Apres Delegates Win, Learn and Party-Party-Party
at Palm Springs FWSA Convention
By Laura Bryan see slide show
[Laura] On Friday, May 30th, twelve Apres Ski Club delegates flew to Palm Springs for the Far West Ski Association’s "Cool Desert Nights" 71st Annual Convention. Hosted by the San Diego Ski Council, this year’s convention was kicked off with a full roster of fun activities including a golf tournament, tram ride and hike, celebrity homes tour, pub crawl, pool party and much more.

The Apres delegation - Dee Askew, Courtney Berger, Scott Bowker, Laura Bryan, Connie Burdette, Lou Duzac, Linda Indreboe, Ed Martin, Dorothy Pantel, Sean Powers, John Schultheis and Peggy York - flew in at around midday on Friday, just in time for the welcome Pool Party at the Rancho Las Palmas Marriott Resort and Spa. It was wonderful to take a few hours to stretch out in the glorious desert sunshine, catch some rays, show off those new bathing suits, slide down the 100 foot water slide and grab some much-deserved relaxation before sprucing up and heading down to that evening’s Silent Auction.

Even though these rough financial times were reflected in the relatively fewer number of industry exhibitors than in previous years, there were still some great goodies up for sale - I was lucky enough to pick up a 2 night ski vacation at Mt. Bachelor for an unheard-of $150. Yay for me!

Saturday morning’s Travel Expo was fun and interesting, providing each delegate the opportunity to meet individually with representatives of ski resorts and vacation destinations from all over North America and Europe. In return for attending ten 10-minute interviews throughout the morning, wherein we learned about possible future ski destinations and promoted this year’s Ski Kick-Off Party, delegates’ names were entered in a drawing for a fully-paid slot in FWSA’s 2004 Ski Week at Banff-Lake Louise. And our very own John Schultheis was the winner! He was thrilled - that is until he caught Dee’s glare of disapproval. You see, FWSA’s 2004 Ski Week is scheduled for the same week of Apres’ trip to Whistler. Oh, well. We’ll miss you up at Whistler, John!

Saturday afternoon the delegation attended leadership seminars on topics such as Marketing Your Ski Club, Communications and Membership, Public Affairs, Website/Newsletter Workshops, Volunteerism, Clubs & Community and more. Scott Bowker, currently serving as Marketing Director for the Bay Area Ski Council, was featured speaker and gave a very informative presentation at the Marketing/Membership seminar.

Saturday evening the delegates got decked out in their finest to attend the "Midnight at the Oasis" Awards Banquet and Dance. Eminent guests at the banquet included Jimmie Huega (‘64 Olympic Slalom Bronze medalist), Billy Kidd (‘64 Olympic Slalom Silver medalist), Deb Armstrong (‘84 Olympic GS Gold medalist), Nancy Greene (‘68 Olympic Gold & Silver medalist), and the featured speaker was Chris Klug, not only 2002’s Olympic Snowboard Bronze Medalist but also a liver transplant survivor, who gave an inspiring talk about overcoming enormous physical adversity to achieve athletic excellence.

Apres Ski Club was the winner of several awards in the AAAA (largest ski club) division that evening, including Best Overall Ski Club (thank you, Connie, for your outstanding yearbook entry), and Best Newsletter for the Scribe (5th year running - atta girl, Dorothy!). Besides Apres’ awards, BAC Open League was awarded the Roma McCoy Award, which goes to that Far West race league with the most points per racer per start. In addition, Dick Shawkey, BAC Open League’s just-retired Race Director, won the Terry Smith Award for his outstanding contribution toward the advancement of intramural skiing. Congratulations, Dick! That evening, we danced the night away and hobnobbed with our newfound ski friends, and several delegates attended the after-hours party before trudging back to their rooms for a few hours of sleep.

Finally, bright and early Sunday morning, we dragged our bleary-eyed selves to the FWSA General Meeting and Election, wherein our very own Scott Bowker, in a huge upset over Harry Davis, one of FWSA’s past presidents and long-time council member, was elected FWSA’s VP of Public Affairs. We are certain that Scott will bring his considerable intelligence, marketing savvy and ski/racing experience to excel in this role. Congratulations, Scott! In addition, several Apres delegates - Connie, Linda and Sean - picked up some spiffy prizes in the raffle drawing.

Sunday afternoon’s flight back to San Jose was a time for reflection, discusssion of all that had transpired and, above all, much needed rest for the Apres delegates. I’m sure all would agree that we had a fun and festive yet highly productive three days in Palm Springs. It was a pleasure to represent Apres at the convention, and the contacts we have made and skills we’ve learned will take us far in our quest to lead Apres to another year of skiing excellence. Let’s kick butt again in 2004! Yeah!