Hop on the One World Outing Club bus and the good times will roll

It was, in fact, a blind date. A bus full of strangers and, for me at least, destination unknown. I toyed with the idea of asking the bus driver where we were bound.

I had failed to call for the last-minute phone message that reveals the location of the One World Outing Club's next expedition. I didn't want to seem overanxious.

The custodian of the message, Lance Young, is a serious environmentalist and director of the Outing Club, an outdoor party on skis and snowshoes that makes tracks anywhere from Snoqualmie Pass to Norway.

Young is a certified alpine and Nordic ski instructor and backcountry guide, and has been on the Ski Patrol at Ski Acres and done search-and-rescue work. He monitors snow conditions with a fine brush. He also keeps his cards close to his chest. "I just want to keep my options open," he says. When I called him a couple of days earlier, he would only commit to "south."

Apparently his system works, because "everybody else is out skiing in slush. We get the snow," said Louise Gupta, who shamelessly recruits any new face on the bus.

Still, Young says, "It blows my mind that people keep showing up, not knowing where they're going."

JOSHUA TRUJILLO / P-I

One World Outing Club director Lance Young demonstrates the proper way to get back on your skis after a tumble.

Young's reluctance to certify specific destinations belies the meticulous planning he does each week to make his Thursday, Saturday and Sunday outings safe and fun. His highly anticipated phone message, divulging the next day's venue, is only available the night before a trip.

His sorcery in determining the destination usually includes reports from the Northwest Avalanche Center and from a network of informants he's developed.

With us were two of Young's part-time employees, Ken Winkenweder and Jean Henderson, both able instructors and superb hosts. They lead trips when the club has more than one outing in a day. Henderson has published two popular bicycle guidebooks. Young's Outing Club also embraces a good number of refugees from The Mountaineers club, such as Dorothy Wendler, whose back surgeon prescribed cross-country skiing as continuing treatment.

Returning to the United States after learning cross-country skiing in Finland, Wendler didn't like the choice of being in a "baby group, skiing around a parking lot, or else skiing on black, ungroomed runs. And I wanted to take pictures and stop for lunch, but I didn't know if anybody else did."

The Outing Club offers remarkable freedom and flexibility, with three distinct routes, novice to advanced, each day and no requirement to ski or snowshoe in a swarm. Says Wendler, "If I can't go with Lance, I can't go."

JOSHUA TRUJILLO / P-I

Laughs come at no extra charge on club outings, as Rose Scrivo can attest. Three trips a week are offered in winter, including bus transportation.

Ann Tanner, a 25-year alum, likes the option of "mixing and matching, going back and forth between groups." You go at your own speed, there's no following the leader, so nobody's rushed or held back.

"He takes care of us, makes everything work, but doesn't hover," says Dysa Kafoury.

Young does keep track of his people. When someone doesn't return on schedule, he frequently sprints out to ski them in, while seeing to it that other members are comfortable. He had the group bused back to their hotel when a couple didn't return from a long loop at Loup Loup Ski Area near Twisp, but he made sure employees were at the trailhead when the couple staggered in.

"We go everywhere," says a beaming Wendler. "And Lance makes it work, no matter what. I've been to Yosemite, Mammoth, Grand Canyon, the Rockies and Sun Valley, and I still fit in 49 symphonies and 126 movies when I'm home. I do love to get back to all my guilty pleasures like hot baths and 'Desperate Housewives.' "

Young is constantly conjuring up new locales for the club's functions. Tanner, who turned her travel plans over to the Outing Club 24 years ago, thinks Young is able to inspire enthusiasm and trust in others because, "he sets up trips he wants to take, so he's excited, too."

The menu for this winter includes excursions into Garibaldi Park in British Columbia, Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness, Jackson Hole, Wyo., a ski traverse among the Scottish Lakes near Leavenworth, and, yes, there seem to be enough sign-ups for a two-week April event to soak up the ski trails and culture of Norway. That's in addition to his three weekly jaunts to places like White River, Tonga Ridge, the Skykomish Valley, Lake Easton and Suntop Mountain.

JOSHUA TRUJILLO / P-I

A skier glides through a Christmas-card setting during a recent One World Outing Club trip. Each outing includes routes that range from novice to advanced.

In summer, many of the same places become hike, bike, backpack, sea kayak or rafting destinations. Once in the mountains, Young's outings are strictly motor-free, low-impact and blissfully silent.

"There's an adrenaline and a serenity junky in me," he says.

