Author: HPSC Communications

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Membership Renewal September 1

Another season is upon us! I think I saw some yellow leaves on the trees. Its time to start thinking about the snow. 

We have a few new challenges this year that the board is all working on. All your questions will be answered on this blog, SnoBiz, and Facebook/ Instagram. We are trying to make this a safe year, as we absolutely want to get out on the snow if possible. 

In the meantime, our membership renewal date of September 1 is here.

To acknowledge that many of you have been financially impacted by this pandemic, we have lowered the membership price for this season to $140 for the entire year (which is lower than our usual early bird rate); and lower than our regular rate of $170. 

In this year of uncertainty, we are also including a special option  If by January 31st, 2021 you have not participated in any club trips (daytrips, long trips, or charter trips) you can request to have your membership deferred for the year.  To make this request, you will need to send an email to membership@hpsc.ca by February 1, 2021.

If the experience of resorts in the Southern Hemisphere are any indication, skiing and snow boarding will be very popular this coming season, and due to restricted numbers daily spots will likely sell out quickly.  However, HPSC has been assured by alpine resorts that we will have access to a set number of those daily spots for our members who come on the bus and those who drive-up (drive-ups will need register and pay for their tickets through HPSC). On the cross-country side, we have not heard that resorts will be limiting daily spots, but discussions are on-going. 

While this season will be a challenge, we look forward to seeing you all on the hills and trails soon. 

Thanks for continuing to be part of High Park Ski Club.

See you at the zoom AGM on September 23.

Ruth

Membership Director

Photo by Caterina Berger on Unsplash.

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Downhill Day Trips

Management of Daytrips for 2019-20 Season

As you may be aware, Erika Clark, the Director of Downhill Day Trips, resigned in late August.  In the meantime we have been searching for a new Director to take over the portfolio.  In late September, long-time member Justin Graham agreed to take over the logistics and management of Downhill daytrips for the upcoming season.  However, for personal reasons, he has chosen not to be the Director.  His title is Assistant Director of Day Trips.  Christine Bellerose, the Director of Ski School has agreed to also represent Day Trips on the HPSC Board of Directors. 

Erika is not going away but needed to step away from the Board to concentrate on her new job.  You will still see her on the bus, and she has agreed to help out where and when she can.  We would like to sincerely thank Erika for her fantastic leadership of Day Trips, and her extensive contribution to the club, over the last year and a half.  Good luck Erika and see you on the slopes!

Downhill Day Trips Schedule

The downhill day trips schedule is now finalized and is currently available as a downloadable PDF on the website under Our Trips – Downhill day trips – Downhill day trips registration.  You need to be logged in to the site. https://hpsc.ca/resources/Documents/Day%20Trips/Downhill_Day_Trip_Schedule_2019-20.pdf

We are working on adding all of the trips to the calendar but wanted to make sure that you have the schedule to start planning out your ski season.   The first trips will be open for registration by early November.   

Our first scheduled day trip is the annual Test Drive day to Mount St. Louis on Saturday December 7. 

As we have in the past few seasons, most Saturdays we are scheduled to go to Mount St. Louis; Sundays and Mondays to Blue Mountain; and Wednesdays to the variety of private clubs in the Collingwood area.  We have also added in a few new resorts – Mansfield Ski Club and Caledon Ski Club in Ontario; and Holiday Valley in New York.   

Some highlights for the upcoming season:

  • December 7 – First scheduled day trip and first Test Drive Day to Mount St. Louis.
  • December 30 – A special Holiday Week trip to a location the club has not gone to in a very long time – Mansfield Ski Club. 
  • January 11 – Member Appreciation Day and Double Double lesson day at Mount St. Louis.  This is a Member Only trip.
  • February 15 – Special Family Day Weekend day trip to Holiday Valley NY. Note this the only daytrip we will be running over the Family Day weekend.  This is a Member Only trip.
  • February 29 – Test Drive #2 at Mount St. Louis
  • March 21 – Sleep in Saturday.  We will also be going to a new resort for weekend skiers – Caledon Ski Club. 
  • Numerous Pizza days throughout the season at Mount St. Louis and Blue Mountain.
  • Almost every day trip is a Bring a Friend trip – please see the schedule for Bring a Friend trips.

New Pick Up Location Approved by the Board – Liberty Village

We are happy to announce that the HPSC Board of Directors has approved the addition of a new Downhill Day Trips pick up location. 

When we have enough registrants for a second bus, we will now be using a new pick up in the Liberty Village area to accommodate the growing number of members in that part of the city.  The pick-up location will be to the west of Lamport Stadium on Fraser Avenue.  This will be the second pickup after Queens Quay. 

For those using public transit, the King streetcar goes right past, and the Dufferin bus is just a couple of blocks away.  The Exhibition GO station is also within walking distance. For those who drive, there is a Green P paid parking lot on the south side of Lamport Stadium. 

