“It’s a great place to meet people and do things that I like to do,” says Scott Foster, second vice president of the club and a member since the mid-1980s. “There’s skiing or playing tennis or fun, physical activities, and the ski club is the kind of place that has that kind of activity.” The club, which held its first official meeting Dec. 7, 1953, currently has 630 members, says Jack Lancette, first vice president.
Most club-goers reside in the greater Syracuse area, yet the club does boast members from as a far away as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Canada. The OSC, which is primarily geared toward adults in their 30s and up, offers junior membership to kids 13 and younger in order to include members’ children, says Marvin Patnode, club president and member since 1992.
Cold mountain: The Onondaga Ski Club’s lodge in Lower Granville, Vt., recently enjoyed updates and renovations.
With about 70 percent of its members participating in skiing, says Patnode, the OSC naturally offers a wide variety of ski-related activities throughout the winter. Although more OSC members downhill ski than participate in cross-country skiing, the club offers events and trips that cater to its members’ diverse interests.
Those with a knack for racing can participate in the club’s annual Onondaga Cup Race on Feb. 22. The daylong event will take place on Labrador Mountain’s Cut Throat trail, an expert-level slope that runs from the top of the mountain to the bottom and gets steep toward the middle before letting up at the end. Runs are judged based on the standards of NASTAR, a national recreational ski racing group, and individuals are given two chances to make their best time.
The OSC awards engraved mugs to the top three fastest skiers in NASTAR’s age groupings and the coveted Onondaga Cup to overall best performing schusser. Although the club invites ski teams from Syracuse University, Cornell University, Ithaca College, Hamilton College and Colgate University to the event, any team can take a chance on the hill, says Patnode. The OSC took the top prize three years ago, but lost to Labrador’s Ski Patrol team last year and to a group of local skiers, dubbed “The Old Farts,” the year before, says Patnode.
Winter Wonderlands
Members who would rather plummet across natural landscapes than down large hills can sign up for the club’s annual cross-country ski trip, which will be heading to Garnet Hill in the Adirondacks Jan. 16 to 19. The mountain offers more than 55 kilometers of smooth and backwood trails that cater to any skiing level. The trip also includes three nights’ lodging, daily breakfasts and a Friday night pot-luck dinner for $230 to $250, depending on the number of members who sign up for the trip.
The OSC has also planned a special event for its younger members on Jan. 24 that offers a chance for them to get off their skis and on a tire. The half-day tubing event, which will be hosted at the Four Seasons Golf and Ski Center in Fayetteville, will allow members to eat lunch, sip on hot chocolate and lay back as they glide effortlessly on the center’s carpet lift to the top of the hill before sliding back down.
As for its major U.S. ski trips, the OSC has booked two killer forays this season. Its annual ski trip to the West Coast will take members to sunny Lake Tahoe, which straddles the border between California and Nevada. For $1,560, the seven-day trip—slated for Feb. 7 to 14—includes a seven-night hotel accommodation, a continental breakfast every day, a one-day boat trip to California’s Squaw Valley ski resort and five-day lift tickets to Tahoe’s Heavenly Mountain.
Labrador puppies: Members of the Onondaga Ski Club (from left) board member Dave Devendorf, first vice president Jack Lancette, president Marvin Patnode and board member Lloyd Howse got an early taste of winter when snow fell south of Syracuse on Oct. 28. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO
Heavenly Mountain features California’s longest vertical drop, at 3,500 feet, as well as a 10,067-foot summit, 95 trails and, of course, endless California sunshine. “Tahoe is one of the wonders out West,” notes Patnode.
The ski club will also be making its way up to Stowe Mountain in Stowe, Vt., on Feb. 22 to 25. A favorite destination of many club members, Stowe “is a big mountain with a lot of great cruising trails,” says Patnode. The $355 trip includes bus transportation to Vermont, daily transportation to skiing areas, three nights’ lodging in the local Mountaineer Lodge, and three dinners and breakfasts.
For members who don’t feel like taking a formal trip, there is always the option of staying in the club’s private lodge in Lower Granville, Vt., just 15 minutes south of Sugarbush Mountain and approximately 40 minutes north of Killington and Pico Mountains, says Patnode.
When the club first bought back the lodge back in 1971, it had to renovate the 150-year-old farmhouse, with no insulation, to modern standards. After several thousand dollars of investment, the house now features seven private rooms—each of which hold up to two people—and two dormitory areas for men and women that hold up to eight people. It also features four bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room and living room area. Lodge reservations are booked on a first-come, first-served basis so each member has an equal shot at reserving a spot. Rates run for a lowly $40 a night for private rooms and $20 a night for dorm spots, says Lancette.
Even with its wide variety of snow activities and lodge, the club does not limit itself to the winter. On Wednesdays, club bikers can participate in evening rides through parks all across the Syracuse area. The biking group, which is actually the second largest cycling group in Central New York, has about 60 members and rotates riding locations almost every week, says Lancette.
Club members meet at Syracuse University’s Skytop courts on Monday nights for tennis and members play golf on Tuesday evenings at Lyndon Golf Course during the spring, summer and fall. The club also features hiking, bowling and kayaking, as well as happy-hour nights, restaurant dinners, even a book discussion group.
Even with its variety of activities, the club’s biggest issue lies in its viability. With the average age of membership at 56, the board is trying to attract more young people. Although the club does have activities to accommodate its members with children, such as the upcoming tubing event, it recently formed a marketing committee to brainstorm ideas to attract younger members to the club, says Patnode.
The OSC acknowledges that culture has changed greatly since it formed; “Younger people, 30s and 40s, do not seem to be club-joiners,” says Foster. Yet the club remains confident that it will be able to find enough new members without having to change its primary focus as an adult social club. “It’s getting younger as word gets out that {people are} having such a good time,” says Lancette.
With membership renewal fees of only $20 for adults and $10 for junior members, plus an extra $5 initiation fee for any adult member to join the club, the Onondaga Ski Club not only provides its members with year-round activities, but a chance to embrace (and enjoy!) winter. “There are a lot of people who aren’t involved in outdoor winter sports, and it’s a shame,” adds Foster. “They find winter very long and it’s a drudgery. Whereas when you get involved, whether it’s skating, or you’re skiing downhill or cross-country, sledding, snowshoeing, all of them are good for the body, good for the mind.”
For more information on the Onondaga Ski Club, visit the club’s Web site at www.osc-ski.org. For membership information, contact Jack Lancette at 454-0852.
