Carving Up the Slopes

Aaliyah Garcia
Staff Writer
  Shred the slopes, make memories, and discover the thrill of a new winter hobby! Bonneville High School has started a ski club! The club officially started January 13, and it will make its last trip to the slopes February 17, 2025 before the end of the season. 
  Michael Strobel, a history teacher at Bonneville, is one of the advisors for the ski club. He states that he was introduced to the idea by Mrs. Brown, a math teacher at Rocky Mountain Middle School. According to Strobel,“Mrs. Brown talked to me at a basketball game and said Rocky Mountain was doing it. Some kids from Bonneville told her they wanted us to do it too.” In the ski club, there are a total of 130 students from both Rocky Mountain and Bonneville; Bonneville alone has 69 students participating. Bonneville is the only high school in the district that participates in a ski club. The ski club meets at Rocky Mountain Middle School every Monday at 2 o’clock. The plan is for the buses to come back at eight pm. While the plan is for the buses to return by 8 p.m., Strobel states that was not what happened on their first trip to Kelly Canyon. He says, “As [the bus] was leaving the parking lot, it wouldn’t shift gears.” Eventually, they left and sent another bus back to get them, but those students did not return to Idaho Falls until 11 p.m. that night. Strobel expresses that in the moment, he just thought, “buses break down, it happens.” It was not as alarming as it sounded; Strobel kept cool under pressure. Strobel explained the costs of the club: “175 for 5 tickets to Kelly Canyon, and the bus is about 15 bucks per time[bus ride]” Along with those fees, rentals are 25 dollars, and lessons are 20, but lessons are optional. Strobel brings to light his main priority is to help students who are struggling at the top of the mountain. He then states, “I’ve skied my whole life.”  One of his favorite things about the ski club is that the chaperones ski for free, so he can enjoy an old hobby with no added fee. The only requirement to join the ski club for the students is to ensure that they can cover the fees to start.
 The ski club offers a memorable and adventurous time in the winter. It allows students to connect with others and improve their skiing skills. In the words of Strobel, “if you hate winter it's because you don't have a hobby in the winter, so you might as well get one.” So get a hobby, and find a reason to enjoy the snow!

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