2005 Convention Wrap
by Catherine Ohl

Saturday was a busy day. The morning was devoted to the Travel Expo, ably run by Bonnie West [Tri Valley], where all delegates had a chance to meet with the ski industry, up close and personal, in eight ten-minute meetings. This is always a great opportunity for clubs and councils to learn about some new and different opportunities and catch up on changes in the industry. Debbie Warzynski [JPL] won the trip to Telluride donated by Telluride Ski & Golf Resort.

After a short break, we all sat down to a fabulous King Salmon lunch. Steamboat presented the Western Heritage Skisport Award to Ingrid Wicken for establishing the California Ski Library. Aspen/Snowmass presented the annual safety award to T.J. Barnes [San Diego]. The first highlight of the day was the wonderful presentation of Ansel Adams' early photographs by his son, Dr. Michael Adams. Lunch was sponsored by Intrawest Destination Resorts and the fine ale was again donated by Firestone Walker Brewery Company.

The activities after lunch were a departure from the typical convention faire as this time was dedicated to a celebration of our history. We began with a “reception and reunion” where everyone was given a chance to renew old acquaintances and remember when. The history exhibits were still available for viewing. Find out more about the Ski Trivia Game.

The reunion was followed by a multi-media presentation orchestrated by Steve Coxen [Northwest] where clips were shown of our very special guests- Jimmie Heuga & Billy Kidd [the first American men to win Olympic medals in alpine skiing], Chris Davenport, Glen Plake & Bob Salerno [our extreme skiing trio], and Deb Armstrong ['84 Olympic gold medalist]. There were also clips of the Tenth Mountain Division and Goofy's “The Art of Skiing”, a cartoon previewed at the Far West Convention in 1941. The Multi-media presentation was sponsored by Ski Big 3– Banff, Lake Louise, Sunshine. The fabulous desserts were provided by Aspen/Snowmass and the ice sculpture for our mango martinis was donated by Finlandia vodka.

The final hour [or two] was spent in a choice of four informal presentations. Jimmie Heuga, Billy Kidd and Doug Pringle met to discuss “Ski Challenges.” John Watson [Pacific Rim] hosted a session on “Growing up in Far West.” Richard Kun [Snow Summit President] and Doug Pfeiffer [former Snow Summit ski instructor] discussed “Ski Area Development in the Far West.” And finally, the Chris Davenport - Glen Plake - Bob Salerno trio entertained many with their extreme spins on skiing.

Saturday night was dinner, awards, dancing and party time! The awards, always an important part of every convention, took up more time than normal as we took advantage of the additional guests to take “reunion” photographs of past award winners. The only “grass roots” award presented Saturday night was the crowning of Steve Coxen [Northwest] and Barbara Bryant [Sierra] as the Councils' Man & Woman of the Year. Big White and Silver Star continues to sponsor this prestigious award. The dinner wine was donated by Penfolds Wine of Australia and hosted by Vail Resorts. The exuberant L'Amour Band was sponsored by Mammoth Mountain.

The list of service awardees can be found here.