What’s Winter Carnival without a day at the slopes?
Ski Day 2012 has once again proven to be a highly successful Winter Carnival event, garnering more student involvement than any other event, and quelling students’ craving for bountiful fresh powder and a day devoted to skiing and riding.
Early Wednesday morning, hundreds of students from Plymouth State University climbed out of bed and headed to Cannon Mountain for a long anticipated day on the slopes.
Ski Day, a Student Senate sponsored event is held each year during Winter Carnival. Classes were canceled until 5:30 p.m. and students are encouraged to take the day and hit the slopes. Cannon was voted as the chosen mountain for the PSU Ski Package back in November, and provided free lift tickets to all PSU students for the day. Free transportation was also available from campus to the mountain and back for the first 100 students.
The buses left campus at 10:00 a.m., shuttling eager skiers and boarders to the mountain. Other early birds, not wanting to wait, arranged their own transportation with friends, leaving Cannon’s parking lot packed. For PSU students, the two big events today were the King of the Mountain race and the Slope Style competition.
The King of The Mountain event challenged skiers and riders to reach the bottom of the mountain while holding a plastic cup full of water. The person with the most water in their cup at the bottom took the title.
Slope Style, which was held in the terrain park and upper trails of the mountain, gave students a chance to showcase their tricks.
Student Body President Lexi Casale, who, for three years, has been the leading coordinator for Ski Day, organized both events. She wasn’t alone, though. Other members of Senate aided Casale in coordinating smaller tasks, including hiring Brett Messer to DJ the Slope Style competition and getting Oakley to donate their best snow goggles for the first place prize.
Registration for the Slope Style competition took place at Notchview Breeze, with Cannon employees working side by side with eager students making sure each event ran smoothly. Around 20 competitors registered for Slope Style 2012, marking the annual competition’s fifth successful year since the event evolved from Big Air in 2008.
Employees kept the snow machines running all week to ensure good powder for skilled student competitors and the park. The terrain park’s main attractions were two jumps, one being 45 feet and the other 55 feet, with a rail to start the competitors off.
The upper half of Cannon’s terrain park was used for the event, with practice times set from 1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. As the judges and Messer set things up, competitors practiced their routines on the lower jumps, rails and boxes. By 2:00 p.m. a large crowd had gathered to watch the Slope Style competition. Competitors awed the crowds and judges alike, performing flips and turns in the air over the judging booth; talents were spread out across the course.
The Slope Style event wrapped up at 3:00 p.m. Students spent the last hour making final runs and carving the last of the day’s fresh powder before returning to campus.