The Hoboken Ski Club has officially started it's 2011-2012 season last night at their first meeting of the year at Willie McBrides. This year there will be 10 trips as well as a pre Halloween party on October 29th at Sammy's Roadhouse Bar and Grill. The club which hosts weekend excursions and week long trips around the globe and within the USA has over 500 members includes people not only from Hoboken but around the Metropolitan area.

This year trips range from a reasonable $420 for a weekend in Killington January 20-22 to a week long free for all in Zermatt, Switzerland for $2120. For the Switzerland trip lift tickets are an additional cost as some elect to sight see rather than hit the slopes. Every trip is almost all inclusive with the exception of personal meals. For most getaways, round trip bus or airfare, accomodations, group dinners, ground transportation, lift tickets and gratuities are included. Rentals, personal meals and personal entertainment are out of pocket expenses. All trips have payment plans as well.

If you are not a member yet please visit hobokenskiclub.com and learn more. It is only $35 a year for membership and the club meets every Tuesday night at 8:30 at Willie McBrides. Many trips have yet to go on sale so joining the club now will allow you to be eligible for these incredibly inexpensive and awesome trips. You'll have a great time and make many new friends. The club welcomes all levels of expertise too, beginners to experts, all are encouraged to join.

Writers note: Being a member since last year I attended a 5 day trip to Vail, Colorado last year. For about $1000 I flew from Newark to Denver and had a bus take me to Vail. At my hotel I had a roommate who I never knew and is now a friend of mine. I got to meet a great group of people from both Hoboken and around the NYC area and enjoyed 4 days of amazing snow at Vail. As a snowboarder I can assure you that on any given trip there is almost an equal amount of skiers and snowboarders or close to it. At night most of the people on the trip went out and enjoyed local night life or hit up the heated outdoor pool and indoor hot tub. I was optimistic going in to the trip as I had never been on one and afterwards I couldn't wait to go on another trip, it is truly one of the greatest things to be a part of in Hoboken.