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Volume CXXXIII, Number 13 |
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BOC Notebook: Pinheads ripping up the ski slopes
ELLIOT JACOBS
COLUMNIST
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| BOC telemark co-clubhead Jeremy "The White Rabbit" Katzen ripped it up at Sugarloaf last Sunday. The club is currently planning additional winter trips. (Courtesy of the Bowdoin Outing Club) |
Last Sunday, 25 Bowdoin students congregated at the Outdoor Leadership Center (OLC) around 6:00 a.m. in varying states of sobriety and enthusiasm. The reason for this early rising was none other than the long-expected first day of the telemark ski club. This group of 25 students will be meeting every Sunday, snow or shine, for the next five weeks to perfect their telemark turn and learn the secret of longevity and inner peace.
By 9:30 a.m., all of the students were on the hill at Sugarloaf, getting world-class instruction from their fellow Bowdoin students. Jeremy Katzen '04, Callie Gates '05, Will Genge '06, and Jarred McAteer '04, along with Tele Gurus Matt O'Donnell and Todd Richards, shepherded the beginning telemark skiers through a morning of drills, classes, and some pretty sweet falls. The skiers, who ranged in ability from first-time-on-the-slopes-beginners to expert rippers, spent a chilly morning working on the never-ending quest for the perfect ride.
Then, after lunch, everyone got together with people of their own skill levels and ripped it up for the rest of the afternoon. The snow was surprisingly good, the weather was unseasonably warm, and the company was better than hoped for. All in all, the day was a real success, except for the unfortunate-and truly epic-digger taken by Bowdoin friend Todd "Dr. Gravity" Richards, which brought the ski patrol out to the slopes. However, he hopes to be back on the slopes this season, and the tele program will continue next Sunday. Soon, all of the former alpine skiers and snowboarders in the program will be free-heeled and ripping.
The telemark ski program is just one of the highlights of this coming week in the BOC. On Friday, a trip will be going out to the BOC's own cabin in Monson, Maine, for an overnight trip sure to be full of snow, sledding, hot chocolate, and gratuitous making-out. This is not a trip to be missed-the cabin trips are just relaxing and fun, without any of the trouble of staying warm or dry. Plus it is going to be Valentine's Day, the day when a young person's fancy turns to...love? Also on Saturday, there will be a cross-country ski trip going out, so sign up for that to put that ruddy glow of health in your cheeks for that special someone on Valentine's day. What the hell did I just write?
Lastly, on Monday, world-class sea kayaker Bob Powell will be at Bowdoin to talk about his experience of kayaking around South Georgia Island in the Antarctic. Bob is a former member of the U.S. canoe and kayak team, and has led sea kayaking trips throughout the world. This will definitely not be a lecture you'll want to miss-Monday, 7 p.m., in the OLC.
That's all the BOC news for now-don't forget to stay updated with events and trips by checking out the BOC website. Finally, I would like to conclude this column with some lengthy, though important, advice for freshmen. You freshmen have class, like, every weekday, or at least the majority of the week. My advice-get a clue, freshmen! I have class on Tuesday and Thursday, and, I have to say, that is more than enough.
I had kind of a rough day on Tuesday-I made a fool of myself in every class I attended, except the first, and the only reason for that was because I was too tired to talk during an 8:30 class. In my anthro class, I asked the teacher if I could beat a cro-magnon man in a barroom fistfight. Then at the bookstore, I told the lady who sold me my books that I was going to return them, take my $360 and spend a week hanging out with spider monkeys in Costa Rica.
Then, to top it off, during my seventh hour of class for the day, I told philosophy Professor Scott Sehon (due to some confusion and philosophical trickery) that I "wanted to want him." Whether or not my grade will suffer due to this comment remains to be seen.
Like I said, rough day, which brings me around to my point. The next day, I took the day off and went skiing. And, as I made turns up in the new snow, I realized that two days of class was more than sufficient for getting my learn on. So remember-make time for other fun stuff and sign up for BOC trips!
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