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A ski club is a membership organization built around group ski and snowboard trips, social events, and shared logistics rather than a commercial tour operator. You join as a member, pay dues, and in return get access to organized trips, trip leaders who handle planning, and a recurring community of fellow skiers. It's worth joining if you want structured trips and a social group more than fully customized, private travel.

What a Ski Club Actually Does

The core of most clubs is the trip calendar. Using the Susquehanna Ski & Snowboard Club (skissc.com) as a concrete example, its listed trips include:

• Jackson Hole, WY [IKON]
• Aspen-Snowmass, CO [IKON]
• Lake Placid, NY
• Park City, UT [EPIC]
• Davos, Switzerland
• Iceland (a non-ski trip)

Beyond destination trips, the club runs local day trips, social gatherings, a newsletter, and a webstore. Its September membership meeting featured a sponsor (Madden Physical Therapy) leading pre-season conditioning, and social events continue at Roundtop Mountain Resort through the winter. That mix — travel, fitness, socializing, and local outings — is typical of what "ski club" means in practice.

What Members Get

Note the pass tags: trips marked [IKON] or [EPIC] are built around those multi-resort passes, so your existing pass may matter when choosing a trip.

How a Club Differs From a Tour Operator or a Season Pass

• Tour operator: sells you a trip as a customer; you have no membership, no vote, no recurring community.
• Season pass: gives you resort access but no group, no trip leader, no social calendar.
• Ski club: combines group travel with membership — you're part of the organization, not just buying a product.

What to Check Before Joining

1. Trip schedule — does it match where and when you want to ski?
2. Pass compatibility — are trips built on IKON, EPIC, or independent resorts?
3. Dues and renewal cycle — clubs run on membership years (Susquehanna, for instance, references a 2026-27 renewal year).
4. Meeting location and cadence — where and how often members gather.
5. Trip capacity — popular trips fill up; Susquehanna notes its 2027 trips are "almost full" and its Iceland trip sold out.
6. How to get involved — many clubs want members to lead day trips, not just consume them.

How to Find and Contact a Club

Look for a membership page, a contact email, or a board member listed on the club's site. Susquehanna, for example, directs interest to [email protected] or any board member, and holds an annual get-acquainted party (November 21 at Roundtop) as an open entry point. Attending one social event before committing is the fastest way to judge whether the club's trips, pace, and people fit you.

The Chicago Friars Ski and Bike Club is a social club for people who enjoy skiing, camping, canoeing, hiking, biking, and having fun all year long. It fits anyone in or around Chicago who wants an ongoing group to do outdoor activities with, rather than a one-time commercial tour or lesson. If you're looking for a membership-based community where the point is shared recreation and socializing across all four seasons, this is the kind of organization to look at.

Who the club is for

Based on the club's own description, membership is aimed at people who want to combine outdoor recreation with a social group. That means you don't need to be an expert skier or a competitive cyclist to fit in — the emphasis is on enjoying activities together and having fun throughout the year.

It tends to suit:

• People who want year-round outdoor activity, not just a winter ski season.
• Those who prefer a club or community format over booking individual trips.
• Anyone open to a mix of sports and social events rather than a single specialty.

What activities the club covers

The club describes itself around a broad set of outdoor pursuits, which is the main thing that distinguishes it from a single-sport group or a tour operator.

The through-line is that these are group recreational activities, and the club frames them as ways to "have fun all year long."

How it differs from a commercial tour or lesson provider

This is the key distinction if you're comparing options:

• A commercial provider sells you a specific trip, lesson, or guided experience. You pay per activity, and the relationship usually ends when the trip does.
• A social club like the Friars is built around membership and ongoing participation. The value is the recurring group, the social connections, and the ability to keep doing activities with the same community across seasons.

So if your goal is to learn a specific skill in a structured lesson, a school or guide service may be the better fit. If your goal is to have a standing group to ski, bike, camp, canoe, and hike with, a club format is the more natural match.

