The New Haven Ski Club was founded on January 6, 1941, by Mrs. Kriste Hille at the request of Marjorie Zang from the New Haven YMCA. The first meeting was attended by 47 ski enthusiasts. Mrs. Hille became the first president of the club, quite a milestone for a woman at that time. The yearly dues were one dollar. Early activities were monthly business meetings and ski trips to the Country Club and Yale Golf Course. By year's end, the Club was officially names the Quinnipiac Club of New Haven.
The war years limited club activity. Two club members, Charlie Pierce and Frank Smith, continued skiing, serving as instructors in the Mountain Troops. By war's end, a glut of army ski equipment made skiing affordable, and the Quinnipiac Ski Club of New Haven shortened its name to "New Haven Ski Club" to encourage membership growth.
In May 1947, Walter Schoenknecht, one of the club's founders and its third president, shared with his fellow club members his plans for the future. Walter's plans were for a ski area in the town of Cornwall, to be known as Mohawk Mountain. This was the first ski area in Connecticut.
The first issue of the Snowflake Newsletter, the club's monthly news bulletin, was published two years later in 1949.
During the 1950's, the club took weekend trips to Vermont (Chickley Alp, Hogback, Bromley, and Stowe). Instruction, ski patrol, and competition committees were formed, and club members served on volunteer ski patrols at many mountains.
In 1955, club members began meeting weekly instead of monthly. Friday "dry" courses were bypassed in favor of weekend trips; the first "most improved skier" trophies were awarded; and the first Club Day races were held. That year, the Snowflake Manual (originally called the Guide for the Bunnies and Schuss Boomers was born.
The next season, the New Haven Ski Club joined Connecticut Ski Council members for a charter flight to Europe, which initiated the Club's annual winter trips to the Rockies or Europe.
During the 1960's, summer activities such as hiking, camping, and weekly tennis at the Yale Courts were originated. To mark the New Haven Ski Club's 25th anniversary in 1965, members designed a club pin to replace a series of ski patches. Later, the pin was replaced by tee shirts, racing hats, and sweatshirts.
In 1967, the New Haven Ski Club women's team competed for the first time in the Connecticut State Team Races. In 1969, the club rented a ski lodge for members and has rented one every year since then.
The club's 30th birthday was celebrated in January 1971 with an extravagant cocktail party at Mount Snow, courtesy of Walter Schoenknecht. The event was covered by the New Haven Register. In 1974, New Haven Ski Queen Diane Wiland (1973) won the U.S. Eastern Amateur Ski Association crown.
As a result of the gas shortage of the 70's members began organizing group bus trips. In 1977, Larry Mann introduced the New Haven Ski Club to the Connecticut Ski Council Monday Night Racing Series. During the 1978-79 ski season, Margarethe and Reinhard Richter qualified for the NASTAR National Finals. Margarethe won the women's division, while Reinhard came in seventh place in the men's division.
In 1980, Connecticut sent its own team to the U.S.S.A. National Citizen finals in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The New Haven Ski Club was proudly represented by Hobs Moyer and Reinhard and Margarethe Richter.
During the 1980's, the club lodge was relocated to Killington, Vermont from Mt. Snow. Monthly summer meetings were initiated, and the club began participating in the Jackson's Annual Newspaper Bed Race.
In 1987, New Haven Ski Club and the skiing world lost a great friend. Walter Schoenknecht passed on his skiing legacy with the hope that his contributions would enable all to enjoy skiing as much as he did. In remembrance, the club's "Most Improved Skier" trophies were renamed in his honor.
The same decade that saw the passing of Walter Schoenknecht almost saw the passing of his mountain. A tornado devastated Mohawk Mountain. New Haven Ski Club, remembering their early days with Walter, showed up to help. The club's contribution made a difference, and a grateful Carol Schoenknecht Lugar and Peg Schoenknecht opened Mohawk on time with every lift operational.
