Skiing and snowboarding season is approaching fast, and Ipswich High school is offering some fun and interesting opportunities for high schoolers. The ski club has been running for eight years, and it is very popular among students who like to go on skiing adventures and have fun with their friends. Mr. C, our vice principal, is the organizer of the ski trip, and he has been doing a great job satisfying the needs of students on the trip and also having a great time himself. These trips are super fun, but they only go on two to three trips a year, so make sure you sign up. You often might see advertisements for the trip hung up around the school; this is because they need to get a certain amount of people to sign up or the trip will be canceled. We share a coach bus with Hamilton Wenham since it’s less expensive if more people go, and it’s also a good way for Ipswich students and Hamilton Wenham students to interact in a non-competitive way. 

The two mountains our high school club visits are Sunday River in Bethel, Maine and Gunstock in Gilford, New Hampshire. The types of trips that you can go on is a full day trip to Sunday River, which costs 85 dollars for the lift ticket and bus fee and a night skiing trip on Friday night to Gunstock which is much cheaper. For the day trip, the bus leaves very early in the morning at approximately 5:30- 6:00 Am and the bus leaves right after school on the Friday trips. The bus ride to Sunday river is very long and takes about two and a half hours. We interviewed Charlie Eagan, and he said, “The worst part about the ski trip is definitely the bus ride because it is so long and we leave so early. Also, I can never sleep on the bus which makes it particularly bad for me.” For people like Charlie who hate long bus rides, there is the option to go to GunStock which is a much shorter ride at about one hour. The Gunstock trip is unique because it allows the students to experience a really fun night skiing. They stay at the mountain very late and there are a lot fewer people on the mountain which is cool. 

To get a better understanding of the Ski Club we interviewed the advisor of the Club Mr. C. We asked him what he loves about the ski trips and Mr. C said that “It’s fun for me because I get to know people a lot more outside of school”. He mentions that he got to know Vince Skelton a lot more. This student went on to become a special Olympic skier. Additionally, he was the president of the club when he was at Ipswich. Mr.C says that he likes the trips because the Ipswich and Hamilton Wenham kids get to hang out together and their behavior is usually very good. We know from experience that these ski trips are very fun with your friends and they offer trips to great mountains with some challenging terrain.

If you decide to go on the trip, you need to make sure you are being careful. We interviewed sophomore Beckett Devoe to get a feel for some of the dangers on the slopes. Beckett talked about his snowboarding accident that he got in on one of the school trips. He said, “ Last year, I broke my left humerus. I caught a back edge on a pile of snow and I got slammed backward. I put out my arm to stop myself, and it broke”. If you are looking for an adventure you can get a group of friends together and go on a ski trip. You could have a lot of fun, meet new people, and start a new activity.