How to join or get involved

The club's site is the starting point for prospective members. The general path looks like this:

1. Visit the club's website (chicagofriars.com) to see current activities and any membership information posted there.
2. Look for a join or membership section, and check what's involved in signing up.
3. Check upcoming events or trips to see what's scheduled and whether there's an easy first event for newcomers.
4. Reach out through whatever contact method the site provides if you have questions before joining.

A practical tip for any club like this: try attending one event or meeting before committing, so you can gauge whether the group's pace, interests, and social vibe match what you're after.

What to expect from trips and events

Because the club is social and recreational rather than instructional, expect events to be organized around shared participation — group trips and outings where the point is doing the activity together and enjoying the company. The exact format, cost, and difficulty of any given trip aren't something to assume; those details are best confirmed directly with the club, since they can vary by activity and season.

If you want a year-round outdoor social group in Chicago that spans skiing, biking, camping, canoeing, and hiking, the Chicago Friars Ski and Bike Club is designed for exactly that. If you instead want a one-off guided experience or formal instruction, a commercial provider will serve you better.

A ski and snowboard club is a membership organization that combines organized trips with a local social calendar, so members get group travel logistics and a year-round community rather than just lift tickets. It suits you if you want someone else to handle lodging, trip planning, and group coordination, and if you value meeting the same people repeatedly across a season. It suits you less if you prefer fully independent travel or only ski a few isolated days a year.

The Susquehanna Ski & Snowboard Club's President's Corner gives a concrete picture of how one club actually runs.

The two halves of a club: trips and social events

Organized trips

Clubs typically run several trip formats at once:

• Destination resort weeks — the club's 2027 lineup includes Jackson Hole, WY (IKON), Aspen-Snowmass, CO (IKON), Park City, UT (EPIC), Davos, Switzerland, and Iceland.
• Bus trips — Lake Placid, NY runs as a bus trip, led in this case by a newer trip leader.
• Non-ski trips — the Iceland trip is a non-ski option, and it sold out shortly after launch.
• Local day trips — the trip committee actively solicits suggestions for day trips in Pennsylvania and asks members to step up and lead one or two.

Note the pass annotations: IKON and EPIC labels tell you which multi-resort pass covers the destination, which matters for budgeting and for whether your existing pass is usable.

Social events

Social activity is not an afterthought — it is the recruitment and retention engine:

• A September membership gathering featured a sponsor (Madden Physical Therapy) leading conditioning prep for the coming ski season.
• Winter social gatherings happen at Roundtop Mountain Resort, planned along the lines of the club's summer deck parties.
• An Annual Get-Acquainted Party is held at Roundtop in November, run in a "picnic" style format, combining social time with a briefing on the resort's upcoming season.

The seasonal rhythm

A club year tends to cycle like this:

Membership mechanics

• Renewal cycle — this club renews on a 2026-27 membership year, and the president explicitly reminds members to renew and to bring active friends in.
• Trip capacity — 2027 trips were described as "almost full," and the Iceland trip sold out. Popular trips fill, so joining earlier in the cycle gives you more choice.
• Volunteering — members are asked to contact a board member or trip committee member to suggest destinations or lead a day trip. Leadership roles, including trip leader, are filled from within the membership.

The source material does not state dues amounts, what dues cover, or whether any events require separate payment, so treat those as questions to ask the club directly.

How to decide whether a club fits you

Ask these before joining:

1. Do the destinations match your pass and budget? Check whether trips are IKON, EPIC, or independent.
2. What is the skill mix? A club running both resort weeks and beginner-friendly bus trips usually spans abilities; one focused on expert destinations may not.
3. How much of the calendar is local? If winter socials and day trips are near you, the club is a year-round social outlet. If everything is a fly-away trip, it is closer to a travel agent with a group discount.
4. Can you get on a trip in year one? Ask how quickly trips fill and whether new members get priority or waitlist access.
5. Is there a path to contribute? Clubs that ask members to lead day trips or facilitate socials tend to have stronger communities — and volunteering is often the fastest way to become a known member rather than a name on a roster.

