Like most Portlanders, on one of the city’s infrequent clear winter days, you have probably looked around outside and noticed the cone shaped object just above the eastern horizon. It’s called Mt. Hood.
If you have ever thought that maybe, just maybe, you heard the mountain calling your name, or possibly pleading with you to put your busy college lifestyle on pause to instead go shred down its powder white slopes, the Snowboard Club is the right student group for you.
If you snowboard, or have ever thought about snowboarding, and have not yet joined Portland State University’s Snowboard Club, you are doing yourself a financial injustice.
The whole purpose behind the Snowboard Club is to make snowboarding easier for PSU students to afford or simply enjoy.
Members of the Snowboard Club are privileged with discounted lift tickets at Mt. Hood Meadows. Club members pay only $30 for Meadows lift tickets that are normally priced at $48. As well, members are invited to go on any of the club’s numerous weekend trips to some of the Northwest’s surrounding mountains.
In fact, the club just recently got back in town after a five-day trip to Sun Peaks, B.C. at the end of last month. The club will be taking at least four more road trips this season, the next of which is in January to Whistler, Canada.
Going on road trips with the Snowboarding club is a great way for PSU students to meet other people with similar interests. Currently the Snowboard Club has close to 60 members who are all at various stages in their development.
You don’t have to be an athletic wizard to join the club. The club’s president, Terry Campbell, has made arrangements for inexperienced boarders to take a few lessons from the instructors at Mt. Hood Meadows.
“We take anybody,” said Campbell. “We have everything from beginners to pros.”
Two of the pros in PSU’s club are Lukas and Jesse Huffman. The Huffman boys are brothers who are originally from Vermont and who are both sponsored to compete internationally. Among other big time brand named mountain equipment logos, Jesse is sponsored by Helly Hansen and recently premiered in this year’s Technine Team Video. In addition, Lukas was just featured in the November issue of Trans World Snowboarding Magazine.
It is neither difficult nor costly to join the Snowboard Club. All you have to do is log onto www.snowboarding.pdx.edu where you will find tons of pictures and all the information you need to get signed up.
It only costs $25 to become a member, and with all the discounts that come with the membership, the 25 bucks will prove to be a worthy investment. Along with discounts at Mt. Hood Meadows, the club also supports its members with biweekly transportation to the mountain as well as a 10 percent discount at Daddies Boardshop and Exit Real World.
Members of the club are dedicated to honing their skills as boarders as well as having fun on the mountain. In addition to the discounts and other membership perks, club members are encouraged to try their skills in Snowboard competitions, for which the entry fees are paid by the Snowboard Club.
All in all, joining the Snowboard Club is a great idea for anyone interested in learning the sport as well as anyone who already knows it. The club has monthly meetings in Smith Memorial Student Union’s Parkway North. The next one is at 6 p.m. December 18.