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Whitefish, Montana FSA Race Trip 2023 is in the books!
What an amazing mountain! We had 72 people from the Oklahoma City Ski Club attend this trip and it was absolutely beautiful in Montana and The Lodge at Whitefish Lake did not disappoint. The condos, suites, rooms and entire resort were all spectacular and the customer service and organization from the Lodge was greatly appreciated.
The mountain was amazing and the snow ghosts were something to see. All the photos of them do not do them justice, but seeing them in person leads your imagination to wander. I have never seen anything like this, but my word, they were incredible! Unfortunately, the first day on the mountain was so bitter cold with a wind chill of -34° at the top of the mountain, so taking pictures that day was out of the question. It was so cold you couldn’t take your gloves off to take any photos, but as the days went on each day go a little better and photos were definitely taken and shared. The back side of the mountain was out of the wind and was spectacular skiing with lots of pow pow (Pow Pow is the slang term for the creme de la creme of skiing, fresh POWDER, fine dry, fluffy, lightweight: powder is the Holy Grail for snow sport enthusiasts)…lol. Unbelievable, I might add.
Our itinerary for the trip was a little busy with all the FSA activities. On the first night of arrival, the OKC Ski Club hosted a welcome party serving pizza, snacks and beverages. We handed out t-shirts, lift tickets and activity passes. We had a great turn out and everyone got to meet and greet all the other members that were on the trip.
On Saturday, January 28th, most skiied and did their own thing for dinner and tried to thaw out to prepare for the race events that were beginning the next day.
On Sunday, January 29th, the races began and were held throughout the day. At 6:00pm, we kicked off the FSA Welcome Party with all 9 clubs combined that make up the Flatlands Ski Association. Other clubs in attendance were: Tulsa, Kansas City, Wichita, Topeka, St Louis, Columbia, Omaha and Cornhuskers. We had a great showing and I believe everyone had a good eating, drinking and dancing.
On Monday, January 30th, more skiing and racing took place. A big part of our group went to dinner at the Last Chair Kitchen and Bar and it was fabulous. They handled our large group like it was a walk in the park. Thank you to Pam Dunbar for organizing the fun night.
On Tuesday, January 31st, we had the novice race for our first time racers and then at 6:00pm we had the FSA Awards Banquet. Very proud of our team as we took third overall, with Tulsa taking second and Kansas City taking first. We had a lot of top winners in many categories so Congratulations to each of you for participating in the races!
Race Results: (Hope I am not leaving anyone out)
Women’s Ski Races:
- 80-84 group – Bette Wood – GOLD
- 60-64 group – Laurie Harrington – GOLD
- 60-64 group – Laura Dickey – SILVER
- 55-59 group – Linda Lewis – GOLD
- 45-49 group – Valerie Smith – GOLD
- 45-49 group – Stefanie James – SILVER
- 40-44 group – Kate Elliott – SILVER
Men’s Ski Races:
- 80-84 group – Charlie Wood – GOLD
- 65-69 group – Henry Lewis – SILVER
- 45-49 group – Todd Whitaker – GOLD
- 45-49 group – Tad Burgess – SILVER
- 30-34 group – Harrison Lewis – GOLD
Men’s Snowboard Races:
- Snowboard B – Ryan Weber – GOLD
- Snowboard C – Lance Hill – BRONZE
Men’s Alternate Races:
- Ed Farmer – GOLD
- Jack Dickey – SILVER
- Ken McDaniel – BRONZE
Relay Race: OKC took the GOLD! Thanks to our team: Ryan Weber, Kate Elliott, Harrison Lewis and Geoff Mitchell
On Wednesday, February 1st, we had a group of about 29 that took a shuttle to Fernie, British Columbia for the day. Long day of fun skiing in powder and everyone had a great time. For those of us that stayed in Whitefish for the day, we had a miraculous evacuation via ropes for many people that got stuck on Chair 4 due to mechanical issues. Unfortunately two of those people were OKC members (Katie King and Jeff Callard). Very frightening experience, but they were rescued safely and slowly. I am not sure how they did it, but bravery was definitely on their side during that adventure. We all learned quickly not to take Chair 4.
On Thursday, February 2nd, the weather was perfect! Our last day to ski and it was beautiful. The sun was out and we had some great powder on the mountain. A lot more photos were taken by all!
Overall, the trip went great and many have already expressed they are ready to go back! Hopefully we can make it work again! Thank you to all who attended!
Time to say goodbye to Whitefish. OKC heading home.
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Club members venture further north to visit the powder highway of the Canadian Rockies. Not dissapointing.....
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OKC takes Canada! Loving the fresh powder at this mountain, but…..also loving the poutine!! ❤️🇨🇦
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Your OKC group represented great this year at the annual FSA race week. We came home with 3rd place and were only out of second by 150 points. Several gold medalists that even included the gold for snowshoe relay (we had the two fastest teams but only one can place). Congrats to all our participants it was a great event.
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After a wonderful group dinner at Last Chair.... . Snow had been falling since last night and we have 3" of freshies on the mountian.
Today the novice race started and we fielded a full contingent of ten. One of our skiers took one for the team and strapped on a snowboard to his ski boots! Thanks Harrison!
Some of our crew took a tour into Glacier National park to visit.
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Day 3 and more racing today. Our ladies and snowboarders competed hard on the hill. In addition the ever important team snowshoe relay saw us field two fast teams. We expect our first team to pull in a medal they did so well.
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Whitefish Day 2 ski racing was a blast and "spectacular" at the same time. Never dissapointing.
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Whitefish Day 1 complete. Lots of fun had on the mount and a few limbs and faces were a bit cold. Great views and the sun came out to tease us a little. Next up racing tomorrow.
youtu.be/kSMaiRxE-Kg
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We have arrived. Huge party with almost all of our 72 attendees. Now the shenanigans start. And yes that is the lake just beyond the tree line.....frozen solid.
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