Here at Weber State University, we are blessed with a couple things that people seem to oftentimes overlook. First, we live in one of the most incredible mountain towns in the country. Our Wasatch Front is home to world-renowned ski and snowboard resorts, and we get to live at its foot. This brings me to my second point: We have clubs full of people getting together to share a common interest. Among these clubs is the Snowboarding Club, which is essentially a combination of two already great things about being a Wildcat: snowboarding and the people who love doing it.
Chase Burch, the president of the WSU Snowboarding Club, has been snowboarding for 12 years.
“I started snowboarding because, (in) the town I grew up in, there wasn’t much to do,” he said. “It was either you partied or you snowboarded, so that was one of my options, and I chose to snowboard.”
Burch was brought to Ogden through a promotion within the company he worked for and began attending WSU. Eventually, he joined the Snowboarding Club.
I see the Snowboarding Club as an opportunity to get to know your local area and the people who enjoy it. If you haven’t ever tried a cup of hot chocolate after a few cold runs down the mountain, you’re missing out. With a club full of locals, you’ll learn all the ins and outs of every run you enjoy.
“Anybody from the student body can sign up. You just pay a fee to get into the club, and then you can participate in all the activities,” Burch said. “In the past, the Snowboard Club has been really focused on competitions. I think the general majority of people who snowboard don’t want to snowboard like that. They want to snowboard because it’s fun and they want to go hang out with their friends and enjoy it that way, so we’re really trying to focus on that aspect of it.”
I have several female friends who snowboard but aren’t always interested in spending a whole day on the mountains with the guys. Burch mentioned that this year, Paislee Turley, the club treasurer and a certified instructor at Snowbasin, will be doing several women-only events.
The fee for a general club member is $30, while the fee for a team member is $40. For a general club member, these fees will cover steeply discounted day trips to resorts all over Utah and discounts on gear, food and travel. For team members, they will get all the previous perks, plus they’ll be eligible to travel and compete for free. Skiers are welcome to join the club and enjoy the benefits. With all the costs that accompany a full season on the slopes, the benefits associated with the Snowboarding Club can bring a good balance to your wallet.
Burch encourages members of all skill levels to come check out the club. If you’re interested in trying it out for a first time and not ready to fork out hundreds for snowboarding gear, pay a visit to the WSU Outdoor Program for a killer deal on a snowboard rental.
“The way I really want it to feel in the club is all ages, all abilities,” Burch said, “from the person who’s just strapping into a snowboard for the first time to the guy who is searching out cliff lines and searching out places to build 80-foot booters. We want both of those aspects to be able to have one group and one culture together that fuels a common passion.”
The WSU Snowboarding Club has teamed up with Powder Mountain and Lucky Slice to host an outdoor video premiere this Saturday of two of the most anticipated films in the ski and snowboard industry: a Red Bull film called “Tracing Skylines,” which is a ski film, and a snowboard film called “Transworld Nation.”
“It’s huge. It’s the video to see this year,” Burch said.
Hip-hop DJ Burnell Washburn will play a live set, too. An event means free stuff, so prepare yourselves, people. In regards to the product toss and raffle, Burch said, “We’ve got a bunch of Saga outerwear, Nixon watches, about a dozen sponsors who gave us a bunch of snowboards, skis, lift tickets. We’ve got it all.”
So come this Saturday, check out the Transworld Snowboarding event hosted by your very own WSU Snowboarding Club at 7 p.m. in the Wildcat Village Courtyard. It’s free and open to all ages.
We live in a place that people fork out thousand of dollars to visit for just a few days at a time, and I think we’ve lost touch with the fact that we really are lucky to be here in Utah.
If I don’t see you this Saturday, I’ll see you on the slopes, Wildcats.
