Special Announcement
Postponed! Summer Adventure Out West
Due to poor air quality in the area resulting from the Yosemite fire, this trip has been postponed about 10 months, until June, 2023.
We are taking registrations for this trip now. For more details contact the Trip Leader, Chrisje Mays, cmays@w3ins.com.
Beat the heat in Florida and join us on this trip: Lake Tahoe, California – June 8-14, 2023 (Thursday – Wednesday).
We’ll spend 6 nights at the Beach Retreat & Lodge on the beachfront of South Lake Tahoe. Spend time on the white sand beach overlooking the clear, shimmering lake without the Florida August heat while you choose your next activity: Hiking; biking; whitewater rafting; horseback riding; tours by boat, balloon, or helicopter; sailing; kayaking paddle boarding; and jet ski rentals. There is plenty of shopping, and the casinos are just over the Nevada state line and walkable from the resort.
Night life abounds with plenty of restaurants, bars, live music, and for those in the know – a real speakeasy! Your trip leader, Chrisje Mays, cmays@w3ins.com, will be planning some group activities, and will also provide you a bunch of other options for you to schedule your own fun with or without a group.
Click the trip link below to get started.
Season Ski Passes
2022-23 SEASON SKI PASSES - Epic & Ikon
IMPORTANT NEWS! Updated 4/05/2022
It’s not too early to start thinking about skiing/boarding next season. Your Club, Tampa Bay Snow Skiers & Boarders (TBSSB), is working hard planning the trip schedule for the coming ski season (2022-2023). Although the schedule is in a preliminary and tentative state, we can tell you that we will be offering several destinations at which you can use either an Epic pass or an Ikon pass. Download our Preliminary Trip List for destinations and which Pass may apply.
Ikon passes and Epic Passes are on sale now.
Both passes include many mountain destinations. If you purchase or renew a full or base pass thru our tour operator (Sports America) then you will receive a special TRIP discount. This additional credit won’t apply to the FSC trip trip to Chamonix because Sports America is not the tour operator for that trip.
Both passes typically have a couple or more price increases as we get closer to the ski season. However, the benefit of purchasing through Sports America will still be in effect. If you think you will be skiing/boarding at one or more of the many pass destinations, purchasing or renewing your pass before the first price increase will give you the best price available this year.
To purchase a pass through TBSSB and Sports America (which is the only way to receive the trip credit mentioned above), or simply to learn more about what destinations and restrictions apply to each pass type, click these links:
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Epic - If you are planning to ski or ride at one or more of the Epic/Vail destinations, you should purchase one of the many Epic Pass options. Which pass is right for you will depend on what dates, and how many days and destinations you’re planning to ski or ride. Even if you only go to one Epic destination and only ski a few days, the Epic Day Pass, or the Epic Local Pass, will cost less than the lift tickets the Club will be able to offer. Note that the Military Epic Pass does not cover Telluride nor Ogden.
Ikon – If you are only going to one Ikon destination, and skiing less than 6 days, purchasing a Group Lift Ticket through the Club for that trip is probably the better deal. If you are planning to ski or ride 6 or more days, or more than one Ikon destination, you should carefully check out the Ikon pass options. One of their passes (at least the Base or Base Plus) is likely to be the better choice if you plan to ski 6+ days and/or more than one destination. If you are going to Aspen/Snowmass or Jackson Hole, the Ikon Base pass will not work, you will need at least the Base Plus pass for those two destinations.
In any case, please be sure to very carefully read all the pass options, restrictions, blackout dates, and destinations included. Not every pass type is good at all destinations or on all dates. By clicking the links above, you can see the prices, which places are included or not, what restrictions or blackout dates apply, and etc. Before selecting a pass, please be sure that you fully understand what your specific pass offers, at which destinations, and what restrictions or blackout dates may apply.
Some places may require you to reserve the dates on which you plan to use your pass. As soon as you know what trip(s) you will be taking, check to see if that destination requires reservations. If so, go to your online pass account and reserve your dates. Do this as soon as you are able.
If you have questions or need help making the right selection, feel free to call the 800 number that can be found near the top left of the pass description pages accessed via the links above.
If you still have questions, please contact your trip committee chairs:
Mike Pearson: mikepdigsvb@verizon.net
Peggy Gummoe: pbgummoe@aol.com.
