While some students may have taken their long semester break to decompress and catch up on television shows, others were out hitting the slopes at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado.
Over MLK weekend, 45 students and six chaperones traveled with the club for a weekend of skiing and relaxing. The ski trip has been a tradition for the club for over 20 years, with Breckenridge as the destination for the past 13 years.
“It was amazing,” said junior Louie Gold. “It was actually my first time skiing ever. The teachers out there were great—Ms. Mornini, Mr. Shipley and Mr. Kuhn. It was a lot of fun. Colorado’s beautiful.”
Each day, the students and teachers would get up fairly early and spend the day on the slopes. Skiing abilities ranged from new skiers, such as Gold, to people who were comfortable on the most difficult slopes.
“Skill level didn’t matter because everyone just enjoyed each other’s company,” said sophomore Carolyn Hoover. “If you wanted to do something challenging [on your own] you could, but if you wanted to stick together you could.”
After a few hours on the mountain, the students would return to the condos where they were staying to take a quick break before heading out again to explore the nearby town and eat dinner.
Opportunities to explore a new city and and live with friends for several days provided students with a learning experience in freedom and cooperation, according to math teacher James Kuhn.
“It’s a give and take. You have to learn how to survive with other people and how to get by yourself,” Kuhn said. “Someone might be making you mad, but you have to learn to get along with them because you’re with them for five days.”
Students weren’t the only ones to have fun and get out the stress from exams. History teacher Kirk Shipley also said he had a great time.
“At the very top of the mountain, you can climb up to ski down, and I hadn’t done that at Breckenridge before,” Shipley said. “Standing on top of the mountain where it’s windy and you feel like you’re going to get knocked off the face of the earth, it’s pretty cool.”
Click for a video of the mountain!