As we drew near to Scenic, the last hamlet before Stevens Pass, each of us studied our provided trail map, breaking down avalanche ratings, steepness, difficulty and round-trip distances before signing in for a particular route. Young also goes over them orally and tells his flock, "Feel free to make claims like, 'Yeah, I did 4,000 vertical feet today,' and we'll back you up."

He explains, jokingly, that the sign-up sheet is necessary because "in case you're attacked by a grizzly bear, we know where your remains are so we can get them back to the family."

From Scenic, we fanned out to tackle our trails. A few beginners stayed behind for lessons. In the afternoon, a drop-in intermediate lesson is custom-built to those who show up. Not prone to straight answers, Young describes today's lesson as "back flips, front flips."

I planned to return early, not for the lesson, but to sample bus driver Vern Reeves' fabled snack and hot-drink kiosk.

My starting point, where the old Stevens Pass Highway crosses U.S. Route 2, had a strict and specific end point due to avalanche conditions. While Rachel Ben-Schmuel attached furlike "skins" to her skis to aid in climbing and to decelerate her descents, Susan Sheppard took off like a rocket. As I thrashed along behind her smooth, even strides, I managed to gasp a question about her impressive velocity.

JOSHUA TRUJILLO / P-I

A skier's gloves rest on ski poles during a cross country ski and snow shoe trip with the One World Outing Club near Stevens Pass.

"I start fast," she answered considerately, but apparently I missed the part where she slowed down. The snow had a crisp, quarter-inch shell over 8 inches of powder, and volunteering to break trail should have come with a free massage. But as we climbed up out of the rain and moved along the narrowing Tye River in small groups, with no great sense of urgency, I understood the benefits of the choices and the non-confining safety net offered by the Outing Club.

For Louise Gupta, the Outing Club was also cut-rate therapy. "If you go to a psychiatrist because you're depressed, it'll cost you 200 bucks. If you join us, it's $120 for five sessions. The psychiatrist will tell you to 'go do something nice for yourself.' Here you get five weeks of nice things for yourself."

Getting a ride to the mountains was the initial enticement for many Outing Club members. For Pat Murray it meant saving the life of his "baby," a 1964 1800 S Volvo, from trailhead vandals. Members come from as far away as Mount Vernon to avoid challenging the icy roads in the Cascades.

But as extravagant as a comfortable bus with its own bathroom may seem, Sally Little, another Outing Club longtimer, says, "Its not always luxurious, but I couldn't do it cheaper."

A $20 "donation" is rewarded with a membership to the non-profit Outing Club. A series of five trips, offered every other weekend for 10 weeks, is the benefit of a $120 contribution. That's bus, lesson, trail maps, ski or snowshoe options and hot chocolate. To sample the club for a day, the $20 membership and a $30 donation includes everything. Buses stop at locations in Seattle, Everett, Bellevue and Federal Way.

Handsome and charismatic, Young uses the public lands of Washington as a podium for promoting healthy outdoor activity and camaraderie, and for encouraging an appreciation and respect for the environment.

JOSHUA TRUJILLO / P-I

Outing Club participants, from left, Diane Groeschell, Marilyn Love and Ken Winkenweder get set to head out on a snow-covered road near Stevens Pass.

Though the club has been operating since 1980, it's taken some footwork to hold on to access for Young's recreational ventures. As a small business with one full-time employee and serving many elderly or mildly disabled members, the Outing Club has been applying for "Special Use Permits" since 1989.

That year marked the beginning of what Young considered his commercial activity on public land, and the permits have been denied regularly for an assortment of reasons, some appearing to contradict others. At one time Young was asked to fill out a 98-page application.

So the Outing Club has become a non-profit enterprise, existing on "donations," while the trips are free. The club also has a relationship with REI, involving itself in recreation events and film and lecture series for topics such as winter camping skills, snowshoeing and GPS navigation.

A few dozed on the bus ride home, but everyone sat up and listened when Vern Reeves whipped out his microphone, booted up his background CD and crooned velvety renditions of "You Do Something to Me" and "Walking the Floor Over You."

Henderson jigged a bit in the aisle.

This crowd was no stranger to fun.

Get out there

* General information, scheduled in-town events, day trips and adventure trips for One World Outing Club are available at outingclub.org. The site also has a photo gallery of selected past trips and links to weather and avalanche information, touring ideas and safety. You also can call Lance Young at 206-363-0859 to obtain donation amounts and application forms for all trips. Costs are $20 for membership, $30 for single day trip, $120 for series (five day trips) and $75 per day for overnight trips.

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