Over 400 skiers attended our 2004 FWSA ski week in Lake Louise, Canada.  In spite of the cold temperatures, we had a “hot” time with parties, dancing and skiing!  While some skiers waited for warmer temperatures, many skiers braved the cold to find the backside of the mountain had an inversion layer and great skiing.  As the word quickly spread, we all enjoyed the fresh snow!

Christine Grimble and her assistant, Jose Reineking, did an excellent job of planning for our 2004 ski week.  In addition to our usual mountain picnic and parties, we all attended the Mountain Rocker dinner with dancing, and several councils went to the Torchlight Dinner.  Shopping in Banff and skiing at Lake Louise, Norquay or Sunshine provided many enjoyable experiences.

With lodging at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise we received the best of care from the hotel staff.  Upon arrival, we were impressed with how quickly we were able to check-in and the swiftness with which our luggage arrived in our room.  Special thanks to John Schlichting, Marc Ducharme and the entire staff at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

Our awards banquet in the beautiful Victoria Ballroom was the finale for ski week.  At the awards banquet Dave Cunningham was honored with the Volunteer of the Week Award.  This year the award was given in memory of John Gamble.

The Skier of the Week awards were announced:

            1^st         Marilyn Sigler                             Alan Writz

            2^nd        Nancy Manter                            Blair Wallace

            3^rd         Elaine Hilliker                            Chris Rutz

Race awards were given to the following councils and clubs:

            1^st         Bay Area Council                       Modesto Ski Club

            2^nd        Arizona Council                         Phoenix Ski Club          

            3^rd           Sierra Council                            RenoSki andRecreation Club

The Joe Ross Awards were distributed to the winners.  The winners had to compete in all three races and obtain the most points within their age groups.

Our trip leaders did a great job!  My thanks to Steve Coxen, Steve Grevstad, Jim Hughes, Judith Miller, Gloria Raminha, Amur Rutz, Jaan Vehik, and Susie Vetter.  Your hard work is truly appreciated. 

Thanks to Judy Fjeld and Kurt Schroeder from Sportours for their assistance and Tom Mielke and Gloria Raminha for our ski week badges.  Once again the ski week staff, Ken Calkins, Kathy Hoffmann, Tucker Hoffmann, Joe Loader, Jim Sommer, Susie Vetter and Marilyn Sigler did an excellent job with their duties and ski week responsibilities. 

44 of us continued from Lake Louise to Jasper where we spent three nights in the Jasper Park Lodge and skied Marmot Basin.  In Jasper we enjoyed sunshine and beautiful scenery.  Elk, deer, big horned sheep and even a wolf were seen by some of us.  Our time in Jasper ended with a wine and cheese party on our final night together.