The quality and spirit shown by these volunteers wasn't new to the club. An "Outstanding Service Award" was instituted to recognize the many people over the years who have given so much of themselves to the club.
1990 brought about the club's incorporation under Glenn Weimar's leadership and concern. The Open House, under Betsy Hogan, reached national proportions, offering ski trips throughout the country as well as supporting local areas.
On January 10, 1991, 50 years to the month of inception, New Haven Ski Club, Inc. celebrated its anniversary with a large gala. More than half of the 28 past presidents were on hand to help us celebrate and see the unveiling of a new club banner. In its first 50 years, the club grew from 47 to over 250 members.
1991 also saw the best finish ever in the New Haven Bed Race. Under the leadership of Kevin Hojnowski, NHSC's "Flintstone Mobile" finished third with a Judge's Special Recognition Award.
The 1991-92 ski season saw increased interest in the racing program under the leadership of Mark Floberg and Terry Sheehan. For the first time, the race team earned state ranking by finishing 3rd in the CSC Monday Night Race Series in total team points.
1993 held several firsts for the club. These included: participation in the CT River Raft Race, a new club lodge at Killington, VT, and the race team winning the Pico Ski Club Challenge and ninth place at the Jeep Challenge at Mt. Snow. After 23 years of male domination in the Tuckerman's bowl award, the first woman, Joyce McColloch Tillman, skied over the headwall of Tuckerman's without falling and was presented the coveted "bowl" in 1994.
The pattern of El Nino brought warm weather and little snow in 1994-95. Ski areas came to the rescue with snow making. Under the leadership of race captains, Jon McCalin, Chris Cellini, and Tom Chalker the club had its best ever Monday Night Racing results with the women's team taking first, men's team taking third, and the NHSC team taking third overall.
New Haven also has a tradition of Queens who have been crowned the CT Ski Council Queen: Pat Carey in 1978, Marsha Meyer Dymarczyk in 1981, Delphine Bazilchuck in 1988, Nancy Michalko in 1990, and Marie Berman in 1995.
In 1996, the New Haven Ski Club was admitted to the New Haven Chamber of Commerce. The former Wine Cup race trophy was renamed to Metcalf Cup in 1999 to honor John Metcalf for his continued dedication and support of the Club's racing program.
On October 13, 1998, the New Haven Ski Club joined the Information Technology Age by launching it's first official web site. Many of the club's activities, both past and present, it's online version of the monthly newsletter, along with the season schedules and information on the various trips, activities and events that take place during the year can be found there.
The New Haven Ski Club goes into the new millenium (2000-2001) celebrating it's 60th year of inception with an anniversary celebration on January 18th, 2001. The club banner now boasts six stars and maintains a membership well over 250 members.
Fritz Hughes with his club famous cajun deep-fried turkey for the third year in a row continues to win the “Best Main Dish” at the third annual Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge Cook-Off in 2001. Seams nothing can beet Fritz’s turkey!
CSC On-Snow-Carnival in Sugarbush, VT 2002 was the year our club came in 3rd in the Tug-of-War and was a finalist in Volley Ball, both events done in ski boots (we would have won had the weather cooperated to allow for the finals!). What a great team effort in both the ski and non-ski events that year thanks to our Race Team Captain and Chairperson, Kim Conlin .
New Haven also had a tradition of Queens who have been crowned the CT Ski Council Queen: Pat Carey in 1978, Marsha Meyer Dymarczyk in 1981, Delphine Bazilchuck in 1988, Nancy Michalko in 1990, Marie Berman in 1995 and Laura Jakubisyn in 2001. This all changed in 2003 when the CSC and club representatives made the decision to change the format of selecting a CSC Queen to that of an Ambassador. The intent is to open the inter-club competition to include both men and women as well as put more focus on the winners of individual Club Service Awards. Donna Sparso was NHSC’s representative at the first Ambassador Day in 2003.