January Winter Sports Adventure – Sign Up Now!
An update on our Winter Sports Adventure that’s coming up in less than 2 weeks!
Our former favorite free spot to stay has some issues in their basement and could not extend their hospitality this year. So we dug and dug and found another church willing to put us up for the night for a small fee ($10/person) which is great! So pack you cots and/or sleeping pads and sleeping bags as we bed down in the warm confines of the church!
The plan is still to meet at the church around 4:30pm on Friday, January 20th. We will head up to the Fraser Tubing Hill for some fun tubing at night! Bring warm clothes including socks and boots (no sneakers please!) as it will likely get chilly after dark. They’ve extended us great rates since we are Scout Troop so we plan to tube for up to 2 hours depending on how long it takes us to get there. This will cost around $30/Scout and $32/Adult (half their normal rate!).
Then we will make our way to the church and have a brief Cracker Barrel before resting up. Saturday morning, we will have a quick and easy (to be planned) breakfast before we head out to Granby Ranch Ski Area for a day of skiing! Thanks to Mrs. Mackey, those who haven’t skied or want a refresher will be able to get a free lesson from a certified instructor! We’ve checked the rates for skiing that day and if you buy the lift ticket in advance, it appears to cost $99 for the day ($69 for those under 13 years old). Because some people may have passes or other deals (see Colorado Gems Card), we are going to leave the acquisition of lift tickets up to the individual attendees. So please buy your tickets in advance from their website and/or ensure you have a discounted method to attend. The Gems cards cost $42 and get you a 2-1 deal at Granby Ranch. So it does save some money, but you have to buy the card in advance (read: NOW) so it arrives at your home in time for the trip. And of course if only one Scout is attending from your family, check with other families (at our meeting tomorrow) and maybe partner up for this good deal! You can always purchase tickets at the window when we arrive, but that will likely cost more than $99.
As for rentals, it seems that the rentals at the ski area are quite expensive. We recommend going to a local place for rentals. One of my favorites is Happy Sport (located near Texas Roadhouse and Virgilio’s) where daily rentals are as low as $24.99 (more for bigger kids and/or better performing skis). Plus, they let you pick the rentals up the previous day (i.e. Friday) after 3pm and return them the following day (i.e. Sunday) until 1pm. Other places to check would be Christy Sports or Epic Mountain Gear. Make sure you rent a helmet (most daily rentals include use of a one) of course as they will be required to ski/snowboard!
After our day of skiing is done, we will make our way back down the mountain. Arrival time is of course highly dependent on traffic and when we end up leaving Granby.
We realize that this can be a somewhat pricey event for Scouts and Adults to attend…skiing isn’t cheap! Thankfully so many Scouts earned so much money from popcorn, wreath, and camp card sales! But if the cost is a concern, please reach out to our Scoutmaster, Mr. Strauss, or Treasurer, Mr. Bielkiewicz and we can discuss alternate plans.
Also, please remember that this trip is one that we invite EVERYONE, including family members and friends. HOWEVER, with that said, our new hosts this year are limiting us to 25 people. So that means you need to go to the website RIGHT NOW and sign up! It will be first come, first serve! If we get more than 25 signed up, we will have a waitlist and check to see how firm that number is with the church. This is always a great time, so I highly encourage everyone to join us!