Ski and Snowboard FAQs - Holy Name Hurricane Club

Where do we ski/snowboard?

We head to Mt. Holly every week. Mt. Holly is located at 13536 South Dixie Hwy. Holly, Michigan 48442. www.skimtholly.com (248) 634-8260.

When do they go?

We Ski & Board starting Friday January 10th, January 16th a Thursday (MLK weekend), Friday January 24th ,Friday January 31st, Friday February 7th, and Thursday February 13th ( Before mid winter break.)

Do you provide drinks & snacks for the bus?

NO! Please do not give your students food in the Holy Name parking lot prior to them boarding the bus. Food was allowed in previous ski club years, but this can be (and has been in certain instances) a major headache for our bus chaperones and bus drivers. For this reason, we would prefer that you give your students money to buy food at Mt Holly. For one, it teaches them how to be responsible with their money. Second, it encourages them to plan and eat with their friends at the hill. Lastly, it minimizes the mess on the bus at the end of the night.

They can eat when they get to Mt. Holly, but many head right to the hill and don’t eat until much later.

Give them water bottles for the return ride home. Many younger ones never drink enough during the night and can be dehydrated by the time they board the bus.

When do they get their lift ticket?

When they board the bus, a chaperone will hand them their armband. In it will be their ski club membership ID card with their name. If they are a returning skier, they will have their patches attached (the last one they earned last year- and all previous ones). The armband will also hold their lift ticket and a wicket. They are to put their lift ticket on their jacket before getting to Mt. Holly. For the younger and new skiers to the program, the bus chaperones will help them to put on their life tickets and wickets so that there aren't any accidents.

When they board the bus to return – they will turn their armband into the chaperones. Please let us know if your student comes home with the armband by mistake. (You will be charged to replace it if lost – see below).

When do the buses leave the Holy Name parking lot?

The buses pull out between 3:40 and 3:50. Due to traffic on I-75 and the evening lesson schedule, we do not wait for missing students.

Who is on what bus?

For 2025, we will again have 4 full motor coaches, one bus per grade, in order to better space the kids apart. There will be signs in the window indicating which bus is which. The students will board as their name is called.

If we fail to have the minimum number of parents for bus duty (2 required) we will switch to mandatory seating in order to cut down on the challenges with students.

What if my student can’t make it one week?

Please let us know! Don't be that person who just doesn't show up. It will help if we can plan ahead. Please email or call Clif or John (or use the handy TeamSnap app!). Please be aware that there are no refunds due to our fixed costs unless we are dealing with a Hurricane Club scheduling conflict.

What do they do with their stuff?

HN School students can bring their belongings to school in the morning and store their skis, boards, or bags in the locker room area. Mrs. Brzezinski has confirmed that ski club Fridays will be spirit dress down days. We love it when parent volunteers help with parking lot duty on ski club Fridays - it makes the line go so much faster!

The 5th – 8th-grade teachers will “hold” the ski club members in the school until the rest of the students are picked-up from the parking lot! They will have ample time to get changed and ready. They are to come out to the parking lot dressed and ready to board the bus. Many parents will meet their students in the parking lot and handoff equipment and snacks in exchange for their school backpacks at this point.

WE ASK THE SKI CLUB PARENTS TO ARRIVE NO EARLIER THAN 3:30! IF YOU ARE PICKING UP YOUNGER STUDENTS, PLEASE DO SO IN THE MOVING LINE THEN CIRCLE AROUND UNTIL THE PARKING LOT IS EMPTY.

Parents, please continue to be aware of the 3:25 dismissal for the rest of the students.

Many items get lost between the parking lot – the locker room – and back to the parking lot. Please encourage your student to label all of their belongings and double-check that they have all of their needed items before getting on the bus. 5th-grade parents, get in the habit of making your student pack their own bag for the outing – you should simply check to see that they have everything. This will encourage ownership of their STUFF! Most of the issues we have are because of lost mittens, poles, socks, etc…

About Cell Phones...

