View from the Top

    When we speak to many Gang members from around the country we hear a consistent theme:  Travel is fun; I cannot wait to leave for somewhere, whether to a neighboring state or to an exotic locale half way around the globe.  There is something freeing about getting away from it all!

    We wish to thank all of you again for participating in OTHGI trips this year. It has been a trying year for the travel industry, and we have not been excluded.  On the positive side, many Gang members have continued to meet old friends and make new ones while skiing, rafting, biking, or golfing across the United States and around the world.

    Yearly surveys have consistently demonstrated that our members desire first-class accommodations, the inclusion of most meals, top of the line guides, and facilitator trip hosts.  The pricing of our trips reflect these wishes as we realize that many of you could and sometimes do travel to the same location less expensively.  Our trips fill a niche that Gang members want. 

    We are very optimistic about next year’s schedule.  Skiing trips, to mention a few perennial favorites, will include Steamboat, Vail, Sun Valley, Sun Peaks, Aspen, Telluride, and Taos with daily lessons at the premier ski school in the country.  There will be skiing in Alaska, Utah, and Snowmass.  The annual ski safari to Europe will be to Morzine, France, with time to recharge batteries in Paris.

    The new season returns rafting in the Grand Canyon and a similar adventure in Costa Rica.  There will be biking in Salzburg and sailing and biking in Turkey.  Dennis Beasley will be leading his annual golfing trip and others are in the planning stages now.

    Friends, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is making positive noises that recovery is peeping over the horizon.  We know as much or as little about all of this as you do.  But we do know we love to travel.  Come ski, bike, hike, raft, and golf with us soon.

and Jeannie Barresi, Managing Director

     The economy is in the tank. Health costs are so out of control that many folks avoid seeing a physician when ill or filling a necessary prescription.  All
of us are looking for ways to cut any expense that may seem the slight bit frivolous.  Gym membership may be at the top of some of our lists.  Yet, a growing body of evidence suggests that keeping one’s gym membership is the right move.

    Recent information reported by the Centers for Disease Control reveals that inactive adults have higher medical costs than active adults, a cost which increases with age.  This is not surprising data for active Gang members.  In a landmark study by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, people who went to the gym at least twice a week had 41 percent fewer hospital admissions and spent 18 percent less in claims costs. From another perspective:  each dollar spent on wellness saves as much as five dollars on illness. 

    This is astonishing information.  As a result, insurance companies are offering reimbursements and incentives for gym memberships to their plan members.  Gym membership is an alternative to outdoor fitness opportunities. The gym milieu provides peer pressure to work out and a professional trainer to tailor an exercise or fitness program to your specific needs.  Exercise reduces stress, keeps our weight in the appropriate zone, helps us sleep better, enhances our mental performance - and now wellness saves us money.  Could there be any better incentive?  

OTHGI Member Avis Davis by Barry Lazarus

    There is no one who loves skiing more than Avis - and who has overcome more adversity to prove it.  Five years ago Avis slipped off a ladder at home in Wisconsin and broke his back.  Forced to wear a back brace for more than 9 months, he missed most of the next season.  Then he was unlucky a second time.  On December 13, 2006, Avis, while driving in western Kansas, made a steering correction to avoid a deer…”always a bad choice,” he lamented.  Avis was airlifted to Denver.

    After two weeks in the Trauma Unit the facts were known: nine broken bones, a concussion, a crushed chest, cardiac damage, injured nerves to the left arm, a torn rotator cuff, and “yards of bark” (skin) ripped off.  The recovery was long and arduous.  In a letter to many of his supporters nearly a year later, Avis thanked the hundreds of ski buddies, and instructors, friends and relatives who had sent cards, jokes, and flowers.  Avis has many fans in Colorado.  Finally relieved of his therapeutic gear, Avis was ready: “Joyce and I have our season ski passes and go to Colorado the morning after Thanksgiving (2007).  “I have never hit a deer while on skis.”

    Each Tuesday when we meet at Breckenridge, I always look for Avis.  There he is with a smile on his face and his skis pointed downhill.

Home                                   OTHGI’s Monthly Online Newsletter - March 2009 Edition

In this edition:

View from the Top

OTHGI Blog

Health &Travel Tips

Avis Davis
Crossed Skis

OTHGI Blog

C.C. asks OTHGI: 
In reference to the Tuesday ski day at Breckenridge and Thursday at Keystone both which leave to ski at 9 am:  Could the leave time change to 10 am?  C.C. says," The older I get the more difficulty I have sleeping, and the more difficulty I have sleeping results in me not being ready to ski early in the morning."

OTHGI responds: 
We will ask guide leaders at Keystone and Breck to follow the lead of A-Basin which has a late "pickup."  It should not be too difficult to have one guide return to a central location and place arriving members in their appropriate group.

Do you have OTHGI
Blog Questions?
Please send your questions or comments to
Barry and Fran Lazarus

at blazflaz@comcast.net

Travel Tips

LUGGAGE RESTRICTIONS/GUIDELINES

In this ever-changing economy many airlines have begun charging for checked luggage.  The fee varies by airline from $15 to $25. 

Southwest allows two checked bags at no charge.  Most airlines allow one carry-on bag plus one “personal item,” defined as a laptop bag, briefcase, small backpack, purse or other smaller bag such as a diaper bag for those precious grandbabies.

Both United and American allow one ski bag with poles and one boot bag in place of one checked bag.  Bicycles packed in durable, protective case, bag, or box vary in cost among domestic and foreign carriers.

   

Do not lock your checked luggage since TSA may check your bag at any time.  Theft has been reported from “unlocked” bags. 

Carry your valuables including cameras and cell phones with you.  Place ID tags both inside and outside luggage. Add a colorful ribbon on the handle of your luggage for quick and
easy identification.

Crossed Skis

OTHGI PAYS TRIBUTE

to those members that are
no longer with us:

Ann Pash

Florence Britton

Regina VanDuzee