The Martlet

What club is as relaxed as a meditation club, but as high-adrenaline and adventure-seeking as any outdoors or sports club? UVic Snow — they’re chill, in more ways than one.

UVic Snow is the skiing and snowboarding club on campus and, instead of having one president, they have six directors with equal authorial status run the club. They are: Kevin Klassen, Jordan Lanyon, Liam White, Matt Liliefeldt, Jordan Macdonald and Alan Moore.

“We had a leadership change this semester — no one really wanted to take on the full responsibility, which is why there are six of us as directors,” says director Liam White, a third-year political science and indigenous studies student.

“We’re all equally passionate about the club,” adds Kevin Klassen, also a director and a third-year geography student.

The club was established about nine years ago, and currently boasts 57 members.

“We’re just trying to keep it going,” says director Jordan Macdonald, a second-year biology student. “The six of us have been in the club for two or three years.”

“The numbers do tend to jump a bit as the events get going, too,” says White.

“I think the numbers fluctuate every year, but it’s gained more publicity for sure,” adds Jordan Lanyon, a third-year computer science student.

UVic Snow organizes three or four trips per school year (September to April) to different hills in B.C. While the trips are usually spread out, all three this year will take place in the spring.

“We’re trying to work it out so that we have a day trip to Mount Washington on Jan. 14, a trip to Big White [in Kelowna] over reading break, and we were hoping, if we get enough funding, we might try and go to Mount Cain at the end of the year in March,” says White.

The club looks for the best deals around so that students can get the most riding for their money.

“We’re aiming for $350 to $400 dollars for the Big White trip. That includes five nights of accommodation, four days of riding and transportation,” says Klassen. “That’s a really good deal.”

“For Mount Washington we get a half-price deal on transport, but that’s about it,” says director Matt Liliefeldt, a fourth-year visual arts student.

One of the perks of UVic Snow, says White, is that students meet other people who are going to hills on the weekends, and can usually hitch a ride up with them.

“So even if we aren’t necessarily going up as a club, you still end up riding with people from the club,” says Macdonald.

“There are also quite a few people who live near the mountains, so we can crash at their houses sometimes,” adds Lanyon.

Never been on a board or two planks before? No problem.

“On every trip we’ve had someone who was brand new. Usually someone who also doesn’t have that much experience will stick with them,” says director Alan Moore, a third-year political science and environmental studies student. “After the day of riding is done, everyone is the same — we don’t break off into cliques in terms of skill level or anything like that. Socially, we’re all on the same level.”

“It’s nice when we go riding because there is a variety of skill level, and so people can have their own group to ride with. No one has to go off on their own,” says Klassen.

The club is split up between skiers and snowboarders, according to Macdonald.

“There’s no hate between the two, everybody just gets along,” says White.

The club is looking forward to holding events in January, including their infamous event, the Neon Ski-On, which will be held Jan. 20 in the SUB’s Vertigo.

“Neon ski-on is ridiculous—it sells out in like five minutes. We sold two hundred tickets each day last year, and they were gone in minutes,” says White.

There will be prizes, music and lots of tight neon clothes. The 19-plus event is the club’s major fundraiser. They’re hoping to feature local band The Pilgrims, with a UVic DJ to play afterward.

The directors agree that there have been some particularly fond memories since they have been a part of the club.

“For a full day I switched outerwear with a girl, which was pretty fun — and then I was hit-on by a lifty because he thought I was a girl,” says Liliefeldt

“We had a good time when we went to Mount Cain two years ago — we did some adventuring and we ended up skiing way below the lift line and out of bounds,” says Macdonald. “So we ended up hiking out for three hours through the woods — in all of our gear. That was a real bonding experience.”

“We were so relieved when we found a run. We hiked up like half the mountain because we didn’t know where we were,” says Klassen.

“We’re not hoping to do that again this year,” adds White.