Great technology, but also a source of many problems in ski club. We typically deal with everything from inappropriate use, taking pictures and videos of students without permission, to playing inappropriate music and/or videos. Once on a bus, a surprising number of “good” kids lose common sense and fights break out over texting, social media, pictures, and videos trying to be taken. We handle it by taking the devices away for the duration of the bus ride.

Please discuss what the expectations are and consider a parental controls app to control the content on your child's device.

Here are some features and products that can help:

Apple Parental Controls: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304

Content & App Controls - Circle by Disney: https://meetcircle.com/circle-go/

Content & App Controls - Our Pact: https://ourpact.com

Social Media Monitoring - Bark: https://www.bark.us/signup?ref=ZWDCVJJ

Talk to your student about NOT CALLING HOME! It delays our ability to address a situation if they call you, and then you try and call us to tell us what they said, and then we have to find them. This also teaches them ownership of a situation and how to work through setbacks without you being there for them. It can be upsetting and stressful, but, in the long run, they will be stronger for the experience of working to solve their own problems.

Another top phone issue is them being lost on the hill, in the lodge, or on the bus. If you haven’t already, please make sure phones have the following:

Label - Name & Another Contact Number
Password Protect – The found phones are often used by others.
Location Services - Enable Find My iPhone, or similar feature for Android so you can look up its last known location once it is lost or has a dead battery. A very common occurrence...

Please include their cellphone number during registration. It makes it easier for the adults when trying to track down a student or when we find a phone.

It is a long day, a long bus ride, and a cold mountain. Cellphone batteries rarely last the whole day. A couple of suggestions.

Make sure it charges the night before.
Have them turn the phone off when they arrive at school.
Pack a charging cable and battery recharger for the bus.
Keep the phone in an inside pocket on the hill.

NO Bluetooth speakers are allowed at ski club - the buses all have music systems and we actually encourage our children to suggest playlist songs!

What is or isn't allowed on the bus.

It is a judgment call. Students must be able to manage what they bring on the bus (gear, bags, etc.) from their seats and clean up after themselves. Please do not have them pack food for the bus ride. Cell phones and tablets are fine, but it’s their responsibility to take care of their gear. If we find them doing anything inappropriate there will be immediate consequences.

Playing music, watching movies YouTube, etc. must be done with headphones.

Once again, NO SPEAKERS ALLOWED! Phones that are set to speaker mode at the loudest volume are also a significant distraction to the bus drivers - so please remind your children that this is also not allowed.

What do they do with their stuff once they reach the mountain?

Unless they are renting equipment, students are to leave their bags and belongings on the bus – anything they don’t need for the night of skiing - the bus will be safely locked; however, they will not have access to it until the return trip. Students are not allowed in the Mt Holly parking lot or on the busses until it’s time to return home. Please remind them of this, as it seems to take multiple reminders for it to sink in and we hate getting reports of students wandering around parked buses.

Students leave the bus “mountain ready.” Only students who are renting should bring their bags off the bus are to get a locker in the rental area for their boots/shoes. Renters who leave their shoes lying around frequently find them missing when it is time to leave. The lockers are available inside for 75 cents (quarters only).

Students should not leave ANYTHING in the lodge unattended or upstairs at the Holy Name adult tables. The adults are not there to keep track of bags. Unattended bags and shoes in the lodge tend to get moved around and become a missing crisis at the end of the night when the buses are ready to leave.

How can I be sure my student doesn’t lose anything?

Before you go, please be sure to label EVERYTHING before the first night! Lots of our students are in the Jr. fit programs so you can’t “sharpie” the equipment; just use some masking tape, a sharpie, and then cover with a layer of clear packing tape. All other ways tend to come off when wet. Poles are especially easy to lose. Helmets, goggles, gloves – label EVERYTHING!

While at Mt. Holly students should NEVER leave their equipment unattended, not even for a second. There is a free locker service that they can use for their skies or snowboard when they head into the lodge. Please use it to check equipment Snowboards especially tend to be easily walked off with! Talk to them about this and review with them their gear and where their name is labeled before they leave for the day. A surprising number of students will accidentally walk away from the bus because they don't actually know what their poles look like, or assume no one else has the same skis from the grow with me season rental programs.

