2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA20

90th Anniversary Booklet/FINAL.qxp_90th Anniversary Booklet 12/6/20 2:06 PM Page 20

The Bay Area Ski Federation Board of Directors held an executive meeting in 1959. The presiding officer is Carson White.

The Role of Council
Development in FWSA
by John Watson
History Chair, FWSA: President, FWSF
In its most general case, a snowsports council
is an organization composed of clubs and individuals who have continuing interests and objectives in
common. The interests may include race scheduling, fund raising, social events, off-season sports,
travel, government affairs and communication, both
internal and with other entities. It is normally centered on population centers because the travel distances required for monthly meeting attendance is
lessened. Historically, councils operated independently of national or regional organizations.
Today, FWSA has ten councils and they collectively make up the region that it calls its service
area, extending from Alaska to the southern border
and from the Colorado border to Hawaii. Far

West's councils collectively represent the only regional organization, now expanded, remaining of
the former US Ski Association. New councils may
be added at the discretion of the FWSA Board of
Directors if the candidate council can be effectively
served.
The dynamic councils activity in FWSA in
1971 had ripple effects throughout USSA, resulting
in committees established to facilitate councils coordination nationwide. Ultimately, the effects included an annual USSA National Ski Week, a
standardized recreational ski racing handbook and
citizen racing, awards and medals system, a Miss
USSA, promotion of a USSA Magazine and increased communication between councils across the

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20

FWSA 90th Anniversary Booklet / 1930 - 2020

USA. It was a glimpse of a new world for the traditional USSA - skiing now a nationwide mass recreation.
In 1969, John Watson, just elected as Southern Council President, out of curiosity, had started
a collection of information on all the councils or
council-like organizations in the USA. He collected
bylaws, brochures and other descriptive material
from the Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, New York
Metro Councils and Pennsylvania Ski Federation,
and other entities and communicated with their officers. These council connections were the initial
basis for the success of USSA National Ski Week for
the next decade. That week was first thought up by
Packard Anderson, USSA Executive Director, and
Ferris Boothe, Portland, as a less expensive ski trip
to Vail and which occurred in December, 1969 with
69 attendees, many from Southern California.
Bruce Bell (Wailers Ski Club, Los Angeles) went knocking on condo doors to stimulate participation in the
new Alpine Councils Challenge Cup, for which Anderson had obtained a sponsor (United Airlines) for
an impressive silver trophy. The first ACC had not
many council racers, but it set the stage for much
larger numbers in the annual ski weeks to come.
The potential for Ski Week was developed over the
next year by John Watson, Ed McArthur, Bruce Bell
and John Lindstrom with great help from the Sun
Valley staff led by Crissy Harrison. It was expanded
with the addition of cross country, Miss USSA, auctioning off teams of five racers in a Calcutta for
cash and donated equipment, a consumer show by
suppliers, Skier of the Week, on hill lunches and a

2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide