Well, I Was Wrong

If you have read our blog in the last few weeks you may remember that I made a bold prediction about the snowfall for the month of February. Well, I was wrong. Not only did my beloved February not pull through, but the ol’ reliable March snow showers also did not appear over the mountain ranges in the west. While the East Coast has been completely buried in snow this year, almost every mountain range across the Western United States currently sits below 50% of average water content due to the extremely low snowpack. In fact, many areas of the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain areas have seen record-low snowfall totals. So what did we do with our ski program, cancel it? Certainly not! We embraced what opportunities we did have and made the best out of a poor situation.

On a normal snow year with lots of powder days, our students generally do not stray from their tried and true ski or snowboard discipline. But when all we had to ride on all day were groomers, we encouraged the students to try the other way of sliding down the hill just for fun. Several of our students took us up on this and really enjoyed the new experience while a handful of them were more than impressive.

Another high point of this season was how skilled several of our students became at either snowboarding or skiing when they began the season at a beginner level or having never set foot on a ski hill before. We have a blast with all our students at the various ability levels, but this year was especially fun to watch the progression climb quickly and the excitement and enthusiasm match it.

As we head into spring we reluctantly put away our snow gear and excitedly get out our paddles, fishing rods, hiking shoes, tents, bikes…this part of the list can get quite long. 

Mike Bodrero, Adventure Learning Coordinator