A message from the founder of KCSSC:
**DECEMBER 28 UPDATE:
It’s official! Club Rides will begin on Jan 12, and continue every Wednesday night for 8 consecutive weeks!!! Everyone is expected to be at the meet up location, booted up and ready to ride at 5:45. We officially ride from 6:00-7:30. Some of us stay until close.
How Club Rides Work:Club Rides are a community effort, dependent on parent chaperones. The club will divide into groups depending on skill and where we feel like riding that night.
There are no formal lessons on club night. This is for riders to get on the slopes with friends, and have fun!
Parents can choose which weeks they want to chaperone. You don’t have to chaperone every week. If a parent doesn’t ski or snowboard, we can accommodate them. This club is about inclusion.
**Please note, registration does not include lift tickets or rentals**
REGISTER FOR FREE CLUB RIDES HERE
YAY!!!
**DECEMBER 18 UPDATE:
We’ve been searching for solutions, and haven’t lost hope yet! We have some options, and are doing everything we can to keep this season running.
In order to do that, we need your input! Please take a minute to fill out our survey! https://surveyheart.com/form/61bcc32dfee988714bf2eed1
We are currently facing two major challenges:
1. Not enough help- We need volunteers to chaperone, coach, and on the board! Are you available to help?
2. WSDOT’s under staffing issue… Getting to the Summit this season is already proving to be… Difficult.
I’d like to hear from you all. We could execute the ski bus to make travel easier.
We also have eachother! We may not be able to provide lessons with coaches, but we can at least do club ride day! Parents could also opt to coach!
The bottom line is, this club wasn’t designed for me, it was designed for the community. Thus, we need the community’s help on figuring out how to move forward!
In order to make this a successful collaboration, we need to hear everyone’s perspective. So PLEASE tell us what you think in this survey! https://surveyheart.com/form/61bcc32dfee988714bf2eed1
**This is a cry for help, NOT the white flag*
It breaks my heart to say this, but we are pausing Kittitas Co. Ski & Snowboard Club for the upcoming 2021/2022 season. What does “pause” mean exactly? Well, we’re not saying we’re cancelling the season, yet we’re not we’re continuing it. I can tell you this much: We wont be running our club at the ski resort. Hopefully we can find another way.
Even with this grim news, I’m a firm believer that optimism doesn’t come from a lack of adversity, nor from just “thinking good thoughts”. True optimism comes from identifying a challenge, and believing in the possibility of a solution.
Children (and adults) need snow in their lives. Snow brings an unparalleled type of joy that can’t be found elsewhere.
So, for the sake of transparency, I’d like to share our reasons for pausing this club, in hopes that we can work as a community to find a solution. The children have been through enough, and deserve to slide on.
There are 5 challenges we face this season:
- Our local ski resort is requiring vaccinations for employment. That means that they, like most businesses, are understaffed. An understaffed resort means fewer chairs open, and longer lift lines. We run our club mid week so that we can virtually ski straight to the chair. Last year, we stood in line on many occasions for more than 30 minutes- on a mid week night! This year they will have even fewer staff. We believe it’s not worth our time, money, and energy, to stand in line.
- King County now requires a vaccine passport indoors. Half of the resort base areas are in King Co. Sure, skiing is outdoors. But what about bathrooms? And the rental shop? Kittitas County Ski & Snowboard Club does not discriminate, and will not support discrimination.
- Like most businesses right now, we are understaffed! We rely mostly on volunteers, but we just don’t have the support needed to run the club this year.
- I-90 Snow Removal isn’t looking good. WSDOT is incredibly understaffed right now. They have always done a great job with the roads, thanks to their task force. Without those drivers, we don’t find it safe or smart to create a schedule that depends so greatly on road conditions
This is a cry for help, not a white flag. KCSSC is not a company for one individual. It is a community club. That means we need to collaborate the creativity, the intelligence, the love, the passion, and the energy of our community! Do you have ideas on how to keep this going for the children? Do you know of a local hill we could ski on? Are you willing to volunteer once or twice a week? There are likely many options that we haven’t thought of.
Please, feel free to reach out with any input here: kcsscyouth@gmail.com
KCSSC 