NOTE – This location will only be listed and used (along with Queens Quay) when we have added a second bus to a trip after we have filled the first bus and have sufficient members on the wait list to justify a second bus.  

Information on all of our pick-up locations is located on the website:  https://hpsc.ca/Day-Trip-Pick-Up-Locations

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Membership

Early bird Prices expire on October 31st for membership renewals. But you may want to get in earlier as Thursday the 24th is the Overnight Bus Registration. 

Referral Program

When someone mentions your name as having referred them to the club (on the registration form), you get a bus voucher!!! This will be mailed to you in a short while. 
All bus vouchers currently in circulation must be used by MAY 2020. Check the bus daytrip schedule and plan your winter and use those vouchers!https://hpsc.ca/downhill-trip-registration-page EventViewMode=1&EventListViewMode=1

Membership Director

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Trip Sign-Up Night

Trip Sign-Up Night (TSUN) happens this week on Thursday, October 10 starting at 8:00 PM. Six of the 2020 charter trips will go on sale for the first time. Login, go to the page of the trip you want and scroll down to the “Register” button. Don’t look for the button now; the “Register” button will appear only after 8:00 PM. Registration will continue 24 hours a day until the trip is sold out.

How to Sign Up

The procedures for registering on TSUN are on the webpage, TRIP SIGN UP PROCESS. You must be a paid up member for 2019-2020. If you haven’t renewed your membership yet, do so right away because membership approval takes a day or two.

Wait List

If you happen to see “Join Waitlist” button instead of the “Register” button, do not think that you have missed out. Go ahead and add your name to the waitlist; there is no cost to do so. You will likely get on the trip in a few days time. Here’s why. We automatically hold back a couple of seats to allow the Trip Leader time to match roommates and deal with the single room requests. Then we order more air seats and hotel space to accommodate the names on the waitlist. If there is a greater number on the waitlist than we can fit, we will arrange another trip. Last season we created a 2nd trip to Banff when the first trip was filled and all those on the Banff waitlist were able to sign up for it.

Deadlines

When you read over the detailed descriptions you will see that each charter trip has a deadline date. At that date, we must release all unsold air seats and hotel rooms. Even though a trip maybe later in the season, we still have a deadline imposed on us that is quite soon. For example our last trip to Taos, NM doesn’t depart until March 21. But the deadline date is Nov 26. Thus you have to look at the whole season when you are considering TSUN so that the season doesn’t slip by and you missed it.

Trip Leaders

Trip Leader names and contact information are now posted on a webpage. The page is only open to members so you must login to see it. If you have a question that isn’t answered in the detailed description, contact the TL.

Parking for Overnight Trips

This is important. If you want to help your club, you can assist us to find a new parking lot for our 2020 overnight bus trips. No one responded to our request last month so it is repeated this time. We need the help of our 1,100 members to locate a new lot. The lot would accommodate approximately 25 cars for the duration of each trip. If you can suggest a possible location, or want to assist us, please contact Kevin Chabot, Parking Coordinator, kchabot@ican.net .

Bill Bates, Director

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Long Trips

Overnight Bus Trips

The list of 2020 overnight bus trips with a detailed description of the resorts, hotels, options and what is included in each trip is now on the website, here. These trips go on sale on Thursday, October 24. At that time, the “Register” button will appear on the trip page to allow you to sign up. Don’t look for the Register button now, you have to wait until October 24.

Charter Trips

The remainder of the 2020 charter trips will go on sale on Thursday, October 10. While the first two charter trips to Jasper, New Years and Pragelato, Italy are sold out, you can still add your name to the Jasper waiting list in case of a cancellation. For Pragelato, the waiting list is closed because there were many names already and adding more would not be productive

IKON Pass

Some members may have purchased the IKON pass for unlimited use at Blue Mountain. The cost of the base pass is $1,000 CAD and the full pass is $1,400 CAD. These members can use their pass on a number of our trips where the pass applies: Mt Tremblant (3 trips), Killington, Aspen, and Taos. These members would select the no-lifts option. Savings for using the pass are listed in the descriptions. 

Trip Sign-Up Night

The procedures for registering on Trip Sign-Up Nights (TSUN) are shown on the website, TRIP SIGN UP PROCESS. Please read this page so you understand what to do when the time comes. You can register for yourself and ONE additional member at the same time. Simply put a “1” in the Guest field and continue to the payment page.

FCFS

In the August blog, we discussed the way our trip registrations are done, ie First Come First Served (FCFS). We have used this procedure ever since we changed from lining up in person to signing up online. We felt that FCFS was the fairest and most transparent way although we realize that some members may be at a disadvantage (slow internet, slow fingers, away on TSUN, etc). If you have a suggestion as to how we could improve the procedure, we would like to hear from you. Our objective is to be fair to all members. Please send your suggestions to Bill Bates, longtrips@hpsc.ca.

