National Ski Club Newsletter
Join a Ski Club and Make It Happen!

For a number of years this was the place to visit for the National Ski Club Newsletter.
Content is from the site's 2016 archived pages providing a brief glimpse of what this site offered its readship.

For the most up to date National Ski Club News, go to the Ski Federation's website: https://skifederation.org/category/national-ski-club-newsletter/
The National Ski Council Federation was formally established in 1999. It consists of the largest 29 ski councils in the United States and boasts a total membership of approximately 300,000 snowsports enthusiasts.

Don’t Just Dream of an Exciting Life . . . .
Join a Ski Club and Make It Happen!

WELCOME:

Now addressing the officers of 2,200 U.S. ski clubs containing 700,000 skiing members in all 50 states in 4 print issues each season. The magazine is published to coincide with the ski clubs’ purchasing timeline in November, January, March, and May. These "Issues" can be accessed by clicking on the link listed below. Plus we publish monthly e-mailed "News Flash" year-round. The latest "News Flash" can be accessed by clicking on the link listed below.

"I've been a subscriber to The National Ski Club Newsletter for several years now, and it never fails to impress me. The detailed coverage of ski clubs across all 50 states, especially insights into local events and unique trip offerings, really helps in planning my skiing adventures. I particularly enjoyed the feature on the Texas Ski Council's trip to Egypt - it's great to see how clubs are diversifying beyond just ski trips. However, I did notice some delays in the online updates. It might be time for the management to update FoxPro & modernize their system to ensure smoother and more efficient digital communications. Keep up the great work, though!" Janine Meyer

ABOUT US:

AMERICA’S 2,200 SKI CLUBS AND 45 COUNCILS

America’s ski clubs are located in all 50 states and the annually elected officers of just over 2,200 clubs have been reading The National Ski Club Newsletter since 1987. Those 2,200 or so clubs contain about 700,000 members. Approximately half of these clubs belong to one or more of 45 ski councils -- or umbrella organizations -- most of which are geographically centeredâ€ˆ(i.e., the Texas Ski Council, the Florida Ski Council, etc.) and 25 of those councils belong to The National Ski Council Federation.

Most ski clubs are also social clubs and many members literally center their social lives around “the club”. The clubs typically host happy hours, meetings that often look a lot like happy hours, theme parties, weekend trips, destination trips, and organize team sports for their members.

Initially organized to take advantage of group rates on lift tickets, lodging, etc. for ski trips, the clubs travel worldwide to ski -- Usually about 40% of their trips ski in Colorado and an average of 10% of their trips ski in Europe.

Many of the clubs are now organizing non-ski trips and year-round group vacations for their members. A case in point would be the Texas Ski Council which had 350 members signed up to tour Egypt in September of 2010. Most of their European ski trips offer pre- or post-trips to European cities as the clubs have discovered that touring in Europe during the winter is not only a lot less crowded -- but an excellent value as well.

2016 ISSUES

May - June 2016

March-April 2016

January-February 2016

ISSUE October 2016

latest NEWSFLASH:

Thursday, October 06, 2016

The National Ski Club Officers' Newsflash is emailed each month to America's ski club officers by TheNational Ski Club Newsletter on a year-round basis. If you wish additional club officers to receive the Newsflash, please email their names, club name, their office within the club, and email addresses to wilbanks@ski- club.net.

THE U.S. IS NOW THE MOST POPULAR SKI DESTINATION IN THE WORLD GROUSE MOUNTAIN FOR SALE WATERVILLE VALLEY ADDS 10 NEW RUNS POWDER MOUNTAIN ADDING TWO LIFTS END OF THE ROAD FOR IDAHO’S TAMARACK SKI AREA? ZELL AM SEE RE-OPENS OLD TERRAIN TO BE PART OF AUSTRIA’S NEXT BIGGEST SKI AREA AUSTRIA’S KAPRUN ADDS NEW LIFT NEW SKI TRIP TO KYRGYZSTAN IS FOR YOUR TRULY TOUGH AND ADVENTUROUS SKIERS

THE U.S. IS NOW THE MOST POPULAR SKI DESTINATION IN THE WORLD
Poor snow in France has resulted in the United States becoming the world’s favorite ski destination during the 2015-16 season. According to the data from the French ski industry authority, Domaines Skiables de France, the US had a 6 % hike to 53.9 million skier days, and French had 52 million -- about three percent less than the past year. The United States held the top spot from 2008 to 2011. But, for the past four years, France has been fiercely boasting the top spot. France continues to be the top ski destination in Europe, however. Austria ended its ski season with 49.9 million -- 4 percent below last year. However, the coming season may bring some good news for Europe as US visitors are likely to increase due to the favorable exchange rates.