Lost items happen on the chairlifts, inside the lodge, and on the bus at drop off. Talk to your student about NOT taking their cell phone out while on the chairlift and determine a good inside pocket to store the phone while on the mountain. Many are also shocked to find the cold will drain their battery before the night is over. When something is lost, they need to find a chaperone ASAP. The longer they wait the harder it is for us to assist.

If your student is being picked up by a spouse, grandparent, relative, friend, or classmates parent be sure to remind them to double-check the equipment they are loading into their car. This is when typically gear is swapped and reported lost.

Sure enough, my child lost something. What do I do?

The day after ski club we send an email out to all parents with a photo and itemized list of all our recovered items from the buses. The items will be dropped off at the Holy Name lost and found by Monday morning at the latest. If their missing item is not listed in the email than call Mt. Holly and inquire with their lost of found. Electronics are rarely recovered...

My child is renting equipment – how does this work?

Every week we have about 20-25 kids who rent equipment. They should have $30 for skiers or for snowboarders in a check made out to the Hurricane Club or exact dollar cash. Bus chaperones will not be making change. Helmets are available for $15.00 per night. We highly recommend all students ski in helmets.

On the way to Mt. Holly, the chaperones on the busses get the paperwork ready for these kids and collect the money. The students will walk right to the rental area to get fitted. We will have lots of chaperones helping this process – especially on the first night! It will help if they know their height and weight and shoe size and address. The kids can get a locker in this area. This group can easily make it to the 5:00 lesson, but if they get delayed, they can hit the 6:00 lesson! At the end of the night, the kids simply return their equipment to the rental area – this part goes really quickly and they should not worry about missing the bus! Again, our rental helpers can assist the children with their returns.

How much money do they need for the night?

A big part of the ski club is their time hanging in the lodge. The children need some cash for dinner and drinks. Somewhere between $20 and $30 should do it. For 2024, kids will not need to bring money for ski or snowboard rentals - our bus chaperones will be noting the kids that rent gear and then we will invoice you for the rental costs.

How much is the program?

For 2024, $370 or 6 nights (bus service, lift tickets, and lessons). That is just over $60 per night for a bus, lift ticket, ski lessons (3 per night), and 7 hrs of adult supervision. Ski club is the best winter deal in town! For a comparison, a Friday evening lift ticket at Mt. Holly for the 2024 season is $67 per person and individual rentals are another $44. Group lessons are $30 per lesson. That brings the total to $201 per night, and this doesn't even factor in the private buses that our kids get to ride.

We have season passes to Mt. Holly.

When registering, you can select just the club registration & bus dues $210. Your student MUST have their season pass on their jacket at all times. If their pass is missing, it is $30 to purchase a paper lift ticket for the evening.

Can friends or siblings come too?

Only current ski club members are allowed to ride the buses.

That said, friends and siblings are more than welcome to join us at Mt. Holly if... a parent is an onsite chaperone. It is common for families to drive up separately to join in the fun. We typically have extra group lesson passes available for younger siblings to begin earning their patches early. If a parent has volunteered to chaperone than we can provide discounted lift tickets for $30. As with last year's ski club, we will have an open TeamSnap registration so that your students can sign the liability waiver and so that you can pay via TeamSnap .

Does my skier or snowboarder need a helmet?

YES! we strongly suggest that all of our ski club members wear a helmet. 99.99% of our students do! You can rent a helmet for $15.00 per night. In order to do its job, it is critical for the helmet to be adjusted to fit their head. Between growth spurts and sibling hand me downs helmet fitting is always in a state of flux. Be sure to check that helmets are adjusted for a correct fit. If you are in the market for a new helmet look for a MIPS designed ski or snowboard helmet.

Do snowboarders need wrist guards?

