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Will Hornick '07, who has skied over 35 days this year, takes full advantage of the close slopes like Sunday River and Sugarloaf.
"I've been skiing since I was four," said Hornick. "I go at least twice a week, but that's mostly because of the fact that I teach class on Fridays."
Hornick teaches alpine skiing at Lost Valley with friend Marian Goddard '07, helping to improve the skills of novice skiers.
"March is a great month to ski," said Hornick. "This has definitely been the best season in at least the last three years. There's been just the right amount of snow and it has stayed on the ground because of the cold temperatures."
Goddard has over 15 years of experience in the sport and recently returned from a skiing trip in Park City, Utah, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics. She says that teaching skiing has helped her both enjoy the sport and improve her skills.
"In my experience teaching I find that it makes me a better skier because I have to concentrate on all the 'feels' of skiing," said Goddard. "This means that I have to know exactly where you need to press with your foot or toes or whatever to make a nice turn, or to stop, or whatever."
"A good season has contributed to getting out more regularly on the slopes," says Goddard.
"There's been lots of snow and that is pretty much all you need to ski," said Goddard. "But also there hasn't been that much wind or anything; it's been a nice, sunny ski season."
Many students have been able to increase their trips to the slopes because of student discounts provided by the facilities and new arrangements like free lift tickets at Auburn's Lost Valley.
"Lost Valley is a really cute place considering it's free and eight minutes away," said Hornick. "It's been really great not having to pay to use their facilities, I really hope it's free next year, too."
Rachel Stern '07 has also enjoyed the outdoors this season and often goes to Lost Valley after class because of its convenient nighttime hours. Stern also sometimes skis at Sugarloaf and frequently at Sunday River, which she prefers the most out of the three.
"I ski probably every other week and I really like Sunday River the best because it has lots of good trails and beautiful scenery," said Stern. "I also like it because it has very good glade skiing, except when you lose your friends in the trees, then it's not so good."
The close-by ski slopes provide good exercise for the long winter months, but enthusiastic skiers like Hornick are hesitant to admit that sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.
"This has been a great season and I'll probably end up skiing a lot more than my average 35 days a year," said Hornick. "So it goes without saying that my grades are probably going to reflect that time on the slopes."