The Red Eye Ski Club was incorporated in 1973 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as a non-profit adult recreational club dedicated to downhill skiing.  The original members were from the Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls areas, and we still draw most of our members from in and around the Chippewa Valley.  But we have members from all over the U.S., and today we have members from as far away as Texas and Tennessee (usually members who have moved out of the area but still want to travel with us).  We have even had a member from Australia.

Membership has always been open to adult downhill skiers of all ages and abilities who want to enjoy themselves indoors and out.  Many trips also offer cross country skiing, and in the last few years we have also welcomed snow boarders, and several of our members both ski and board.  In fact, you don't even have to ski to enjoy yourself on our trips.  We frequently have non-skiing friends and relatives along on the European and North American mountain trips because we also get in some great sight-seeing and off the slope activities.  

Over the 30 plus years since our inception, the Red Eyes have skied the Alps, the Canadian Rockies, the Colorado Rockies, the Sierra Mountains, the Cascade Mountains, and many other significant mountain like formations.  We have taken Red Eye trips to just about all the major (and many lesser) ski resorts in North America, and many in Austria and Switzerland.  Some of the major ski resorts that Red Eye Ski Club members have visited in the past 10 years include Aspen, Vail, Banff, Lake Louise, Sun Valley, Alta, Park City, Deer Valley, Jackson Hole, Heavenly, Squaw Valley, Kirkwood, Purgatory, Winter Park, Keystone, Breckenridge, Big Sky, Steamboat, Fernie, Kitzbuhel, Chamonix, Innsbruck, Zermott, Val D'Isere.

During the snow season, the club takes several weekend and day trips to the ski areas in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan.  Some of our local favorites are Welch Village, Wild Mountain, Trollhaugen, and Coffee Mill, and some of our weekend favorites are Whitecap, Indianhead, Powderhorn, Blackjack, Giants Ridge, Spirit Mountain, and Lutsen.  The Red Eye Ski Club is a member of the Minnesota Sports Council which means that Red Eye members can also go on trips being run by the MSC and its member clubs.  So we have access to dozens of ski trips in addition to the trips our club runs.

In the off-seasons (summer, spring, and fall), Red Eye Club members get together informally for bicycling, camping, hiking, motorcycling, canoeing, rafting, and golfing.  And when we are not skiing and boarding at the snow areas, we also enjoy snowmobiling, sight-seeing, snowshoeing, dog sled rides, ice hiking, hot tubbing, shopping, gambling, dancing, and sampling the local beverages and cuisines.

For 35 years, the club has had monthly general meetings from September to March.  These days, the club meets on the second Thursday of the month in Eau Claire at O' Leary's Pub, 809 W. Clairemont Ave.  In April we have our Annual Meeting and Spring Banquet and Fling at a local restaurant.  For more than 30 years, members have stayed informed about club events by reading the monthly newsletter, The Eyewitness, which is now available on line on this website.

To see a year by year history of the Red Eye Ski club, along with the lists of trips taken and the other activities of the club, going back to 1973, see our CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY page.

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Last Updated: June 17, 2008