OUR MISSION

PATC/ STS is a non-profit, educational and recreational group of cross-country (XC) skiing enthusiasts. The Club provides quality services and benefits to its cross-country skiing members while promoting and supporting the PATC goals of preservation and respect for the natural areas in which we ski and hike; advocates for the accessibility of the trails; offers support and camaraderie to participants.

EVENTS

The biggest attraction is the annual November Ski Fair, held at PATC headquarters. Here you can meet trip leaders, find out detailed information about upcoming trips, sign-up for these trips, view slide shows of past trips, and listen to expert talks about equipment, training, and other aspects of Nordic skiing. We typically finish our season with our annual general membership and election meeting followed by a social with a pot luck dinner (Après Ski). In between those events are our trips, for which we start planning during the summer. In the fall there are trail work trips to some of the areas where we ski. This gives us an opportunity to help maintain the trails we use and have more knowledge of the terrain where we ski. There are other social activities that are organized by members of the Club during the year.

TRIPS

Trips will be offered during the winter months, usually late December through March. Some weekend trips will be to "local areas" in West Virginia. Western Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Some extended weekend "expedition" trips will be to upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, or Canadian locales in Quebec or Ontario. Longer "expedition" trips to the western part of the U.S. and further-flung Canadian or European destinations can be a week or so in duration. Our locations for trips are where ever the snow falls. There is at least one trip scheduled for every weekend during the months of late-December through mid-March. Many of the trips go to locations that have XC SKI TOURING CENTERS which offer lessons and equipment rental. Check with the trip leader. Please read “Trip Participant Guidelines” on our web site for more details and information about registering for a trip.

EDUCATION

STS sponsors XC SKI training events that benefit novices to advanced level skiers. There are one or more learn-to-ski weekends each season. There are also our Web Site, UPSLOPE newsletter, and STS web communication platform “groups.io”, all of which offer access to references and resources to help make your XC experience enjoyable.

NEWSLETTER

UPSLOPE is issued 4 or 6 times a year. It has a Calendar of Trips, reports on recent trips, minutes of Club meetings, helpful hints and tips, and other contributions from members. It is primarily distributed electronically, or by post.

GROUPS.IO

This is an automated subscription system or bulletin board for communicating information/announcements related to cross country skiing. If you have questions about equipment, locations for skiing, or just want to report on conditions where you've just skiied, this is a valuable resource for sharing information. It is also a good source for spontaneous ski trips. To subscribe to the groups.io, contact membership coordinator Doug Lesar at dlesar@comcast.net. When you receive groups.io confirmation, remember to put the groups.io email address in your address book. Visit our Groups.io page.

MEETUP

Our trip leaders and others including non-members post the latest trips and activities on Meetup including trip pictures. Often what is found on Meetup is not included on our web site. Joining Meetup is not required for viewing the public pages. All Meetup members may not be STS members. Meetup is not associated with STS. Visit our MeetUp page.

STS also has a Facebook Groups page.