Nov. 26, 2012
Kyle Marino
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Despite the near summertime temperatures in Colorado Springs, wintertime is almost here.
Along with snow in the mountains, winter brings a host of recreational activities to enjoy both on and off campus.
One way to keep entertained this winter is with intramural sports. “This winter we have a really awesome lineup of intramural sports,” said Mallory Price, coordinator of intramural and club sports.
“Our IM basketball league should be bigger than ever,” she said. “This year we are adding a competitive and recreation league so that students of all skill levels can play against similar competition and have a lot of fun.”
Aside from intramurals, the Recreation Center’s Student Outdoor Leadership Expeditions Office (SOLE) also offers winter trips and an area for skiers and snowboarders to buff up their gear.
“Our normal offerings with regards to outdoor trips [include] ski and soak trips, snowshoeing, ice climbing [and] avalanche awareness workshops,” said Daniel Bowan, manager of outdoor, intramural and club sports.
“We also offer students the opportunity to use our outdoor center to wax their boards for free all winter long. We provide instruction and wax at no charge,” he said.
Bowan said that they will host Wednesday night wax parties, show ski movies in the outdoor center and stay open later for “waxing madness.”
If waxing madness isn’t really your thing, there are plenty of other activities and sports to explore on your own.
“In the winter, I love to go to the mountains and snowboard with my buddies,” said Sean Borah, a senior. “We usually go to either Keystone or A-Basin to shred the gnar.”
Jaclyn Nelson, a junior, enjoys the occasional snowball fight with her friends. “Winter activities of course means snowboarding for me, maybe with the occasional snowball fight,” she said.
So where can students go to ski or snowboard? “Within our reach are a plethora of world-class resorts,” said Bowan. Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Monarch ski resorts are all within driving distance.
“Another option is smaller resorts like Loveland Ski Area and Monarch Mountain,” Bowan said. “These smaller places often hold better snow and offer affordable single-day lift tickets without the crazy Front Range crowds.”
Whether you like playing winter sports at the Recreation Center, shredding the gnar somewhere up in the mountains, enjoying the occasional snowball fight with friends or just relaxing next to a warm fire, winter activities may be closer than you think.