Get Lifted with Ski Bums
Illinois-to-NYC transplant Chris French founded Ski Bums in 2003 with one simple goal: to forge a new group of gay friends with whom to go skiing and snowboarding. The idea has since seriously, erm, snowballed, and Ski Bums now boasts over 750 members hailing from New York City and well beyond -- currently 35 states and an ever-growing number of countries are represented, making it the biggest gay ski organization on the planet.
Members fall everywhere on the skill spectrum, with a slight majority calling themselves intermediate level skiers, but nearly just as many calling themselves either beginners or advanced. About one in three Ski Bums members are snowboarders.
A long-running cornerstone of the Ski Bums experience is Avalanche, the group's monthly winter party where current members gather to prep for imminent trips and to share memories from outings past, and where prospective members are welcome to come test the lay of the land. In New York City, Avalanche events are held at Therapy, 348 West 52nd Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. Upcoming dates include December 2, 2010, and January 6, February 10, March 3, and April 7, 2011. Ski Bums also hosts Avalanche events in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, and this season will for the first time present dates in Denver and Salt Lake City as well.
Ski Bums currently hosts more than a dozen trips annually, a mix of local day outings and longer jaunts to top resorts throughout the American Northeast and West as well as Europe and South America.
Past destinations have included Whistler, Vail, Aspen, Jackson Hole, Park City, Telluride, Chaminox, and Zermatt. Trips (which are restricted to registered members only) usually have between 35 and 50 participants and are completely inclusive, with room and board, transportation, après-ski, lift tickets, group lessons, and equipment rentals all factored into the pricing.
For Winter 2010/11, local Ski Bums day trips will head to Hunter Mountain (the beginning skier's "Bunny Hill"), NY on January 8 and 12; Windham Mountain, NY on January 15 and February 18; Mountain Creek, NJ on February 12; and Belleayre Mountain, NY on March 5. These trips each cost $99, with an additional $35 optional equipment fee.
Longer U.S. excursions for 2010/11 include Steamboat, CO; Lake Tahoe, NV; Park City, UT; Stowe, VT; Jackson Hole, WY; Okemo, VT. Internationally, the group will head to Banff, Alberta, Canada; Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada; Courchevel, France; and Riksgransen, Sweden. Prices for these trips run from $699 to $4999.
This season will also mark a milestone: the first all-girl gay ski weekend at a major resort. While Ski Bums hosted its first all-female event, Girl Powder, in 2009 with a day trip to Belleayre, NY, this year the ladies will head out on a major departure to Powder Peaks, Vail and Beaver Creek, CO, from January 19 to 23, 2011.
Members fall everywhere on the skill spectrum, with a slight majority calling themselves intermediate level skiers, but nearly just as many calling themselves either beginners or advanced. About one in three Ski Bums members are snowboarders.
A long-running cornerstone of the Ski Bums experience is Avalanche, the group's monthly winter party where current members gather to prep for imminent trips and to share memories from outings past, and where prospective members are welcome to come test the lay of the land. In New York City, Avalanche events are held at Therapy, 348 West 52nd Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. Upcoming dates include December 2, 2010, and January 6, February 10, March 3, and April 7, 2011. Ski Bums also hosts Avalanche events in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, and this season will for the first time present dates in Denver and Salt Lake City as well.
Ski Bums currently hosts more than a dozen trips annually, a mix of local day outings and longer jaunts to top resorts throughout the American Northeast and West as well as Europe and South America.
Past destinations have included Whistler, Vail, Aspen, Jackson Hole, Park City, Telluride, Chaminox, and Zermatt. Trips (which are restricted to registered members only) usually have between 35 and 50 participants and are completely inclusive, with room and board, transportation, après-ski, lift tickets, group lessons, and equipment rentals all factored into the pricing.
For Winter 2010/11, local Ski Bums day trips will head to Hunter Mountain (the beginning skier's "Bunny Hill"), NY on January 8 and 12; Windham Mountain, NY on January 15 and February 18; Mountain Creek, NJ on February 12; and Belleayre Mountain, NY on March 5. These trips each cost $99, with an additional $35 optional equipment fee.
Longer U.S. excursions for 2010/11 include Steamboat, CO; Lake Tahoe, NV; Park City, UT; Stowe, VT; Jackson Hole, WY; Okemo, VT. Internationally, the group will head to Banff, Alberta, Canada; Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada; Courchevel, France; and Riksgransen, Sweden. Prices for these trips run from $699 to $4999.
This season will also mark a milestone: the first all-girl gay ski weekend at a major resort. While Ski Bums hosted its first all-female event, Girl Powder, in 2009 with a day trip to Belleayre, NY, this year the ladies will head out on a major departure to Powder Peaks, Vail and Beaver Creek, CO, from January 19 to 23, 2011.
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