YES! The most recent study on snowboard injuries by the US Ski Patrol found that of those injured while snowboarding wrist guard use reduced the risk of hand, wrist, or forearm injury by 85%. The upper extremity, particularly the wrist and forearm, is one of the most frequently injured body regions in snowboarders. These injuries can be severe, often resulting in fractures requiring surgical intervention.

My kid lost his armband – why am I charged $30 to replace it?

The armband contains their Mt. Holly Ski Club membership ID. Holy Name Hurricane Club needs to purchase and reprint their ID – we are simply passing this fee on to you. Also, the armband holds all of their earned lesson patches. We are charged $3 per patch to replace.

While it's a sore point with the other clubs at Mt Holly, Holy Name is the only club that is not required to sew patches onto jackets. However, if too many students lose patches (Especially White & Black) we risk getting this privilege revoked. The lost badges often turn up and are returned to us either that night or the next week when we return so this doesn’t happen often. If your skier loses their armband while skiing they should find a chaperone for a temporary replacement immediately.

As a means to encourage responsibility, if a student loses their armband for a 2nd time in a season they will need to retake a lesson.

What about the weather?

Sometimes it is just too cold, or we get rain or high temps and need to cancel. We will make every attempt to cancel on the Thursday before our planned trip and notify Ski Club via email. In rare instances, we will cancel the day of. In this situation, the students will be informed by an announcement and you will be informed by email and text as well as the new school phone notification system. Please don't bombard us with text messages asking if we are "really going out tonight". If the emails haven't gone out, then yes - it is Michigan and we will make the most of the evening. We do not offer weather refunds due to our bus and ticket costs. THIS IS WHY IT IS CRITICAL THAT YOU REGISTER WITH CORRECT CONTACT INFORMATION.

I signed up to chaperone, what should I do?

Thanks for signing up! We really need your help! You will receive an email early in the week confirming your commitment. If you plan to ski, we do get a limited number of free ski passes each session. If you do not plan to ski we will need you to cover in the lodge or buses. Holy Name will save a few tables in the restaurant for our parent group. We will also confirm if you plan to drive or ride the bus. One of the best things about ski club is the parents have as much fun on and off the hill as the kids. These are some things that you can help with:

Chaperone on the bus
Help with our kids boarding the buses
Be the designated driver(s) at the mountain in case of emergency
Assist in the rental area upon arrival and at end of the night
Assist in the ski school area (patch delivery) at 6:00, 7:00, and 8:00 pm
Walk the lodge to check for issues with students
Man the tables in the restaurant
Ski and assist on the mountain
Assist Mt. Holly ski patrol with any medical issues
Assist with boarding buses to depart Mt. Holly

For those bus volunteers thank you! You get a free lift ticket for the evening. We need a minimum of 6 each week so that there is never less than 2 per bus. Also, when you volunteer for bus duty, please let us know if you want to be on the same bus as your student. The majority prefer not to, but it’s your choice. Note that all volunteers will need have taken Protecting God's Children.

Tell me more about the Student Ski Program because I don’t get it!

Our students participate in the Mt. Holly Student Program. They must have a student membership ID card (this is in their armband that they get when they board the bus). This lets them ride the bus with their friends and ski at the discounted rate. The program fee includes a few lessons each night. The lessons last about 50 minutes and start on the hour at 5pm, 6pm, and 7pm. It’s a longstanding Hurricane Club tradition for the winter season and it’s not uncommon to have parent volunteers who were once student skiers.

My child doesn’t want to take the lessons. What should I say?

Not an option for discussion. First of all, they are paid for as part of your fee. Secondly, they need to take the lessons in order to receive their patches and proceed through the patch color levels. The color of their patch will enable them to ski more of the mountain. Other than on the beginner rope tow – they need a patch to board the lifts. Thirdly, students will improve their skills and confidence while having fun on the slopes. Tell them to start with a lesson each night based on what they believe is their skill level…then they can have the rest of the night on their own. Or if they want to ski, eat and hang out first…advise them to take a later lesson when they are far less crowded! Lastly, many believe flying straight down a mountain is proof of ability, and this leads to more injuries when they try to follow their friends on advanced slopes.

