Taking Back Winter

The winter of my senior year of high school I was fortunate enough to ski 87 days. Days working as a ski instructor, practices and races for the high school ski team, and free skiing days certainly added up. It helped to have a working car equipped with a ski rack, free weekends, and a flexible school schedule. During my spring semester, I only had a first and last period class; I would do the ten minute drive to the mountain right after class, ski by myself for two hours (I taught myself how to telemark ski over this period of time), and rush back into class with my snow gear still on. It also helped that at this point I was already accepted to Babson.

The following winter, the winter of my freshman year at college, was the exact opposite. A record year of snow in the northeast and I had too much work and was figuring too much out for myself to make the drive up into the mountains. I got days in of course, but not of quality. So over the summer I made it my goal to take back my winter. In the fall I committed to a intensive work out routine and got the entrepreneurial wheels turning in my mind. What resulted was an amazing winter. I maximized my ski-related-enjoyment in one of the least conducive winters in the northeast on record (incredibly warm and very little snow). Here is what I was up to this winter:

1. Visited the Boston Ski & Snowboard Expo at the Seaport Trade Center (November)

2. Worked for Poor Boyz Productions for their Triple Threat Tour stop in Boston at The Royale (November)

3. Alpine and telemark ski instructed at Gunstock Mountain Resort (January)

4. Began doing internet marketing for pro skier Dan Egan kicking off at “Ski the Beast with Dan Egan” at Killington Resort (January) See my review of the event here.

5. Was invited to the Eastern Winter Sports Reps Association (EWSRA) On Snow Demo at Stratton Mountain to become a contributing writer for SnowEast Magazine (February) I tested 10 all-mountain twin tip skis across 7 different companies. My review of the year’s best will be featured in SnowEast’s 2012 October issue.

6. As president of the Babson Outdoor Association I planned trips to Sunday River, Blue Hills, Waterville Valley, and Jay Peak; all of which lucky enough had great weather/conditions.

7. …..And of course I free skied with friends. Notably I caught first tracks at Waterville Valley after an 8″ overnight storm and skied Okemo on two bright sunny days.