Clay’s passion for skiing shows no sign of fading.
Crystal Mountain
YES, YOU CAN SKI NEAR CHICAGO Alpine Valley Resort
A favorite among Midwesterners, Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley has the perfect mix of beginner and advanced hills, as well as other resort perks like cool lodging with live music on the weekends. And the best part? It’s only an hour and a half drive from Chicago. W2501 County Rd D, Elkhorn, WI (262-642-7374,
alpinevalleyresort.com)
Chestnut Mountain Resort
With views of the Mississippi River and indoor amenities like a pool, sauna and game room, this resort is a great option just three and a half hours from Chicago. It covers seven acres, with slopes ranging from beginner to black diamond, and has plenty of snow to keep you active all day. 8700 W Chestnut Rd, Galena, IL (800-798- 0098,
chestnutmtn.com)
n his late seventies, Chicago native Art Clay is still hitting America’s top ski resorts. He may not be zipping down double black diamonds anymore, but his passion for skiing shows no signs of melting away.
Follow a ski pioneer I
Meet the man who brought a generation of black skiers to America’s slopes. By Cynthia Cook
Clay grew up on the South Side, and winters in the Chicago flatlands as an 8-year-old meant grabbing a sled and searching high and low for hills in local spots like Washington Park. It wasn’t until his late twenties that he and his friends heard about sport and activity clubs on the radio. The prospect of a local ski club filled with “cutie pies” piqued their interests, and they decided to try something new. While the ski club was a great place to meet women, Clay also fell in love with the sport. Once he was elected trip chairman of the Sno-Gophers Ski Club in Chicago, he started skiing every weekend from Thanksgiving to Easter. It was in those early years that Clay met his good friend Ben Finley, and the two quickly noticed that the slopes they frequented were visited mostly by white people. “We would go up in Northern Michigan and Wisconsin skiing, and [back] then, to see a black person on a hill was a rarity,” he says. “If we would go to a [ski hill] and see another black person, they would become a part of our group.”
When Clay was in his thirties, he and Finley decided to form the National Brotherhood of Skiers, an organization with the goal of promoting skiing among African-Americans. The pair also created the Black Ski Summit, an annual event welcoming black skiers from across the nation to the slopes of Ajax Mountain, in Aspen, Colorado.
To this day, the NBS—with a membership of about 3,000 skiers—continues its mission to introduce African -Americans to winter sports while finding and funding young black athletes who show potential. Jahi Rohrer, for example, trained at Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont in the late ’90s on an NBS scholarship and competed in the U.S. National Championships. “We’ve gotten some very good skiers out of this group. Hopefully one day we’ll be representing the United States at the Olympics,” says Clay. Clay has skied all over the world, but he has favorite hills in our region, like Alpine Valley Resort and Wilmot Mountain Ski Resort—both in Wisconsin and less than two hours from Chicago by car. Spend some time on these slopes and you may become hooked, just like Clay did. “I’m not as aggressive a skier anymore,” says Clay. “[But] I find it easier to ski than to walk.”
Crystal Mountain
Although farther away than other areas (about a five-hour drive from Chicago), Crystal Mountain has terrific terrain, with ski and snowboard slopes, a snow-sports school and NASTAR racing. Unwind after a day on the hills in the huge hot tub, or book some time at the spa. 12500 Crystal Mountain Dr, Thompsonville, MI (855-995-5146,
crystalmountain.com)
Wilmot Mountain Ski Resort This resort is just an hour and 15 minutes from Chicago and offers runs for skiers of all skill levels as well as a tubing hill with side-by-side tracks, so you can race as a group. Stay nearby at the cozy Grand Geneva Resort and Spa for quick access to the lake and relaxing amenities like a sauna. 11931 Fox River Rd, Wilmot, WI (262-862-2301,
wilmotmountain.com)
Chestnut Mountain December 2015–February 2016
TIMEOUT.COM/CHICAGO 23
PHOTOGRAPHS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP): SONYA DOCTORIAN: BRIAN CONFER; COURTESY CHESTNUT MOUNTAIN RESORT
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76