GROUSE MOUNTAIN FOR SALE
The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) reports that British Columbia’s Grouse Mountain near Vancouver, , after four decades of ownership by the McLaughlin family, is for sale – including its ski operations and 1,200 acres of property. The popular mountain, which draws 1.3 million visitors annually, has 26 runs and four chairlifts, as well as summer activities.

WATERVILLE VALLEY ADDS 10 NEW RUNS
Patrick Thorne, The Snow Hunter, reports that, Waterville Valley in New Hampshire is working on the first phase of its Green Peak Expansion project which will see 10 new trails cut to provide 45 new acres of skiing and riding this season, serviced by a fixed grip chairlift. This will be Waterville Valley Resort’s biggest expansion project in more than 30 years.

POWDER MOUNTAIN ADDING TWO LIFTS
Utah’s Powder Mountain ski area is hoping to add two new lifts for the 2016-2017 ski season.

The resort’s proposed new “Village Lift,” would run up Lefty’s Canyon to a planned mountain village development

VAIL ADDS THREE QUADS TO WILMOT MOUNTAIN Vail Resorts are reported to have spent $13 million on a complete overhaul of their recently acquired Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin. The historic ski area is one of several smaller Eastern US ski areas (the others are in Minnesota and Michigan) Vail Resorts has acquired as a means of encouraging skiers and boarders to visit Vail’s better known international. Skiers at Wilmot Mountain can now purchase Vail’s ‘Epic Local Pass’ for a similar price to what Wilmotonly passes were in the past, but the ticket also now gives them access to world-class skiing at Vail Resorts’ nine western resorts, plus Australia’s largest resort, Perisher. The three quad chairlifts from Colorado are replacing existing lifts at Wilmot and there are now also two new carpet lifts and a new rope tow as part of a redesigned learning area and a new terrain park – altogether increasing the area’s uplift by almost a half.

NEW SKI TRIP TO KYRGYZSTAN IS FOR YOUR TRULY TOUGH AND ADVENTUROUS SKIERS Snoworks, a British ski tour operator, has added skiing the mountains of Kyrgyzstan for the coming winter. The ski adventure to Kyrgyzstan next February, with accommodation based in traditional yurts, is open to competent skiers who are comfortable on black runs and can ski off-piste. The skiing is exclusively ski touring based and located in the Tian Shan Mountain range, part of the old Silk Road route between the Mediterranean and Asia. The skiing will all be accessed via snowmobiles from the yurt camp and the tour operator says that there’s opportunities to explore some of the country and take in some of the culture too. The trip begins on February 11, 2017 and costs just under $3,000 per person -- which includes 6.5 days ski touring with local guides and a Snoworks Instructor, 10 nights accommodation, most lunches and evening meals, return transfers from the Bishkek Airport and transfers to all ski areas. However, the price does not include flights to Kyrgyzstan. See snoworks.com for more information.

END OF THE ROAD FOR IDAHO’S TAMARACK SKI AREA? Patrick Thorne, The Snow Hunter, reports Tamarack, launched with a $1.5 billion price tag in 2004 in Idaho, the ski area looks to be going out of business permanently with the news that its remaining chairlifts are set to be auctioned off October 17 for unpaid property taxes. The area was dealt a near terminal blow in 2008 with the global property crash but has managed to remain partially open for most of the past decade thanks to the support of private property owners at the ski area. However local authorities said that land taxes for the ski area have not been paid for three years and now amount to more than a quarter of a million dollars, hence the sale of remaining buildings and lifts valued at over $5 million. If the taxes are paid in time the auction will be called off, but apparently that’s unlikely.

ZELL AM SEE RE-OPENS OLD TERRAIN TO BE PART OF AUSTRIA’S NEXT BIGGEST SKI AREA Aistroa’s Zell am See has a new lift that will allow it to re-open terrain not used for more than three decades. The zellamseeXpress 10 seater lift, the first stage in a two year plan to (re)connect Zell am See to the Saalbach- Hinterglemm-Fieberbrunn again, will make Zell am See part of one of Austria’s next largest ski areas. The new lift runs to the top station of the Salersbachköpfl at 1,920 meters, reopening access to once popular downhill runs to the Glemm Valley that resort managers say were used for 50 years between 1930 and 1980. More upgrades are planned in the area for the 2018/19 season as part of the 25 million euro project creating further slopes and an additional cable car connection from and into Glemmtal.

