Aspen Ski Trip

By Stu Schlackman and Steve Abrey

Our 50th anniversary was topped off this year with our annual Aspen trip. What a great time weall had with 85 of our closest friends! Our stay at the Gant was excellent as it has been for thepast several years and we look forward to returning next February. Aspen had record snow thisyear surpassing the snowfall of 1947. Ski conditions were excellent and we're always thankfulthat we had minimal injuries.

Our welcome party at the Gant was a great gathering to start the week. Signing up for our annualraces, picking up lift tickets, eating good food and having drinks and that wonderfulcomaderie with DSC members added to the exciting beginning of the week. Each day StuSchlackman selected a "mountain of choice" and a lunch destination. Not everyone attended,but it provided a good opportunity to meet with other DSC members and enjoy lunch.

Race day Thursday at Aspen Highlands. - It was quite snowy at the beginning of the day, butcleared nicely by race time. Lori Doubleday/Northrup, got her wish after 23 years. She wonthe Expert category and was crowned DSC Club Champion for 2005- 2006. James Roche wonthe Expert division for the Males. Andrew Laczkowski won the Intermediate, BarbaraLancaster won the Advanced, for women, David Pennington won the Advanced for men, BettySchlackman and John Walker won the Super Flight and Peter Gosselin and Stephanie Lancasterwon the Ernie Blake Award. There was a total of 16 medals awarded, based on NASTAR rulesand times. After the races all members enjoyed a group lunch at Merry-Go-Round Restaurantin our own DSC private area. A special thanks to John Eakin for running our annual races.

Next Year, we hope to have more racers; it is an event that ALL levels of skiers can participatein. More details as we kick off the Aspen trip for next year.

The week was topped off with our traditional awards banquet. We had a 50th anniversary cakefor the club that was a nice touch to a great week of fun and skiing. Stu provided his usual entertainmentby providing special awards to those members who went beyond the call of duty inshowing their uniqueness (a safe way to describe it). Some of the gifts given this year took a lotof pull to get them from vendors all over the country. Best awards this year were: A5 day cruiseto Lake Placid in January, free wax job from "Little Nell's" for either legs, face or skis, freewine tasting for 2 at the Oak Lawn 7-11, 2 free roundtrip tickets anywhere in the US from PanAm, and last and certainly not least we had our Death by Hot Tub award go to Bill Wesson forthe most basting at poolside. This year was topped off by some of the choicest boxed winesbeing served at the hot tub by Almaden, a priceless 1997 vintage!