VT, five miles from Okemo. Rates are very affordable. Each winter we stage a couple of murder mysteries. The club is very active with racing - we won the CSC's Monday Night Racing series at Mt. Southington last season and have won the CSC's On Snow Winter Carnival five of the last six years.

Another advantage to joining a club is the chance to take affordable ski trips. We're very fortunate in that one of our members owns a travel agency and has years of experience running ski trips. Since joining the club I've skied and boarded St. Moritz, Breckenridge, Tahoe, Taos (okay I didn't take my snowboard there), Telluride, Zermatt, and Davos. We also sponsor a drive trip to Jay Peak each year. I've even taken two cruises with the club.

Many clubs like ours are as active in summer as they are in the winter. Sunday hikes, Monday biking, Tuesday tennis, Wednesday golf.

I'd encourage everyone to join a ski club.

 

[loafer89]

I guess that my next question would be if it is okay to join more than one club?

 

[madskier6]

Thank you for the information. I am joing a club because I wanted to have more social interaction for my son and myself in the local ski community as well as the potential to save money on lift tickets.

I did look at several clubs last night and we choose the Snow Snakes due to the close proximity of the club to my house and work as well as the fact that they are not to pushy to attend meetings or have strict membership criteria. I am not really interested in a ski club with a house at this time, but I see that the Manchester Ski Club has a house in Ludlow.

I'm a member of the Snow Snakes & I think it would be great for what you're objectives are. As Geoff said, the savings on daily lift tickets alone are worth the membership. The Snow Snakes also runs a couple of group trips a year if you're interested in that. They usually go to Sugarloaf, Jay and/or Sunday River. They also do a trip out west. You're right that they do not require attendance at meetings & are pretty loose about your participation.

They also do local events in CT both in-season & in the off-season & have monthly meetings where you can meet other CT skiers. Unfortunately (for me), I have never taken advantage of any of the meetings/trips/get togethers. I joined mostly for the discounts & with a demanding career & 4 children, I just haven't found time to participate yet. Hopefully I will in the future.

For a $40 membership, I get lift discounts for all 6 members of my family (me, wife & 4 children). We mostly do the Council Appreciation Days because the prices are amazing & you get the flexibility of trying different areas on different weekends, which is what I like. We skied at Stowe last Easter weekend for $38 per day.

Bottom line for you: You picked a good club to join for your purposes. Let me know if you have any other questions about the Snow Snakes.

 

[madskier6]

I guess that my next question would be if it is okay to join more than one club?

I think it's permitted but why would you bother paying 2 membership fees for one set of benefits? If you're looking to interact with more people by joining 2 clubs, I guess that would make sense but why not pick one club that you like & get to know the members in that one club really well? Seems to me like you'd be spreading yourself too thin by joining 2 clubs. I think you can go to meetings before you join to get a feel for which club you like better.

 

[loafer89]

I think it's permitted but why would you bother paying 2 membership fees for one set of benefits? If you're looking to interact with more people by joining 2 clubs, I guess that would make sense but why not pick one club that you like & get to know the members in that one club really well? Seems to me like you'd be spreading yourself too thin by joining 2 clubs. I think you can go to meetings before you join to get a feel for which club you like better.

Well, Geoff was kind enough to point out the ACE Club which has more discounts further into Northeastern New England which is where we do alot of our skiing. I would join them as well because you do not have to attend any meetings and you get bulk ticket benefits.

I would not join another club just yet, maybe next year after I see how it goes with the Snow Snakes.

How does the membership card work? Do I get one from both my club and the CSC?

I am joining today so I hope to be able to use the benefits soon.

 

[madskier6]

How does the membership card work? Do I get one from both my club and the CSC?

I am joining today so I hope to be able to use the benefits soon.

You get one membership card for each person in your family (assuming you get a family membership). The card is a Central CT Snow Snakes card with a CSC membership sticker. The CSC sticker is the key item you need for the Appreciation Days discounts at the ticket window.

The CT Ski Council is an umbrella group made up of member clubs. You join a member club & then receive the CSC benefits along with benefits of the local club.

 

[playoutside]

I belong to several ski clubs because the combination of benefits is what I want. Each has nominal membership fees, so it doesn't feel wasteful to me. None require attendance at meetings (participation was required to be voted in for the NJ club). The reality is if you join not just for the skiing, you will have a better time if you get to meetings.