Trip Insurance
Trip Insurance – A Very Important Topic
TBSSB is a not-for-profit club and does not provide trip insurance, nor do we promote or endorse any particular insurance company. We do encourage travelers to seriously consider whether or not trip insurance is a good thing for them. But trip insurance is an individual decision and responsibility. If you feel it will give you peace of mind, then the small cost may well be worth it. The entire process is handled by you directly with the Tour Operator or insurance company you select. Again, trip insurance is strictly voluntary, and we offer information only as a convenience for our members/travelers.
You can find a wealth of information on the Internet. Here are some of the many websites where you can easily compare several policies: www.insuremytrip.com, www.QuoteWright.com and www.SquareMouth.com. You can find many others on the Web by doing a search with any Web search engine. These sites allow you to pick and choose what insurance you want and compare different policies of several companies, and their costs, usually side-by-side. Please feel free to consult other companies about travel insurance.
Carefully consider what features to purchase. You may not need some of the features presented, and typically the fewer features the lower the cost.
For instance, you may not want to insure the cost of the airline ticket. Most of the major airlines allow you to use your unused airline ticket, for a fee, for up to 365 days from the date of purchase. Please note that the Club’s Tour Operator purchases the tickets well in advance and that is the date of purchase used by the airline to start the countdown of 365 days.
You should probably not insure your lift ticket cost. If you cancel before a trip departs and do not use your lift ticket at all, you can typically get a full refund through the club for the lift ticket purchased through the club (excluding Epic and Ikon passes). If you use only part of your lift ticket due to an injury or medical event, you can usually get a refund for the unused portion if you provide the lift ticket and a doctor’s note to the Trip Leader detailing why you should not ski due to injury or illness. Please note sometimes there is a nominal administrative fee charged by the destination or by the Tour Operator to process the refund for your lift ticket.
If you paid for your trip using a credit card, you should check with your credit card company about their travel insurance benefits. Some automatically insure travel purchased up to a certain dollar amount for trip cancellation and/or trip interruption, but not medical.
If you want medical insurance, you will also want to insure your trip early, especially if you have a pre-existing condition that may or may not be insurable. Some insurance companies demand that you insure your trip as soon as you sign up for the trip and pay a deposit. Others allow you to sign up very late but exclude pre-existing conditions. If you need trip medical insurance, it’s best to purchase it sooner than later.
Finally, we’d like to suggest that many people have been glad they did buy trip insurance, or unhappy that they did not. Please give trip insurance serious consideration before dismissing the idea. Quite a few of our members have had occasion to use, or wish they had trip insurance. Some have experienced an unexpected illness or injury prior to the trip, or an injury or medical event while on the trip. Others have experienced the death or illness of a close family member before or during the trip. These are just a few examples of unfortunate events that interrupted a traveler’s ability to go on the trip or stay on the trip. Trip insurance can reduce the impact of such events by reducing the financial impact of having to cancel a trip last minute or fly home early.
Board Member Corner
Vice President
Hello TBSSB members,
On June 23, we revealed the 18 ski trips we have for this ski season and opened registration to all. We are off to a fantastic start with selling our trips because of you, our loyal travelers. While some trips now have a wait list, there are still plenty of trips available. Hopefully one of these will be what you are looking for.
On August 19, we will host our official kick-off party at the Hilton Hotel in Carillon Park, St. Pete. There will be several mountain reps present to answer any questions you may have as well as our knowledgeable trip leaders. So join us and come meet old friends and make some new ones. This party is like a family reunion!
Our goal is to give you the best ski trip for the money. Our trip leaders work hard to make sure that the trip goes smoothly so that you, our traveler, can relax and have fun leaving the details to us.
We are more than just a ski club, we are a social club offering monthly social gatherings. We just hosted a tubing party on the Rainbow River with over 30 travelers attending. Everyone said it was a blast. Some of the other events planned for this season are our annual bowling party and a bike & blade.
We hope you will be a part of these fabulous trips and join us on one of our social events. It’s a great way to meet people and make new friends. What are you waiting for? Get involved and sign up for one of our trips, you’ll be glad you did!!
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Are you a current member of another FSC club? If so, ask your trip leader about RECIPROCITY!
TBSSB is a Proud Member of the FSC
2008 Recipient FSC President's Award
2008 NASTAR FSC Cup Champions (Heavenly Lake Tahoe)
2009 NASTAR FSC Cup Champions (Snowmass)
2010 NASTAR FSC Cup Champions (Telluride)
2013 NASTAR FSC Cup Champions (Heavenly Lake Tahoe)