AUSTRIA’S KAPRUN ADDS NEW LIFT Austria’s Kaprun, has the new Schmiedingerbahn lift that replaces the Schmiedinger glacier lifts on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier, becoming SalzburgerLand's highest chairlift. Operating between 2,530 meters and 2,775 meters, the modern 8-seater will include heated seats and pull-down weather-protection hoods.

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More Background On NationalSkiClubNews.com

NationalSkiClubNews.com occupies a distinctive place in the history of organized recreational skiing in the United States. Rather than serving casual skiers or resort vacationers, the site functioned as the digital extension of The National Ski Club Newsletter, a long-running publication aimed at the leadership of America’s ski clubs. At its height, the website acted as a centralized information hub for thousands of ski club officers, councils, and affiliated organizations across all fifty states.

More than a simple news site, NationalSkiClubNews.com represented a communications backbone for the U.S. ski club ecosystem—connecting volunteer leaders, coordinating travel and purchasing cycles, and reinforcing the social culture that defines club-based skiing. Though no longer updated, the archived content from the mid-2010s remains an important snapshot of how organized skiing functioned before the dominance of social media platforms and modern content management systems.

This article provides a comprehensive examination of NationalSkiClubNews.com, including its origins, ownership context, audience, goals, editorial structure, historical importance, cultural impact, and legacy within American snowsports.

Origins and Historical Context

NationalSkiClubNews.com emerged as the online home for The National Ski Club Newsletter, a publication that began circulation in 1987. The newsletter itself was established to serve the annually elected officers of ski clubs throughout the United States—individuals responsible for organizing trips, negotiating group rates, coordinating social events, and managing member communications.

By the time the website was active in the 2000s and 2010s, the American ski club landscape had matured into a vast and interconnected network. Approximately 2,200 ski clubs existed nationwide, collectively representing an estimated 700,000 individual members. Many of these clubs belonged to regional ski councils, and a significant number of councils were affiliated with the National Ski Council Federation.

NationalSkiClubNews.com arose from the need to modernize communication within this network while preserving the structured, calendar-driven nature of print publishing. Rather than replacing the print newsletter, the website complemented it—extending reach, providing archival access, and supporting more frequent updates through digital “News Flash” communications.

Ownership and Organizational Structure

NationalSkiClubNews.com was not positioned as an independent media outlet in the commercial sense. Instead, it functioned as a publication platform closely aligned with the ski club leadership community itself. Editorial direction reflected the needs and priorities of ski club officers rather than advertisers or resort marketing departments.

While the site referenced broader industry bodies—most notably the National Ski Council Federation—it remained focused on practical, operational information relevant to club leadership. This included purchasing timelines, destination updates, infrastructure news, and travel opportunities tailored to group travel rather than individual consumers.

The publication model was service-oriented rather than profit-driven. Its longevity was sustained by relevance, institutional trust, and its embedded role in ski club governance rather than by aggressive digital monetization strategies.

Audience and Readership

The primary audience for NationalSkiClubNews.com was highly specific and unusually concentrated. Rather than targeting the general skiing public, the site addressed:

Officers of approximately 2,200 U.S. ski clubs
Leaders of regional ski councils
Travel coordinators and trip directors
Vendors and destinations marketing to ski clubs
Industry professionals tracking group skiing trends

These readers were not casual visitors. They were decision-makers responsible for organizing travel for tens or hundreds of members at a time. As such, content needed to be practical, timely, and trustworthy.

Secondary audiences included long-time ski club members, historians of recreational skiing, and industry analysts interested in group travel behavior. For these readers, the site’s archives provide rare insight into how ski clubs functioned socially and economically.

Editorial Goals and Mission

The stated mission of the publication—summarized by the recurring slogan “Join a Ski Club and Make It Happen!”—reveals its core philosophy. NationalSkiClubNews.com promoted skiing not merely as a sport, but as a lifestyle rooted in community, shared experiences, and organized adventure.

Key editorial goals included:

Encouraging participation in ski clubs
Supporting club leadership with actionable information
Highlighting global ski travel opportunities
Reporting on industry infrastructure and resort development
Reinforcing the social value of club membership

Unlike resort-centric publications, the site emphasized group dynamics over individual performance or gear. Skiing was presented as both a recreational pursuit and a social framework that structured friendships, travel habits, and seasonal routines.

Content Structure and Menus

NationalSkiClubNews.com was organized around issues and updates rather than continuously refreshed articles. Its primary content formats included:

Seasonal Print Issues

The newsletter was published four times per season, aligned with ski clubs’ purchasing and planning cycles. These issues typically appeared in:

November
January
March
May

Each issue compiled destination reports, infrastructure news, travel opportunities, and council updates. The website served as an archive for these editions, allowing officers to revisit prior planning guidance.

