Skiing with the Chicago

Ski Twisters

By Danny Hall

The Chicago Ski Twister Ski Club is the oldest ski club in Chicago.  It was organized in 1959, and is still serving as a model for all future ski clubs.

       The Chicago Ski Twisters was conceived on the principles of teaching downhill skiing, attaining low group cost, traveling with new ski friends, and providing an avenue by which skiers and “wannabe” skiers could gather.  It was brought into existence purely for the sake of downhill skiing and snowboarding.

       From the originally known four independent pioneer skiers that started skiing long before 1959, only George Sanders, president of the Chicago Ski Twisters is still active in downhill skiing.

       During the early sixties, the Chicago Ski Twisters enjoyed years of camaraderie with some of the Midwest Ski Clubs, such as the Jim Dandy Ski Club of Detroit, Michigan; then on to the 1973 Black Summit, they met, partied, and skied with 13 known black ski clubs at Aspen Colorado.  The Chicago Ski Twisters has been in the forefront for a long time.

       In 1974, the Chicago Ski Twisters played host to the first meeting in Chicago for the formalization of the National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS)

       The Chicago Ski Twisters and Jim Dandy’s of Detroit are the two oldest black ski clubs on the planet earth.

       Named for the dance rage of the time “the twist” in 1959, the Chicago Ski Twisters exhibits its own personality and style.  Some of the highlights of the Chicago Ski Twisters’ long list of firsts are:

 

·      The club first guaranteed, “learn to ski on the first weekend” or your cash back;

·      Free beginner group lessons;

·      Free intermediate and advance private lessons; and

·      Free lift tickets on selected weekend trips and no charge roundtrip ground transfers on NBS Summit ski trips.

       Even with the many evolutionary changes over the past 40 years and over a thousand skiers later, the same qualities that made the Chicago Ski Twisters Ski Club unique in 1959, continues to make it a desirable ski club in 2004/2005 ski season.

BSTM talked with George Sanders, ski pioneer of the Chicago Ski Twisters Ski Club.

 

BSTM: When did you become interest in skiing?

 

George Sanders: When I was a young boy my parents use to let me go to movies with friends and before the main show would appear, they showed highlights of German soldiers skiing down slopes in white uniforms with white skis and white rifles which camouflage them against the enemy.  I thought that was real cool.  From that day on I wanted to learn how to ski.

       In 1958, I had a buddy who knew a young lady who had spent some time in the military stationed in Germany.  She knew how to ski, so I got her telephone number and called her and asked her would she like to go skiing. She agreed to go skiing with me and two other people.  The next thing you know, we were in a car off to ski Majestic Hill Ski Resort in Burlington, Wisconsin.  This place was an old chicken shack that was renovated into a ski resort.   Back in those days, you could rent skis, boots, and poles for $5 per day and ski all day for $5 too; man, you could not beat that price.  I didn’t own a pair of skis until ten (10) years later they were red and silver.

       I was in pretty good shape because I was a natural athlete who played football, baseball, and other sports.  I had just been discharged from the military.  I was ready to take on any challenge.  I knew I was ready to pursue my childhood endeavor and that was to ski any mountain.

       My first time out, I skied without taking any lesson, so naturally I fell down all day long but didn’t break any bones or receive any major injuries.  I took one ski lesson the second time out from a ski instructor.  After that, I was good to go.  I skied every weekend, day or night, and was able to ski at least 15 runs per hour.

 

BSTM:  How were you treated being an African American?

 

George Sanders: Folks were very respectful but also curious about why or where did this person (black man) come from? Everyone automatically thought you were from a rich or well to do family.  People were very polite, I would be asked the question: What kind of work do you do? I would answer back that I was a busboy, dishwasher or some one who did menial work just to see their expression or reaction.  Another question would be: Why are you skiing?  And I would answer: because you ski!!!  I can honestly say, I never experienced any form of discrimination while skiing the hills.

 

BSTM:  Did you ever do any racing or think about skiing as a pro?

 

George Sanders:  I truly enjoyed skiing, and I could, I would ski everyday.  I did some racing on the amateur circuit.  My best finish was 3rd out of 200 racers at Steam Boot Colorado.  That was as far as I went.  However, I skied all over the world. I spent major dollars traveling to remote locations in Canada and South America.

 

BSTM:  How did you form the ski club Chicago Ski Twisters?

 

George Sanders: Well, more people were interested in skiing; so me and my three friends decided to start a ski club.  We called ourselves the Chicago Ski Twisters because we enjoyed partying as well as skiing.  And at that time, Chubby Checker had a song called “the twist”.  It was a national hit, and everybody was doing the dance called “ the twist”.  It was a perfect fit.

       In 1960, we organized ski trips, chartered buses, rented room for an entire weekend excursion.  This enabled the Club to go on further trips into Michigan and Wisconsin.

 

BSTM:  How did your club become affiliated with the National Brotherhood of Skiers?

 

George Sanders: It was a beautiful thing when we started this organization. In 1972, I received a call from another club soliciting ideas about starting a national organization with other ski clubs.  We finalized a trip to Aspen Colorado to hold our first meeting.  In 1974, the Chicago Ski Twisters hosted clubs from around the country, including clubs from California, Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, and Denver.  From that meeting, the National Brotherhood of Skiers was formed. The president of each club made up the executive body.  In 1975, the first annual ski event took place at Sun Valley Idaho.  The club has grown from the original 13 club members to 84 club members.

 

Reprint permission from www.bstmllc.com.