With winter on the horizon, WA Ski Club is getting ready to hit the trails at Wachusett Mountain. Pretty soon, the peaks will be populated by skiers winding down the various slopes.
The club is run by sophomores Sophia Williams and Leo Koutsoukos and advised by Andrea Pickersgill and Maureen Casey. This will be Williams’ and Koutsoukos’ first year as co-presidents.
“When I first started advising Ski Club, we didn’t have presidents,” Pickersgill said. “I felt [having presidents was] an opportunity for student leadership. [When] we started to add that element of leadership, it’s been really great because to have a peer leader who can help with information, [run] the Instagram, do the freshman fair, and get students excited, we’ve had more participation.”
Ski Club meets every Tuesday with its meetings starting on January 9th from 2 PM-6:30 PM. As the club aims to be an outlet for casual skiers, they do not compete in ranked events, like Nordic or Alpine Ski. Pickersgill said the club is also open to students who want to snowboard in a more casual setting.
One concern that arises for this season is the snow and the winter’s weather.
“It is supposed to be a wetter season,” Williams said. “There might be some issues with ice causing trails to be closed if they can’t get snow made up [on the trails].”
The slushy ice on the trails could impact the quality of skiing this season. Despite this, the popularity of Ski Club has risen in the past few years, with over 50 new members signing up this year alone.
“Any skill level can join the club,” Koutsoukos said. “If you’re an experienced skier, you can have fun with your friends and ski around [Wachusett trails] but if you’re a beginner and you want to work on your skiing more, you can always get lessons as well.”
Wachusett Mountain adheres to all skill levels and offers a variety of trails ranging in difficulty. The only catch with accessibility for the club is the pricing, with total costs adding up to $359, with $180 going towards the bus passes and $179 for a Tuesday ski pass. Pickersgill stated that the club works to make pricing as accessible as possible and that financial aid is offered for students in need.
“Last year, we had enough people to pay for the buses without going into the [club’s] funds,” Koutsoukos said. “This year we need a few more people to join to be able to cover the bus passes without going into funds.”
Both co-presidents wish the club would meet more often. Although Koutsoukos recognized that this will increase pricing, Williams shared ideas of field trips and travelling outside of Wachusett for skiing.
“We have talked about it,” Pickersgill said. “We’ve tried to coordinate [a trip] but it’s very complicated to organize something out of state. None of us really have taken that initiative. It is an idea though that has been floated and something we might do in the future.”