Monthly News Flash Updates

In addition to print issues, the site supported monthly email-based “News Flash” communications sent year-round to club officers. These updates focused on timely developments such as resort expansions, lift installations, international travel opportunities, and economic conditions affecting skiing.

Archival Navigation

The site provided access to historical issues spanning multiple years, including 2013, 2014, and 2016. This archival structure reinforced continuity and institutional memory within the ski club community.

Geographic Scope and Proximity

While NationalSkiClubNews.com did not operate from a single publicly emphasized physical location, its geographic reach was comprehensive. It addressed ski clubs in all fifty states, including regions without natural snowfall or ski resorts.

This nationwide scope reflected the reality that many ski clubs are based far from mountains. States such as Texas, Florida, and other non-ski regions maintained highly active ski councils that organized domestic and international trips.

International coverage was also significant. The site regularly reported on skiing in Europe, including Austria, France, and emerging destinations. Roughly 10 percent of ski club trips historically involved European skiing, a figure reflected in the publication’s editorial balance.

Popularity and Reach

At its peak, NationalSkiClubNews.com reached a concentrated but influential readership. While its raw traffic numbers were modest compared to consumer ski websites, its audience density was unusually high.

Each reader often represented dozens or hundreds of skiers. Decisions influenced by the publication could shape travel patterns for entire clubs, affecting resort bookings, airline group travel, and tour operator partnerships.

The site’s influence extended beyond digital metrics. Its authority was rooted in long-term trust, consistency, and its integration into ski club governance practices.

Reviews and Community Feedback

Archived testimonials and anecdotal feedback suggest that the publication was widely respected for its depth and relevance. Readers valued:

Detailed coverage of ski councils across all states
Reporting on unconventional or emerging travel destinations
Insight into infrastructure developments affecting group skiing

Some feedback also pointed to challenges typical of legacy platforms transitioning to digital formats, including delays in online updates and reliance on older publishing systems. These critiques underscore the site’s position at the intersection of print tradition and evolving digital expectations.

Coverage Highlights and Examples

NationalSkiClubNews.com covered a broad range of topics illustrative of its editorial scope:

U.S. ski visitation trends surpassing European destinations
Expansion projects at American resorts adding new runs and lifts
International ski touring opportunities in Central Asia
Infrastructure modernization at both major and regional ski areas
Economic pressures facing underperforming resorts

These stories were framed not as consumer news, but as strategic intelligence for club leaders planning future trips.

Cultural and Social Significance

The cultural importance of NationalSkiClubNews.com lies in its documentation of a social model of skiing that predates algorithm-driven platforms. Ski clubs historically functioned as social hubs, particularly for adults balancing work, family, and recreation.

For many members, the club was not merely a means of accessing discounted lift tickets—it was a primary social network. Happy hours, themed parties, meetings, and group travel formed the backbone of members’ social lives.

NationalSkiClubNews.com reinforced this culture by validating ski clubs as enduring institutions rather than relics of a pre-digital era.

Relationship to the National Ski Council Federation

While editorially independent, the site existed within the broader ecosystem of the National Ski Council Federation, an umbrella organization representing major regional ski councils.

This relationship positioned the publication as both an informational outlet and an informal record keeper for organized skiing in the United States. Its archives capture moments of growth, experimentation, and adaptation within the federation-aligned club network.

Decline and Archival Status

By the late 2010s, NationalSkiClubNews.com transitioned into an archival role. Content updates ceased, and readers were directed toward federation-managed platforms for current information.

This shift reflects broader trends affecting niche publications: the rising cost of maintaining legacy systems, the migration of audiences to centralized platforms, and the challenge of updating print-oriented workflows for modern digital consumption.

Despite this, the site’s archived pages remain valuable as historical documentation.

Legacy and Long-Term Value

NationalSkiClubNews.com’s legacy is not measured by ongoing activity but by its contribution to institutional memory. It preserves:

The operational rhythms of ski clubs
Group travel patterns before platform consolidation
The social architecture of organized recreational skiing

For historians, industry analysts, and long-time club members, the site provides rare continuity in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

NationalSkiClubNews.com stands as a testament to the power of focused, community-driven publishing. It served a specific audience with clarity, consistency, and purpose, reinforcing the social fabric of American ski clubs for decades.

Though no longer active, its archived content offers enduring insight into how skiing functioned as a collective experience—organized not by algorithms, but by people committed to shared adventure.

In an era increasingly dominated by transient digital content, NationalSkiClubNews.com remains a meaningful artifact of organized snowsports culture in the United States.

NationalSkiClubNews.com

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Don’t Just Dream of an Exciting Life . . . . Join a Ski Club and Make It Happen!