All 5th graders and all new skiers will need to start with a lesson. Any students without an earned patch by the 2nd week will be escorted to the 1st lesson of the night.

Talk to your student about the lesson program. It is very common for them to be nervous either to be learning for the first time, not being as good as their friends or sometimes overconfident in their abilities.

On the topic of abilities. Sometimes we hear from parents that are surprised that their child who has skied out West or regularly skis up North failed their first lesson. The majority of the time that is due to the kids being in a group lesson with their friends and not focused on the instructor's instructions. The other common reason is that they aimed too high from their ability (skills and technique) and either need to repeat the lesson or drop-down one and work their way up.

Why do the patches matter?

At the bottom of each chairlift, there are signs designating the patch necessary to board the lift. It is the responsibility of the student to make certain they are on the appropriate hill and riding the correct lift. Last year they really did enforce this. The ski school, ski patrol, and lift operators all police the hills in order to make certain students are on the hills corresponding to their patches and ability level. You will not be able to board the lift without the correct patch. Students were told to walk to another lift if they did not have the correct patch. In general, the access to the lifts gets more difficult as you move to the left along the mountain (while looking at the hill).

More importantly, any injuries that have happened during ski club have been due to students that went onto Black level areas (Moguls & Terrain Park) without earning their appropriate patches.

What order do the patches go in?

Ski: Snowboard:

GREEN - Rope Tow and Magic Carpet Area GREEN - Rope Tow and Magic Carpet Area

YELLOW - Yellow Chair #1 YELLOW - Chairs 1-4 (Including High-Speed Quad)

BROWN - Chairs 1-4 (Including High-Speed Quad) BROWN - Chair 5 (Mozart Run)

BLUE - Chair 5 (Mozart Run) BLACK - Chair 7 & Terrain Park

RED - Chair 6 (White Lightning Run) ORANGE - Optional Terrain Park Safety Patch

WHITE - Chair 7 & Terrain Park

BLACK - Chair 7 & Terrain Park

ORANGE - Optional Terrain Park Safety Patch

READ THIS FOR DETAILS EACH LESSON LEVEL

Ok so how does it work?

Lessons run at 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00. The students gather just outside the lodge at the base of the mountain. The students should stand in line at the flag corresponding to the color patch they are trying to earn. If their friends are at the same level they can stand together to ensure a lesson together. SEE THIS LINK FOR DETAILS…

At the end of their lesson if they have earned the next patch they are to bring the color card that they are given from the instructor to the Holy Name Chaperones standing outside the ski school doors to receive their new patch. It is surprising how many lose this paper card in the 50ft between the instructor and the chaperones...

The instructor may direct them to the ski school desk and told them to buy their patch. This is incorrect since Holy Name has a special arrangement with Mt. Holly to distribute our own patches.

It is not uncommon for students to have to repeat a lesson but understandably it can be upsetting. If they feel that it was earned they need to 1. Know who their instructor is. 2 Quickly find the patch chaperone. We can talk to the instructor and see if an additional run is a necessary or other mediation. Talk to your student about NOT CALLING HOME! It delays our ability to address the situation if they call you, and then you try and call us, and then we have to find them, and then find the instructor who has moved on to their next lesson group. This also teaches them ownership of the situation and how to work through setbacks without you being there for them. It can be upsetting, stressful, but in the long run, they will be stronger for the experience of working to solve their own problem.

As a parent, can I take lessons on ski club nights?

Of course! Parents that are interested to take lessons during ski club may take lessons. As skiing is a life sport that can be enjoyed by all members of a family, lessons are definitely encouraged. Please reach out to us if you are interested in taking a lesson and we can work with the Mt. Holly ski school to get you in to the right lesson.

My student will go home with me or another parent and will not ride the bus home – what should I do?

We need to know ahead of time that this is the plan!

