Winter Park -- February 12-19, 2005 -- Ski Trip Report
It was a clear and crisp morning Feb. 12 as the SnowSharks met at Tampa International Airport for their winter adventure to Winter Park Colorado. Thirty one members (17 of them new club members) flew Frontier Airlines to begin their trip.

It was actually warmer in Denver than it was at Tampa at the time, but that soon changed as we headed up into the Rockies. As the elevation rose the temperature dropped. Arriving at the Zephyr Mountain Lodge we were greeted by thousands of skiers attending the Wells Fargo Cup Challenge for disabled skiers. We’re talking blind skiers as well as skiers missing arms and legs or who couldn’t even walk, but boy could they ski.

Sunday again brought comfortable weather and thousands more for the challenge. SnowSharks hit the slopes early, meeting at the base of the Zephyr Lift and then headed up all over the mountain. We traveled with Black, Blue, and Green skiers and even a few never evers who not only skied for the first time but saw snow for the first time.

Monday morning brought similar conditions but the challenge was over and the mountain was empty. No crowds mean no lines means more time on the slopes! Monday also happened to be Valentine’s day. Several members took advantage of the romantic Valentines dinner and party at the Sun Spot on top of the mountain.

Tuesday morning brought a change in the weather…snow. It snowed solid from Tuesday morning to Wednesday night, 21 inches. Can you say FRESH POWDER? An empty mountain with thousands of acres of uncut trails. It was too good to be true. Some of us hit the mountain to carve it up and others headed up the road for an equally breathtaking snowmobile trip. You have got to do this at least once in fresh powder. It was so soft it was like riding a jet ski in the Gulf.

By Thursday the word was out about the conditions and the mountain filled up again. Many locals were overheard how they took the day off to ski the awesome conditions that were now present at Winter Park. In fact many said these were the best conditions Winter Park has seen in several years.

We tried out several restaurants for dinner in the area and never found a bad one. We ate at Hernando’s, Fiesta Jaliesco, Doc’s Roadhouse and the club party was held at Deno’s Mountain Bistro. Deno is a Tampa native so he took real good are of us. Thanks Deno!

After a full day Friday, everyone headed to one of the larger condos we had and brought their left overs from the week for a pot luck going away dinner. Good food, good friends and good companionship topped off this great week.

I am glad to report there were no reported injuries on this trip but sadly a few members did make the sick list. They are all better now and I hope they make it to another trip next year and double up on the fun to make up for their inconvenience this time.

Winter Park lived up to it’s reputation with the Clearwater/St. Pete Ski and Sports Club and we will be back again in the near future I’m sure.

Louis Sclafani