How to join and get started

1. Find the club's membership page and check the current renewal year.
2. Attend a get-acquainted or new-member event before committing — this is where you meet trip leaders and board members in person.
3. Email the board or a trip leader with your destination interests; this club routes contact through a general board email and named officers.
4. Renew or join before trip registration opens for the season you want.
5. Offer to help with one event or day trip — it converts you from attendee to participant.

A ski and snowboard club typically runs three kinds of activities: multi-day ski trips, local day trips, and social events that keep members connected between seasons. The Susquehanna Ski & Snowboard Club (SSC) page shows all three in practice, plus a non-ski travel option. If you are deciding whether to join, the practical question is not just what happens, but who organizes it and how you sign up.

Ski and snowboard trips

These are the core of most clubs. SSC lists upcoming trips to:

• Jackson Hole, WY [IKON]
• Aspen-Snowmass, CO [IKON]
• Lake Placid, NY
• Park City, UT [EPIC]
• Davos, Switzerland
• Iceland (a non-ski trip)

Two details matter for planning. First, the resort tags in brackets indicate which multi-resort pass covers the mountain, so a club trip may be cheaper or simpler if you already hold that pass. Second, trips fill up: SSC notes its 2027 trips are "almost full," and the Iceland trip sold out shortly after launch. If a specific destination is your reason for joining, ask about availability before you commit to membership.

How trips get organized

Trips are run by volunteer trip leaders rather than a travel agency. SSC's trip committee, led by a trip VP, coordinates the schedule and takes suggestions for new locations. The Lake Placid bus trip, for example, is led by a newer member who stepped into the role. That structure is common: clubs depend on members volunteering to lead, so the trip list reflects who raised a hand, not a fixed catalog.

Day trips and local activities

Not every activity requires a flight. SSC's committee is actively asking members for day-trip ideas within Pennsylvania and for volunteers to lead one or two. Day trips are usually the lowest-commitment way to test whether you like the group, since they involve a single day, local driving, and no lodging costs.

If you want a day trip to happen, the path is direct: contact a board member or trip committee member and either suggest a location or offer to lead it.

Social events

Clubs run social programming year-round, not just in winter. SSC's examples include:

• A September membership gathering with a physical-therapy sponsor leading conditioning prep for ski season
• Summer deck parties
• Winter gatherings at Roundtop Mountain Resort
• An annual Get-Acquainted Party in November, held in a picnic-style format, that also serves as an introduction to the coming season at the host resort

The social side is where new members meet trip leaders and decide who they want to travel with. SSC's social VP plans dates and looks for a few members to facilitate each event, so attending and volunteering are closely linked.

Membership, renewal, and getting involved

SSC asks members to renew for the 2026-27 year and to invite active friends. The page does not list dues, so check with the club directly on cost and what membership includes.

To get involved:

1. Attend a gathering or the annual Get-Acquainted Party to meet members.
2. Renew or join for the current membership year.
3. Contact a board member or the trip committee to suggest a destination or volunteer to lead a day trip.
4. Reach the social VP if you want to help facilitate an event.

The general contact address shown is [email protected].

How to find current activity schedules

Because trips and events change and fill, the reliable sources are the club's own channels: its newsletter, its social events page, the webstore, and direct contact with board or committee members. SSC's site also has a login area (Google, Microsoft, or Apple sign-in), which suggests some member content sits behind an account. The page does not state whether a login is required to view schedules, so if you cannot find dates, email the club.

What this means if you are considering joining

A club like SSC suits you if you want organized trips without planning logistics yourself, are willing to travel with a group, and can accept that availability depends on volunteer leaders. It suits you less if you need guaranteed dates far in advance or prefer fully independent travel. The cheapest way to evaluate it is a local day trip or a social night first, then commit to a multi-day trip once you know the group.