The recent cold weather spell that has engulfed the U.S. has provided bad news for many, but for others it has been a boon. State’s skiing and snowboarding club will use the packed powder to its advantage in the coming weeks as it continues its busy season.

 Snowboarding’s popularity exploded after it became an Olympic sport in 1998. Club president Russ Talley estimates that while the club is comprised of at least 80 percent snowboarders, it isn’t looking for one brand over the other.

“We welcome all who slide down mountains,” Talley said.

Talley, a senior in agriculture business management, and the club officers organized a trip to Jackson Hole, WY for a post-New Years week of outdoor bliss. About 22 State students and alumnus made the journey.

“If you ski or snowboard, [Jackson Hole] is sort of one of the premiere places you want to go,” Talley said. “It was the steepest mountain I’ve ever been to, coldest mountain I’ve ever been to, but some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a run.”

Team members will barely have time to catch their breaths and dry out their wool socks before heading to Sugar Mountain in eastern North Carolina for the next and most important phase of the winter sports season.

State’s race season will consist of four weekends in which skiers can compete in slalom and giant slalom – races that involve traveling between a complex series of poles at breakneck speeds. Snowboarders can compete in giant slalom and boardercross. Boardercross strongly resembles snowboardcross, a new Olympic event. 

“My personal favorite is boardercross because it’s not as geared toward racing as it is toward riding down a mountain, not just trying to hit gates,” race leader Michael Sheehan, a junior in zoology, said.

Sheehan said the events could also include a slopes style event this year.

“In slope style, you run through a game park with jumps, rails and all sorts of obstacles,” Sheehan said. “You’re scored on your flow through the park and the tricks you do.”

 Most of the events are timed. The first three places earn medals and the team score includes the times best three riders combined.

Competitors from other schools, such as East Carolina, James Madison, University of Virginia and Virginia Tech will be vying for the chance to represent the Southeast Race Conference at the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association Nationals, held this year in Sunday River, Maine.

Last year, Campus Recreation and the team itself combined finances to send Lauren Morris, now a senior in civil engineering, to Colorado after she qualified for Nationals individually.

At the very least, Pack skiers and snowboarders wish to send more of their own to Maine this year. Some harbor more lofty ambitions.

“I hope to make it to the Olympics one day in snowboardcross,” Sheehan said.