What follows is pure PR, but you got to love the club’s name:

Waterville Valley Resort, Nh — Waterville ValleyBlack and Blue Trail
Smashers (WVBBTS)-one of the oldest ski clubs in the United States-will
celebrate its 75th anniversary with a weekend of activities and events
for alumni and current athletes, parents, staff and friends of BBTS,
March 20 through 22 at Waterville Valley Resort. The festivities
kick-off on March 20 with a recognition dinner honoring, among others,
over a dozen people as the first inductees into the WVBBTS Hall of Fame.
Among the inductees will be Tom Corcoran - the two-time alpine Olympian
who founded Waterville Valley Ski Area. Other inductees include former
Olympians along with USSA Hall of Fame members from WVBBTS. This dinner
will also honor the 60+ US Team members from WVBBTS and past presidents
of the organization. Each of these people has in some way shaped
WVBBTS and competitive snowsports in general and helped turn WVBBTS into
a nationally recognized competitive snowsports organization achieving
such honors as USSA 2006 Club of the Year, USSA 1999 and 2006 Freestyle
Club of the Year and USSA 2006 Snowboard Club of the Year.

WVBBTS operates Waterville Valley Academy, the only full-time academic
and snow sports training program for grades 6-12 in New Hampshire, and
the BBTS Ski Club, a season-long weekend and school vacation week
training program for alpine, freestyle and snowboard athletes.

WVBBTS was founded in 1934, making it among the oldest ski clubs in the
United States. It started when a group of greater Bostonians decided to
make the journey to Mount Tecumseh at Waterville Valley and began
blazing their own ski trails with axes and saws. That social club
eventually grew into a competitive training program when Corcoran saw
the need for, first, top quality training for ski racers in the late
1960’s of th and then, in the early 1970s, an academic program that
could serve these athletes during the winter term, when many of them
train and travel a good share of their time (Waterville Valley Academy).

“Today, our academic reputation for great college placements is one of
our greatest assets, “according to Robert Sampson, Headmaster at
Waterville Valley Academy. “Not all of our members enter into Olympic
competition, but we send many of them on to compete and study at great
schools such as Dartmouth, Brown, BC, Williams, PSU, UNH and UVM. We
believe their academic success is because they’ve learned to be
dedicated to excellence in all that they do at the Academy.”

The anniversary celebration is a chance to recognize not just the past
athletes and leaders of WVBBTS, but also the parents and families who
have been involved through the years. “Parents really make this a
lifestyle once their child is enrolled-most are here every weekend from
Thanksgiving to March and it just becomes a huge part of their life,”
said Peter Stokloza, CEO and Executive Director of WVBBTS.

There are currently over 1,000 WVBBTS members and, in the high season,
during the winter the WVBBTS employs some over 100 people to serve the
current crop of athletes. The academy’s dorm houses 32 athletes, and
another 60 or so live off-campus find lodgings elsewhere during the
season. The academy recently has purchased Snow’s Mountain Ski Area
with an eye toward a new campus facility and is also reviewing
possible nine month school curriculum offerings.

Events for the weekend include a fun Dual GS and Mogul competition
during the day at on Saturday. Prizes will be awarded at a Saturday
evening bash BASH, which features a buffet dinner, presentation of the
Hall of Fame inductees, and a silent and live auction and raffle. The
evening ends with a dance with music by Montage starting at 8 p.m. Cost
is $35 per person for ages 11 through adult, $18 for children age 10 and
under. Sunday’s events include a breakfast on the mountain. A discounted
lift ticket for both days is available to reunion attendees. To attend
the reunion, register ration by March 12 is required by contacting
Sharon Schmidt, 603-236-8088 or email: schmidt@wvbbts.org. The academy
has also put up a reunion page where you can find more details and a
registration form at
http://www.wvbbts.org/75th%20Invite%20and%20Registration%20Form%20PDF%20
Final%201-9-09.pdf and can be found as a group on Facebook.

WVBBTS Hall of Fame Inductees-We will induct them on Saturday evening,
March 21 at the BASH. We are still tracking down Olympians. There may
be more.

Leland Sosman, posthumous award. He first came to Waterville in the
1930’s. His children were WVBBTS participants. Sosman is a Harvard
College and Johns Hopkins Medical School graduate and U.S. National Ski
and Snowboard Hall of Fame inductee. Leland received the Julius Blegen
Award in 1991, the highest volunteer award of the U.S. Ski Association.

Dev Jennings, posthumous award. Jennings is a U.S. National Ski and
Snowboard Hall of Fame inductee and his children participated in WVBBTS.
His wife is still a Waterville Valley resident.

Anna McIntrye is a member of the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of
Fame and past president of WVBBTS who also had children participate in
WVBBTS. Anna received the Julius Blegen Award in 1991, the highest
volunteer award of the U.S. Ski Association.

Tom Corcoran is founder of Waterville Valley Ski Area and Waterville
Valley Academy. Tom was elected to the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard
Hall of Fame in 1978 as both a ski athlete and a ski sport builder. He
received the Julius Blegen Award in 1991, the highest volunteer award of
the U.S. Ski Association and he was elected to the Rolex International
Ski Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.

Alpine Olympians: Felix McGrath

Freestyle Olympians: David Babic, Stacey Blumer-Evans, Hannah Kearney,
Chuck Martin, Nikki Stone, Britt Swartley

Snowboard Olympians: Peter Thorndike, Michael Gorgone