Winter can be a pretty cold and boring time of year. People often feel trapped in their homes with nothing to do but wait for the whether to break. However, some people can’t seem to wait for the snow to fall. To some strapping yourself to some wood and hurling yourself down a hill sounds like a bad idea but not to Lakeviews Ski Club members!
Lakeview High Schools Ski Club ventures up to Peek ‘n Peak Ski resort in Clymer, New York every Wednesday for four weeks. This allows students to escape the difficulties of school and the bleakness of winter for a view hours every week which can help with academic performance during the week. The club is chaperoned by teachers Jeff Piper, Joshua Murphy, John Terbovich, and Dean Shanhower. Every year they put in a lot of work to make the club run smoothly and ensure the students have a great time. Kudos to them!
Compared to past years the conditions up north have been more than ideal for Skiing and Snowboarding.
Lakeview Ski Club member, Senior, and seasoned skier, Jake Langmeyer revealed, “The conditions this year have been much better than the previous 3. Peek ‘n Peak has gotten well over 100 inches of snow and it’s only mid January.”
Lakeview Ski Club member, Junior, and skier, Haiden Shardy explained, “The snow has been great this season with absolutely no shortage of it.”
Although the club visits the same resort every year things still frequently change. From the time the bus leaves to the way the resort operates the clubs and its members have to be change their plans.
Shardy stated, “The resort has a new ticket system where you have to go through a scanner to get on the lift.”
Lakeview Ski Club member, Sophomore, and skier, Max Wheeler revealed, “The pass scanners at every lift are slightly inconvenient but it isn’t too bad.”
These new scanners mean that if a member forgets their pass they won’t be able to ride any lifts and therefore won’t be able to ski or snowboard. The chaperones have been sure to keep reminding members the importance of bringing your pass and keeping it on your person.
On the slopes, there is a long ongoing argument about which is better: skiing or snowboarding. This feud is mostly for fun but it can certainly lead to some heated arguments.
Langmeyer concluded, “I ski and I think skiing is slightly better because it is easier to learn and you can also move on flat ground because of your poles. You also don’t have to strap in like boarders at the top of every run.”
Lakeview Ski Club member, Senior, and snowboarder, Griffin Oravec commented, “Skiing definitely has its perks but snowboarding takes the cake. On a snowboard it is far easier to move through thick powder and maintain good speed. Despite snowboarding being harder to learn I think it’s worth it.”
Even though the members are already halfway through their season they still have things to look forward to. Not all the runs at Peek ‘n Peak are open yet and the employees are hard at work getting all the runs ready to go.
Langmeyer added, “I’m looking forward for the terrain park to open.”
Peek ‘n Peak stunts its own terrain park featuring rails, boxes, balls, and jumps of all sizes. It takes a lot of snow to put it all together but once it’s open the park is full of people learning news tricks. Terrain parks can be dangerous but there’s something there for everyone no matter their skill level.
I wish the Ski Club fun and good conditions on the last two trips of their season!