We also need you or the parent who will take the skier home to come into the lodge restaurant and sign the bus sheet indicating that you are there to take your child. Even if we know that this is the plan we need to know that the handoff actually happened – we have had trouble with this in the past so please cooperate by coming inside to sign the sign-out sheet and speak to a co-chairperson or chaperone.

It becomes very stressful for our group when someone is missing on the hill.

What happens if they have an injury?

Unfortunately, it can and does on occasion happen. The good news is that members of the National Ski Patrol are all certified EMTs and it’s not uncommon to find volunteer doctors also on shift.

The standard process is as follows:

Student Approaches a Chaperone:

Typically for superficial issues, we will make an assessment of the situation and either has them call home, stay in the lodge with us, or take them down to Ski Patrol for further treatment.

On Hill Injury:

Mt. Holly notifies us that “A representative of Holy Name Ski Club is needed at the Ski Patrol building” With that, we immediately meet the Ski Patrol in preparation for the arrival of the injured student. An HN volunteer will stay with them the entire time and provide your contact information so that Ski Patrol and your child can speak with you. This is why it is critical for you to provide us with phone numbers that are reachable! From there either the student will be well enough to return home on the bus, be driven back with one of our chaperone drivers, or will be accompanied by a chaperone and transported by ambulance to a hospital.

Please never put your child and us in the position of not being able to reach you because the emergency contact info was wrong or phones were set to silent mode.

How are discipline issues handled?

The Church, School, and CYO expect all students to adhere to the HN Student Code of Conduct at all times during the program just as if they were at any Hurricane Club or school activity. This applies for parishioners that are not enrolled at Holy Name School as well. The reality is that they are kids and, for many, this is the first time they are being given this much independence with a group of their peers away from home. Please take some time to review with them the expectations for behavior and the fact that there will be consequences. Parents are always caught by surprise when we have to have talk at the end of the night.

Mt Holly expects Holy Name to self-monitor and enforce a club behavior. Past issues that have occurred include: disrespectful behavior on the slopes or in the lodge, failing to return to the buses on time, failing to clean up after themselves on the bus, jumping around and causing safety issues on the bus, inappropriate use of phones, teasing, fighting. Everything that you can expect from a group this age out on a ski hill, without their parents...

We do our best to maintain a balance of fun, safety, and responsibility with the students. Similar to a coaches’ responsibility in CYO sports, disciplinary actions are at the discretion of the chaperones and ski club managers. Please support us in understanding that the adults are the ones onsite volunteering and, when an issue arises, we have to address. We may enforce assigned seating on other buses, time out in the lodge, or notification to parents. Serious infractions may result in mandatory parent bus participation, suspension, or dismissal from ski club (without refund).

If we feel that the actions warrant additional escalations, then the Hurricane Club Committee & School will be notified.

When can I expect the bus to return?

The students are to be on the buses at 9:00pm. We have the buses pull around to the lodge at 8:45 and do not let them, board, until the adults are there for check-in. It takes a while to check them all in and sometimes we have to deal with a student or two who are still on the hill.

The buses will pull into the Holy Name parking lot at approximately 9:30-10:00pm. Many students will make cell phone calls to alert you prior to arrival. Do not wait for a call from your child – we will be there by 9:30pm at the earliest so please don’t be late. We get that childfree is a great time to grab dinner and drinks, but by 9:30pm the kids are cold and tired, as are the chaperones. Two strikes and then you are required to join us as a bus chaperone if you wish your student to continue to participate.

Drop off is also a scene of chaos, everyone is wet, tired, and it is dark. We expect the students to clean up their bus before we open the storage for their equipment. Their chaperones may hold them back to finish the cleanup. This is also when students tend to start grabbing gear in the dim light without making sure it is their equipment. Please review their gear before you drive away.

Drop off is also where we will address any disciplinary issues that may have occurred during the evening. If your student has been told by a chaperone not to leave the parking lot without a parent/chaperone meeting then additional disciplinary actions will be taken.

Lastly, no taxi, limo, Uber, or Lift pickups for students. No, it hasn't happened! But we want to make sure it doesn't have to be addressed.