• I belong to one club that is based in NJ that has a lodge in VT, offers fun social options, and has access to the NJ Ski Council discounts (which are mainly VT mountains).
• I belong to ACE which I joined this year primarily for discounts that included NH and VT and hopefully will broaden the group of skiers I know. You can never have too many ski pals.
• I belong to CMSG because they offer weekend trips to places like Sunday River, North Conway and Stowe. They also have discounts worked out for at least one day of each weekend for various mountains throughout NE. They seem to have great buying power. The weekend trips they offer are a great value.

 

[madskier6]

I guess that my next question would be if it is okay to join more than one club?

I think it's permitted but why would you bother paying 2 membership fees for one set of benefits? If you're looking to interact with more people by joining 2 clubs, I guess that would make sense but why not pick one club that you like & get to know the members in that one club really well? Seems to me like you'd be spreading yourself too thin by joining 2 clubs. I think you can go to meetings before you join to get a feel for which club you like better.

I should clarify that my response assumed you meant joining 2 member clubs of the CSC (i.e. Central CT Snow Snakes & Mt. Laurel). That is why I questioned 2 fees for one set of benefits. I did not realize you were considering a CSC Club plus ACE. That obviously would make sense since the benefit packages are different. Sorry - my bad.

 

[gymnast46]

Well, Geoff was kind enough to point out the ACE Club which has more discounts further into Northeastern New England which is where we do alot of our skiing. I would join them as well because you do not have to attend any meetings and you get bulk ticket benefits.

I would not join another club just yet, maybe next year after I see how it goes with the Snow Snakes.

How does the membership card work? Do I get one from both my club and the CSC?

I am joining today so I hope to be able to use the benefits soon.

Although a lot of our members belong to more than one club within the CSC my wife and I only have memberships with Mt. Laurel. Snow Snakes will be able to provide all the discount ticket and Awareness Day advantages you need.

I just noticed you live in Coventry. I lived there from 1978 to 1994.

Pat Moore

 

[loafer89]

I should clarify that my response assumed you meant joining 2 member clubs of the CSC (i.e. Central CT Snow Snakes & Mt. Laurel). That is why I questioned 2 fees for one set of benefits. I did not realize you were considering a CSC Club plus ACE. That obviously would make sense since the benefit packages are different. Sorry - my bad.

No problem, I did not know about the ACE club until this morning, so for now I am joining the Snow Snakes. I just dropped my application in the mail and I hope to hear from them soon.

The discounts should come in handy for Christmas and Presidents week as we do not have season's passes for the first time since 2004 as it's just not financially viable this year to ski far from home.

 

[SKIER4LIFE1281]

sterling

hey i belong to the sterling ski club and we have 2 houses is vt and are in the connecticut ski council with all the discounted lift tickets, trips out west and europe. the two houses are in brattleboro near the chelsea royal diner and slopeside on mount ellen at sugarbush. i think it is almost a hidden secret out of the skis clubs and it works out great. check it out www.sterlingskiclub.org stratford, ct
there are people from all over the northeast and ct that belong to our club and we run a lot of events

 

[Clarkl23]

Just thought I'd post a correction/additional information about the Ace Ski Club. Ace is just one of the EICSL ski clubs. EICSL like CSC has a number of clubs, some with and some without houses. We're based in the Mt Washington Valley with discounts for all of the mountains there, plus Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Jay and others. For a few like Black, Bretton Woods and Shawnee Peak you can get a discount just by showing your ID card, no prepurchase necessary. There is a full list of our discount tickets available on our website (link is below in my signature line). We also have our own race program which is something in between NASTAR and Masters. Open GS courses like NASTAR, but much longer. Our championship race course is usually close to a minute for skiers with sub 10 handicaps. In addition to age we also break down into classes based on ability levels with roughly 10 handicap points separating classes, so someone who started skiing at 40 doesn't end up racing someone skiing since they were 5 just because they're now both the same age so it's a much more competitive system.

Like CSC we're also members of the National Ski Council Federation which I believe your club has to be in order to qualify for the Killington Club Pass.

Clark

 

[loafer89]

We got our membership cards to the Snow Snakes in the mail today. I look forward to going to some of the appreciation days during Christmas Vacation.

Hopefully Magic Mountain gets some snow for us to ski on during that time.

 

[Clarkl23]

Not sure if anyone posted this one, but this is another council/club discount. It looks like you need to have a club or council officer contact Whiteface to do the registration.

Whiteface Mountain Ski Council/Ski Club Appreciation Days

Ski at Whiteface on the dates listed below for $35! Must show your EICSL ID and photo ID. A member of the EICSL Board will contact Whiteface to register EICSL members. Dates are: Dec 7 & 8, January 21, February 6, March 23 & 24, April 5 & 6

Clark