Socializing, snow bring IU Ski Club together

Although southern Indiana isn't known for its ski and snowboarding communities, the IU Ski Club manages to bring together winter recreation and social activity.\n"I love the Ski Club because everyone's so chill," sophomore Kiri Crane said. "It's just an awesome, laid back group of people that are all brought together by something we love: snow."\nThe club always tries to have some type of an event, whether it is a barbecue, social party or a lake outing every two weeks. In addition to the events, the club also plans weekly outings to nearby ski resort Paoli Peaks.\nHowever, for the members of the club, nothing tops the yearly trip they take to a major ski and snowboarding resort. \n"The winter trip is definitely the highlight of the club," Crane said. "I went last year to Copper Mountain and it was by far the best trip I've been on. Anytime I get to ride is amazing, but get an awesome group of people that like to party and you can't go wrong."\nThis year the club will ride down the slopes in Aspen, Colo., from Jan. 1-8 and will explore the Alps in Switzerland during spring break. Although some might consider a trip to Aspen impossible on a student budget, safety officer Sam Newlin-Haus said the trip is quite a bargain.\n"For a very little amount of money, I was able to meet a lot of cool people, a lot of great friends and be able to have an awesome time snowboarding," he said.\nBesides the trip to Colorado, Newlin-Haus said meeting people is the best aspect of the club. \n"It's the friends you make," he said. "I'm not sure about other clubs, but this club is not like, 'oh we have to go to this meeting.' We get to go to a barbecue or a social party or a movie. We all get to be a close-knit group and get to know each other." \nIn addition to having fun, one of the goals the club has is improving the skills of its members. \n"We have people who have never even seen a snowboard before go out on our trip and they have fun and learn," Newlin-Haus said. "We also have really good people who are trying to get sponsored and compete." \nEven with the trip and weekly outings, Crane still has greater aspirations for the club.\n"I individually want to expand the club," she said. "It's so much fun and there are so many people that show interest. I just want to get organized enough to keep all the people involved in the stuff we do."\nNewlin-Haus said a lack of experience in skiing or snowboarding should not prevent someone from joining the club.\n"We encourage everyone to sign up," he said. "If they have never even touched a snowboard or ski before, come to the club and make awesome friends. We'll have all these events. We'll be able to get them up to a decent level all by ourselves."\nAnyone interested in joining the club can do so at anytime and they can check out the club's Web site at www.indiana.edu/~snowski where more information about the club and upcoming events is posted, as is the officers' contact information. The club can also be reached through e-mail at snowski@indiana.edu.