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Passionate skiers gear up for new season |
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Thursday, 18 January 2007 |
by ASHLEY BENNERS
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
Among the most popular classes offered second semester, skiing and snowboarding top the list.
For some, the experience is only a novelty that after March will become no more than a memory but for others, winter sports shape their lifestyle.
For Carrie E. Clark, a senior geography major and president of the
Appalachian State University ski team, skiing opportunities were a
major factor in choosing a university.
“I’ve been skiing since I was in the third grade,” Clark said. “It is definitely one of the things that drew me up here.”
E. Stephen Daniel, a senior advertising major and member of the ski
team, also considered skiing opportunities before deciding on a school.
Daniel spent his first two years of undergraduate school at Lees-McCrae
College on a ski scholarship, but after the varsity program was
dropped, he still wanted to ski. He has participated in collegiate
racing for four years.
Now, Daniel is not only a member of the ski team, but he is an employee of Alpine Ski and a resident of Sugar Mountain.
“Appalachian State was less expensive than Lees-McCrae, and I had heard
that there was a great communications department here,” Daniel said.
“And obviously, I would still be able to ski at Appalachian.”
Clark and Daniel agree from their experience, there is definitely a culture that surrounds winter sports.
“There is absolutely a skiing/snowboarding culture out there,” Daniel
said. “When people are that passionate about a sport, how can there not
be?”
“When you see a ski bum, you know it right away,” Daniel said. “I have
friends who have Ph.D.s who are washing dishes because they just want
to ski.”
One of Daniel’s favorite aspects of a winter sport community is the
social networking. “Skiing and racing really bring students from all
over the state together,” Daniel said. “We meet kids from Duke and
[North Carolina] State that rarely get to train, so going to school in
the mountains of North Carolina is great.”
Despite the avid skiers and snowboarders found in the Appalachian
Mountains, the winter sport culture is much more prevalent in the
West.
“There is definitely a lot more ski culture out West,” Clark said. “The East really can’t compete.”
For Clark and Daniel, school comes first, but they try to plan their schedules around skiing as much as possible.
“Grades are more important, but for the time being, I try to be on the
slopes with my coach and teammates as often as I can,” Daniel said.
“We practice from one to four in the afternoon, so we try to plan
around that, but if you can’t, there’s really not much to do about it,”
Clark said.
Although weather conditions lately have not been fantastic for skiing,
Clark and Daniel feel well prepared for the first race of the season
this weekend at Bryce Mountain in Virginia.
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