We are at the time of year when we have our Western Trip preparing to go, and we are finalizing our Club Outing plans. After these two trips we only have Jay Peak left. I would love to setup another trip for us to enjoy our fantastic snow season.

   The problem with this is that we have had a very poor response in filling our bus trips. Due to the fact that we have not had snow in New Jersey over the past few years, we have had to cancel trips under the presumption that the snow wasn’t there. However, the mountains we were going to have been covered by natural and man made snow. We are now in a season when we have experienced an increased snow presence in Jersey, and we are still struggling to make our Sunday Bus Trips happen. I am trying to figure out why we do not have a greater interest from our members to participate in these trips, and have heard that the cost of the trips are high. The answer to this is simple; if we could increase the amount of skiers on our trips and we can lower the cost of these trips. Currently, we have to pay $625 for a small 30 person bus with no restroom, to $675 for a 49 passenger bus. Presently we are looking at $30.00 per person at groups of 20 to 25 people. If we were to increase the groups to 40 people we could charge less. This past week we went to Platterkill and had a great time with the 19 people that participated. We had to charge $60 for this trip, if we had a group of 40 skiers, it would of only cost about $45. This is due to the fact we can get discounted tickets with larger groups.

   Now onto the theory that TRIPS = MEMBERSHIP I know most of you became members because of the Sunday Bus Trips. Our club is based on attaining members through organized Sunday ski trips. Individuals come to us because they enjoy skiing, but don’t have the connections to go with groups outside the club. They come to use, because we have the means to provide these groups that they are looking for. The reason for the reduced number of new members over the past few years has been the snow. Presently, due to the increased snowfalls this season, we now have some new members, or potential new members. We can attribute their joining to the Sunday trips. In order to make these trips more attainable, and attractive to new members, we need to increase the involvement of our members, friends, and family. These Sunday bus trips are everything to our club, please make a concerted effort in joining us as often as possible.