National Brotherhood of Skiers

The National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS) is a nonprofit focused on organizing and supporting African American skiers. The NBS comprises dozens of predominantly-black ski clubs in the United States.

The NBS was founded by Art Clay and Ben Finley after being introduced to each other by a mutual friend in 1972. The first NBS event was a summit of members of the 13 founding associated clubs in 1973, which became an annual event.^[1] That first summit, held at Aspen, is the first known organized gathering of black skiers.^[2]

The organization was chartered in 1974 and incorporated in 1975.^[3] It is a member of the National Ski Council Federation, an organization formed in 1999 and composed of the largest ski clubs (and groups of ski clubs) in the United States.^[2]

REI published a short film about the National Brotherhood of Skiers and its history in 2019, also focusing on the outreach its member clubs do to spread snowsports.^[4][2]

In 2020, co-founders Clay and Finley were set to be the first African Americans inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.^[5] It was initially planned for late March, but was postponed to December of the same year due to COVID-19.^[6] Members of NBS had twice previously submitted Clay and Finley to be inducted, both of which were unsuccessful.^[7]

The NBS had its first summit at Aspen in 1973 with 350 participants from 13 clubs.^[1][8] Before the summit, the Colorado National Guard was put on alert and remained on standby during the events.^[5][9]

The summits are held annually, usually lasting about a week, and the location changes from one year to the next.^[1]

In 1993, which was one of the largest summits the NBS organized, about 6,000 participants met at Vail Ski Resort in Colorado.^[2]

The 2020 summit, held at Sun Valley from February 27 to March 7, consisted of about 600 participants from 51 clubs.^[10][6] More than 100 of those participants, in the few weeks after the event, experienced symptoms of COVID-19.^[5][7] Four participants, as of late April 2020, died from the virus.^[7]

Both co-founders, Art Clay and Ben Finley, were among those who tested positive for COVID-19 after the event.^[5] Finley spent 3 days in the intensive care unit at UCLA Medical Center with the virus.^[7]

Sun Valley ski resort closed on March 15 due to COVID-19, following many other ski resorts in the United States.^[5]

Many clubs that are affiliated with the National Brotherhood of Skiers host local events with the goal of encouraging black people to become involved in skiing and snowboarding.^[2] Most affiliated clubs plan trips and events each season for their members.^[11]

The Boston Ski Party, an affiliated club, hosts multiple annual events including "YouthFest", which brings 140 children to a local ski mountain to introduce them to snowsports.^[2]

On an annual basis, the NBS awards multiple scholarships to young adults in skiing in snowboarding, many of whom compete nationally or internationally.^[2] Each year, the NBS runs a fundraiser for its Olympic Scholarship Fund with the goal of an African American skier or snowboarder competing in the Olympics.^[12]

Rather than joining directly, prospective participants in events are required to be a part of a local ski organization affiliated with the NBS.^[1]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, over 80 clubs were members of the NBS, and the 1993 summit saw 6,000 participants.^[2] After that period, which REI describes as the organization's heyday, membership and participation in summits and events began to decline.^[1] By 2019, club membership had declined to 53 with that year's summit's participation estimated at about 1,000.^[13][2] However, from the period of about 2014 to 2019 membership levels continuously hovered at around 3,500 people.^[2]

In terms of demographics, the NBS determined in 2016 that about half of members were over the age of 50.^[1]

• National Brotherhood of Skiers website