As couples were preparing for a romantic night out, reserving last minute dinner reservations, and buying flowers and chocolates, the North Penn Ski and Snowboard Club kicked off Valentine’s Day by packing nearly eighty students into two buses destined for their second ski trip of the year: Sugarloaf, Maine. The buses headed down the turnpike immediately after school and the students found themselves finally embarking on their long awaited four day weekend trip.
Regardless of the multiple rest stops and the various movies played during the bus ride, the twelve hour trip proved long as the club finally arrived at the ski resort around four in the morning. Once everyone and their luggage was sorted into the right cabins, as the club members were divided into groups and then assigned cabins on the mountain with ski in and ski out access, everyone took what was equivalent to a nap as the ski lifts opened several hours later.
The day started at eight am with the sun peeking through clouds boding welcomed snowfall. The snowy top mountain, measuring 2,820 vertical feet, (the tallest mountain east of the Rockies,) was topped with two feet of snow; its fresh powder glistening in the sunlight and its 154 trails and glades enticing skiers to venture on the snowy slopes, challenging all levels of ability.
The mountain resort was complete with a main lodge, restaurants (including its infamous burritos), and souvenir shops selling Sugarloaf ski apparel. The lifts were open from eight am to four pm, allowing the club to enjoy and explore the mountain at their pleasure. By four, the students were to return to their cabins, but the day was not yet over. The indoor and outdoor hot tubs tempted skiers and snowboarders, sore and tired from the day’s activities, to the resort’s fitness center, and ski/snowboard competitions on the mountain intrigued spectators to the main lodge.
However, the whole club found themselves at the same place Friday night: the grocery store. Everyone was responsible for their own meals for the weekend so in order to stock the cabins with food everyone hopped back in the buses after skiing and headed to the closest market. The buses pulled up to a tiny building that was inevitably cleared out as people were piling their carts with ridiculous amounts of essentials including junk food and candy.
Saturday was designated to a full day of skiing and then that night Mr. Swindell’s (North Penn’s Ski and Snowboard Club advisor) cabin hosted a big dinner of a mishmash of leftovers; a sort of potluck dinner where each attendee attributed something to the meal. Curfew was at eleven, though, and everyone had to return to their cabins and make sure they were packed and prepared to leave the following morning.
After placing luggage and bags on the buses, the club was still able to take advantage of their last day on the mountain; however, Sugarloaf was facing the commencement of a blizzard which has since dumped several more inches on the mountain. Conditions where cold as temperatures were in the teens and winds were rising up over a hundred miles per hour at the summit. Most people endured the weather and enjoyed the fresh snow while others kept warm either in the lodge or the hot tubs. Either way, by three pm everyone was on the buses heading home. Exhausted from the activity, content with the trip, and sad it was already over, students passed the long trip home telling stories, reliving memories, and strengthening former and new friendships.