Waking up early is never easy, especially for a night owl like me. Between late night homework and practice at 7:45 a.m., the morning struggle is ever-present. However, my experience with one of Fordham’s most under-the-radar clubs managed to get even me out of bed before the crack of dawn.
Recently, I had the opportunity to take a day trip with the Fordham Ski and Snowboard Club to Hunter Mountain in upstate New York, about a two and a half hour drive from campus. We met at the McGinley Center at 6 a.m., endured the long bus ride and arrived at the mountain with the entire day ahead of us. Upon our first sight of the Catskills, covered in snow and glistening in the sun, I knew waking up early was well worth it.
Throughout the course of the day, students had the opportunity to navigate three sections of the mountain. The first section had easy and moderate trails, which grew in intensity, steepness and speed by the third section. In addition to the large number of regular trails, the mountain had an Olympic-style race course and two terrain parks with jumps and rails of all sizes. I was coerced into trying these obstacles, against my better judgment. By some miracle, I managed to land a rail and a jump on skis, but only after taking several hilarious tumbles into the snow.
On our last trip down the mountain, I was able to stop at the peak of one of the trails to admire the landscape. It had just started to snow minutes before, and the scene was picturesque. The day ended on a high note, as I skied down the mountain with this view before me.
It is interesting that before attending the trip to Hunter, I had not even heard of the Fordham Ski and Snowboard Club, let alone considered going on one of its trips.
Students who are both members and nonmembers of the club have access to the trips, and are able to simply pay the discounted lift, rental and transportation fees to confirm their spot for the day. The club does between four and six trips throughout the winter season to different mountains in New York, Vermont, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Despite the extension of an invitation to the entire community, a majority of the students who attended the outing are already part of the Ski and Snowboard Club. The group that went to Hunter was sizable, yet when I mentioned to others that I attended the ski trip, the majority of them were unaware that a club of this nature existed. Now that I know how the trips are run and that the experience is worth splurging on, I would encourage anyone to attend the remaining trips. And when I say “splurge,” it is a relative term, because in comparison to the actual prices of trips like this, Fordham gets a great discount. I hope more people learn about the trips and decide to participate, because the club truly does a great job organizing it, and the experience is worthwhile.
That being said, the next time you want to sleep in on a Saturday, check your calendar, grab your skis and rethink your morning plans.
Tara Cangialosi is the Web Editor for The Fordham Ram. You can follow her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/taracangialosi
