19 clubs with 240 participants joined the fun this year in Whitefish, MT for Chicago Week February 29, 2020 – March 7, 2020. The theme for the week was “Woodstock @ Whitefish”, where those who remembered knew how to dress the part! Thanks to everyone for the great participation and creativity with your psychedelic and hippie wear this year. Peace, Love, Ski!

From lots of tree skiing, to easy cruising, to beautiful scenery and fun parties made Whitefish a typical great Chicago Week. The Woodstock Whitefish fairy brought us cooperative, varied weather with blue skies, temperatures in the 20’s and 30’s, fresh powder, a little fog, beautiful views, wonderful skiing adventures, fun events, and great memories.

Our lodging properties were spread from the Firebrand in downtown Whitefish, to the Lodge at Whitefish Lake, to ski-in and/or out properties on the mountain: the Kandahar, Kintla, and Morning Eagle. Sue, Vicki, Dana from Ski.com, Sean and Colette from the mountain, and Ryan from the Lodge at Whitefish Lake welcomed everyone to Whitefish in their Woodstock attire.

Saturday, arrival day, was hectic as usual. Flights arrived throughout the day, from morning until later at night. Many joined the meet 'n greets at either Bierstube on the mountain or the Tap House between Whitefish Lake and downtown for a beer, a bite to eat, and enjoy each other’s company.

Sunday We started our great skiing week with a bluebird day, plenty of snow, perfect ski weather, and we met the snow ghosts on the lift heading to the top! While some joined the mountain tours; others skied on their own. What a fabulous day of skiing!

Sunday ended with our historic themed Welcome Party, complete with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, in a beautiful banquet room at the shores of The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. Almost everyone joined in the fun with their Woodstock wear, and CMSC Board members and trip leaders added color with their CMSC psychedelic baseball caps.

On Monday, Trip Leaders and CMSC Board members started early with a special first tracks and breakfast. By the time breakfast ended, the skies cleared up to another wonderful ski day! After the ski day, our skiers met up with friends at our first Après Ski at Ed and Mully’s. Delicious appetizers, drinks, and friends enjoyed conversation about their ski day. What more could you want?

Tuesday was a jam-packed activity day. First, was the Alpine Race at lower Hellroarin’. We had a great turn-out with ~92 who joined the race. While every racer won a medal, we had a variety of categories such as "fastest” male & female by varied age categories, and closest to match their own time! Everyone had a blast in the racing event. The race was followed by lunch at Ed and Mully’s at the bottom of Hellroarin’ with chili, soups, and salads…yummy! Club photos were taken by Mountain Life Photography and trip leaders were given a link to access all of the club, racing, and individual pics taken.

Tuesday’s last activity was the pub crawl in downtown Whitefish. The fun began at 7:30pm with, yet, another great turnout! Chicago Week-ers started "crawling" at any of our 4 featured locations: Bulldog Saloon, Casey’s, Great Northern Bar and Grill, & Remington Bar and Casino. At the end of the evening, lots of raffle prizes took place at Casey’s. We easily had 100 people at Casey’s. Thanks to everyone for their participation!

Wednesday was a "day off" for many. Some enjoyed Glacier National Park, others went snowmobiling, some enjoyed shopping downtown, and the distillery tour was also another option. The skiers enjoyed more wonderful skiing and the breathtaking views: the snow, mountains, trees, the lake … ahhhhhh

Thursday was another beautiful day of skiing followed by the dinner Banquet at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake. What a beautiful view of the lake!

Racing trophies and more raffles/prices, and dancing took place late into the night with a wonderful DJ! We had quite a few dancers "shakin' their booties" to the tunes of an excellent DJ!

The well attended banquet on Thursday included some very creative Woodstock/hippie wear to support our Woodstock@Whitefish theme. The staff from Whitefish Mountain, Lodge at Whitefish, and Ski.com decided to have a costume contest because the costumes were so awesome! After narrowing it down to 5, the winners showed true ski club camaraderie because they all dressed the part: Congrats to Ft Wayne Ski Club!! Thanks, everyone! Twas' another fun night!

Friday continued with a bit warmer weather for skiing followed by an Après Ski at the Base Lodge. Whitefish “put on the Ritz” with the appetizers and Piccadilly brought their shot-ski. This year, the Schussboomers Ski and Snowboard Club celebrated their 50th anniversary with a torchlight parade in the evening. What fun we had!

Until next year, everyone, when we will gather together at Mammoth!

Vicki Schutz, Trip Leader