Ski Bums

Ski Bums is a travel and social club for LGBT skiers and snowboarders, based in New York City. It hosts social events and group trips to ski resorts throughout North America and Europe. It is the world's largest gay and lesbian skiing and snowboarding club.

History
Ski Bums was founded in December, 2003 by Chris French, who created the club in the hopes of finding a small group of gay friends for skiing and snowboarding trips. Within one year, the club had grown to over 150 members, as word-of-mouth spread through New York City’s gay community. Today, the club has grown to over 2,000 participants, with more than 450 paid members from throughout the United States and Canada.

Ski Bums took its first trip in January, 2005, and followed that winter with a series of daytrips and a weekend trip to Vermont. In winter, 2006, the club took its first international trip to Zermatt, Switzerland, and expanded its series of daytrips, adding vacations to Utah and Colorado.

Social Events
Ski bums has hosted Avalanche, a party for its members and friends, at therapy, a gay bar in New York City. In addition, Ski Bums hosts a series of charity fund-raising events each year. An up-to-date listing of social events can be found here.

Trips
To date, Ski Bums has hosted trips to Vail, Colorado, Zermatt, Switzerland,  Whistler-Blackcomb, British Columbia, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Telluride, Colorado, Chamonix, France, Park City, Utah, and Salt Lake City, Utah, (Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Snowbasin), Lake Tahoe, California (Heavenly and Squaw Valley), and several resorts in Vermont, including Killington, Stratton, and Mount Snow. It also hosts a regular season of local bus daytrips (to Hunter Mountain, Windham, Mountain Creek and Belleayre). The full trip schedule can be found here.

Charity Work
Renowned for its commitment to charity work, Ski Bums is consistently one of New York City’s top fund-raising teams for AIDS Walk New York, benefiting GMHC. Ski Bums has also donated to the Empire State Pride Agenda. In 2007, Ski Bums hosted "The Bums Rush," a contest inspired by The Amazing Race where teams of two competed for a trip to Chamonix, France, benefiting Lambda Legal.

Gay skiing / snowboarding events and organizations
Ski Bums is part of a growing trend in the LGBT community, as ski resorts around the country appeal to the LGBT traveler and plan events to cater to them. Beginning in 1977 with Aspen Gay Ski Week, there are now more than 16 gay skiing and snowboarding events, which routinely draw from 2,000 to 5,000 participants, and more than two dozen GLBT skiing and snowboarding clubs around the world.