Viewing posts by Suzanne Hoffman
We are closing in on the 2026-2027 Blizzard Season. Our 65th Season, to be exact! As the oldest and largest Chicago Children's Ski and Snowboard Club, we have also been owned by the same family since incorporation. We started as one of Blizzard Ski Club's satellite locations, of which there were 17 originally. Only Minneapolis and Chicago were independently owned. Today there are only 4 that exist, and we are proud to be one of them.
We continue to provide weekly ski and snowboard trips with lessons from beginners through experts (yes, we can handle the hotshots and those who think they are). Our trips are independent of each other, so once membership has been paid you can sign up for a trip during the week of the trip and not before. This eliminates the frantic sign-up process (as long as you remember to sign up each trip week before Wednesday at 5 PM).
As soon as we hear from the ski areas and build our schedule, we will open our membership for sign-up. Stay Tuned
Spring conditions and weather patterns can change at a moment's notice. Thus, so does the status of our trips. Spring school team sports also affect our participation, and our current situation is a mixture of both. I am monitoring Alpine's website to see what they plan to do, along with our sign-ups, to determine which bus routes will be available for our Saturday, 7 March trip. You can also monitor Alpine here: https://www.alpinevalleyresort.com/hours-2/ Currently, they are closed today and tomorrow, with a cautionary prediction for the weekend. But for the moment, sign-up is still open.
At this time of year we have to pay attention to the snow cover and the weather forecasts to ensure we have enough terrain to ski and board. Using that guideline, we made a decision yesterday to change our March 1st trip from Wilmot to Alpine to take advantage of their better snow coverage.
For more than 60 years there has really only been one administrative person at the helm of Blizzard. I'm only the second person to have that role, and it is not without its challenges. I am a professional volunteer (I have other interests for which I volunteer) but skiing is my passion. I do this for the love of the sport and to ensure that our Midwestern kids have the opportunity that I had as a child in New England, or those that have mountains within a reasonable driving distance. You can poo-poo the hills of Wisconsin all you want, but we WILL turn your kids into competent skiers and boarders so you can take them anywhere in the world and be enamored of their ability.
Happy Holidays!