Ski and Ride Club has been present on campus for over a decade, but with new leadership, they hope to build their community by including outdoor activities not limited to the winter season. Beginning this December, Ski and Ride Club will host their annual six trips to regional ski slopes and resorts, with a few other activities scattered throughout the year.
Third year mechanical engineering and aerospace double major and Ski and Ride Club president Kimberly Jones explains the mission of the club.
“Members of the ski and ride club are fervent believers that the outdoors can truly change someone’s lives for the better. With that, we want to build a community that values people and memorable experiences in the outdoors,” Jones said.
Ski and Ride Club is partnering with the newly instituted Mountain Lion Ride Club and will split the costs of the events with them.
The partnership could prove invaluable with Ski and Ride Club’s annual trips coming soon, as well as their beginners’ clinics planned for this semester. Included in their mission to expand the community, Jones hopes to have more events with a greater diversity of activities planned.
According to Jones, the club is expanding upon their annual six-day trips, with one occurring on a Sunday and the remaining five on Saturdays. One of the six trips was moved to the fall semester on Dec. 2 in order to accommodate members’ schedules. The club’s beginner’s clinic is planned for Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. in Rec Center.
“We’re trying to bring in our beginners this year. Teach them the basics, help them feel welcome within our community that we’re already strongly building,” Jones said.
Included on the roster is an overnight trip to Crested Butte in the spring semester, for which the Ski and Ride Club will partner with the Sole Center. With these events and partnerships, the club’s leadership is experiencing “lots of growth this year,” Jones said.
According to Mountain Lion Connect, the Ski and Ride Club has 209 members in the club. According to Jones, about 30-35 of those members have attended club events this semester.
“On average we have about 30 people that have participated. Our ski trips last year we had about 15-20 people go, but we’re making improvements to increase that number this semester,” Jones said.
While skiing and snowboarding are staples in Colorado recreational life, the gear just to participate in the activity is quite expensive. Ski and Ride Club has made it their mission to help guide students in acquiring skiing or snowboarding gear so they can participate.
“We do recommend the Sole Center for rentals. [The Sole Center] defines a weekend from Thursday at 5 p.m. to Monday at 5 p.m. so you’re getting more than just Saturday and Sunday. That’s one thing that we encourage students to do especially if they don’t want to buy the gear and just want to try it or they just don’t have their own gear and it’s obviously really hard to store living in a dorm on campus,” Jones said.
Ski and Ride Club also offers clothing including snow pants and goggles that anyone can borrow when going on these day trips.
In citing some discounts and options to help with the cost of skiing and snowboarding, Jones acknowledged that everyone is going to have a different approach to starting or continuing their snow bound activities.
“There’s definitely a lot of options, it just depends on what situation the student is in, but we’re more than happy to work with them and get them the gear that they need.” Jones said.
Students are responsible for purchasing their passes, and Ski and Ride club recommends purchasing passes through Epic Pass because of special discounts. According to Jones, Mountain Lion Ride Club focuses on trips using the Ikon passes due to a lack of resources to have trips using both passes.
“[Mountain Lion Ride club] focusing more on the Ikon side of Ski and Ride Club simply because we didn’t have the resources to be able to offer both Epic and Ikon trips,” Jones said.
Jones later clarified via email that the club “recommends the EPIC Summit Value College Pass, because it is the cheapest pass they offer and covers Breck & Keystone exactly.”
Transportation for the day trips costs $20 dollars per spot to cover the cost for a UCCS bus rental. According to Jones, the transportation costs paid for by the members also cover the cost of a snack for the trip.
Jones hopes that the club can attract anyone interested in the outdoors whether or not they have the resources to do so.
“If you’re looking to just be interested in skiing or snowboarding or going into the outdoors that this is a really great place to do that with a lot of great people that would love to get to know you,” Jones said.
Students who would like to join Ski and Ride Club and/or Mountain Lion Ride club can go to their MLC page or their Instagram @UCCS.skiandride.
Photo from unsplash.com.