Trip Leaders

Thank you to those who applied to be a 2020 trip leader. During September we will be training these leaders to lead the trips that you will be on. In the week before each TSUN, you will find the names and contact information for trip leaders on the website so you can ask any particular questions that are not covered in the detailed descriptions.

Bill Bates, Director

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Long Trips

Charter Trips

The complete list of 2020 charter trips with a detailed description of the resorts, hotels, flights, options and what is included in each trip is now on the website here. These trips will go on sale on Thursday, October 10. For those with an IKON pass, have a close look at C3 Aspen and C8 Taos where you will save $325 on Aspen and $500 on Taos.

The first two charter trips to Jasper, New Years and Pragelato, Italy sold out very quickly on June 20, our first sign-up night. The good news is that we were able to expand the trips significantly to accommodate many on the waiting lists. Jasper has 42 members registered and Pragelato has 39. Unfortunately at this time those still on the waiting lists will have to count on a cancellation to get a seat. For Pragelato, you will no longer find the Waitlist Button. We had to close off the waiting list because there were many names already and adding more would not be productive. The Jasper waiting list is still open so please add your name if interested.

FCFS vs Lottery

Some members who could not get onto Jasper or Pragelato, have suggested that we should change the way registration is done and switch from a First Come First Served (FCFS) system to a lottery method. We should let you know that a lottery method has been considered in the past although we have never actually tried it. The club felt that a lottery of pulling names out of a hat was fraught with as many difficulties as FCFS. Similarly issues of fairness would arise from a procedure of giving waitlisted members first priority for the next set of upcoming trips, i.e. a Front-Of-The-Line pass.

With online registration, we are aware that those with a fast internet connection have a slight advantage over those with a slower one. And those with fast fingers have a similar advantage. In the minutes after 8:00 PM, a few seconds delay might have made the difference between being successfully registered or being on the waiting list. But here’s the bottom line, there is only a limit to the number of members we can accommodate no matter which method we use. FCFS mirrors the old paper method where we had to line up in person. We feel that FCFS is still the fairest method but will evaluate the lottery again to see if it can offer something that is equally as fair.

Become a Trip Leader

Trip Leaders are very important volunteers for the club. This season we need 16 TLs to lead our charter and overnight bus trips. If you have been on a long trip, you’ve seen a TL in action. If you want to contribute to the club in this way, now is the time to consider it. If you feel it might be too much work for you alone, you can team up with a friend and share the task. Despite the work involved, it is a very rewarding experience and you’ll have fun doing it. You’ll get training, lots of support and a generous reimbursement for your efforts.

Here is what you need to do. Send an email to: Ephraim Fernandez, ephraim.fernandez@gmail.com requesting an application form.  Complete the form and submit it by the deadline of Friday, August 30.

The 2020 long trips program is on the website, charters click here, overnight bus trips, click here. TLs for C1 Jasper, New Years and C2 Pragelato, Italy have already been chosen and announced. So there are a total of 6 charter and 8 overnight bus trips for which you can apply. You need to have led an overnight bus trip before you can lead a charter trip, so first-timers will be overnight bus TLs.

Selection is based on the following criteria:

  • Duration and extent of recent contributions as a volunteer to the club
  • Leadership skills
  • Previous trip experience
  • People skills
  • Business skills
  • Computer skills – Excel & Word
  • Special emphasis on Excel skills
  • Skiing experience

Every HPSC member is eligible to apply. Don’t delay, request your application now as the time is short.

Bill Bates

Director

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Long Trips

Charter Trips

So many members registered for our first 2 charter trips on June 20 that all available spaces were sold out within the first minute! Quite surprising for a June trip signup! To the extent possible, we will be expanding the number of seats in order to accommodate many on the waiting list. But spaces are limited. Those who wish can still add their names to the waiting list and you will be called if there is a cancellation.

For the other places we’ll be skiing in 2020, full information about the resorts, hotel accommodation and prices will be posted on the website in mid-summer, or as soon as we have it ready.  Registration will open up in October as usual. You will be quite pleased as we have secured some great group prices for the club’s 2020 season!

See places and dates on the website here. Prices aren’t yet finalized so they are not listed. Check back in a few weeks when all prices should be posted.

Become a Trip Leader

Trip Leaders are very important volunteers for the club. Every season we need 18 to 20 TLs to lead our charter and overnight bus trips. If you have been on a long trip, you’ve seen a TL in action. If you want to contribute to the club in this way, please consider it now so you’ll be ready when we ask for volunteers in August. If you feel it might be too much work for you alone, you can team up with a friend and share the task. You’ll get training, lots of support and a reimbursement for your efforts.