Snow life
For many people in the Portland area, the arrival of winter weather means just one thing: the start of ski/snowboard season.
This season, winter sports aficionados from around the area will grab their boards and skis and flock up to Mt. Hood to make tracks in snow, which they hope is plentiful throughout the winter months.
Portland State Snowboard Club is a perfect opportunity for PSU students to get access to their favorite snow-time activities.
The best way to join the club and sign up for trips to the mountain is to visit the PSU Snowboard Club’s webpage (snowboarding.groups.pdx.edu). The cost of becoming a member is $25.
“The PSU Snowboard Club allows you to go up every weekend and go on overnight trips,” said senior Max Oxman, one of the club’s coordinators. “That’s definitely getting your money’s worth.”
Max Oxman and senior Roger Bachelor are teaming up to run the club for the second consecutive year.
In addition to providing weekly rides up to Mt. Hood, the club has scheduled upcoming road trips to several other prominent destinations in the Northwest. On Jan. 5 the club is heading out for a three-day trip to Mt. Bachelor in Central Oregon. Later in the month, they will pay a visit to Whistler in British Columbia, Canada. That four-day excursion begins Jan. 18.
”We have to limit our trips, but Canada is our largest trip. Last year we brought four vans, and that’s like 40 people. That’s how large our overnight trips are,” Oxman said.
The club makes an effort to ensure the costs of such trips remain as low as possible. Most trips, which last three to four days and include approximately 10 to 30 club members, usually run less than $100 per person, including the costs for transportation and lodging.
The Snowboard Club is also an advantageous way to maximize the use one gets out of buying ski passes to Mt. Hood, which receives an average winter snowfall well over 400 inches and boasts the longest ski season in North America.
”We take up a 12-passenger van every weekend. Say you buy a season pass for $300, the club is a great way to get your $300 worth out of it,” Oxman said.
It doesn’t matter if you have snowboarded since birth or if you snowboard like a newborn, the club welcomes those of all skill levels. Skiers have also swelled the ranks of the club. The goal is just to get PSU students out on the slopes.
”You don’t have to be great, but if you’re progressing and enjoying it, then you are going to be going more,” Oxman said. “Everyone is open to join, but the people that take advantage of it and go on trips, those are the ones that are progressing.”
Many of the other clubs at Portland State engage in competitions. However, the Snowboard Club, at this point anyway, is more geared towards recreation. Still, if any snowboarders out there are seeking to compete, that is another function of the club. If members are seeking some competition, the club will arrange to send them to local events. Right now, though, the members hit the slopes for nothing more than a love of the snow and ripping down a mountain.
