Carving up the Slopes: Hillsdale’s Annual Ski Trip
Written by Chelsey Schmid
Early on a Saturday morning, just over one hundred adventurous Hillsdale students clambered onto two buses, heavily bundled against the cold and ready to spend the day flying down the slopes.
Hillsdale College’s annual ski trip, planned and executed by Campus Health and Rec, provides students with the opportunity to lay aside the rigors of academia and spend a day in the great outdoors. This year, students traveled about two hours by charter bus to the Bittersweet Ski Resort, where they dispersed for skiing, snowboarding, and periodic breaks to warm themselves in the lodge. The trip was largely funded by Hillsdale’s Student Activities Board, and the entire day of skiing, plus transportation and equipment rental, cost each student only $30.
The day was cold but beautiful, and the slopes were fun without being intimidating, according to senior Jessica Youngstrom, one of the trip’s organizers. At 300 vertical feet, the hill is “definitely good for people who’ve never done skiing before,” Youngstrom said.
She explained that attracting beginners is a crucial component of the Campus Health and Rec mission, as the organization encourages students to have new experiences and develop new skills, “whether it’s CrossFit or skiing.” The organization recognizes the balance that successful students must achieve between rigorous study and physical wellbeing and seeks to provide students with fun, exciting, and revitalizing activities.
The trip also provided students with the opportunity to meet new people and to bond over their shared interests.
“My favorite part of any ski trip is always the fellowship that comes with the activity and being outdoors,” said junior Annie Teigen. “Talks on the ski lifts and card games in the lodge made for some great socialization.”
Student participation in the ski trip is increasing, a trend that Youngstrom finds “hugely encouraging.” Plans are already in the works for next year’s ski trip to Alpine Valley, just northwest of Detroit. If the trip is anything like this year’s, students will return to their buses at the end of the day feeling tired and chilled, but wonderfully satisfied.
Chelsey Schmid is a junior studying History and German at Hillsdale College. She holds positions in several organizations, including Copy Editor of the Hillsdale Forum Magazine and Social Chair of the German Honorary. Chelsey also volunteers at a local historic home, works as a lifeguard, and dances swing and ballroom.