Return to the slopes: Ski and snowboard club made their comeback this winter

Senior+Delaney+Maglionico+and+sophomores+Sophia+Maglionico+and+Tyler+Paul+ride+the+ski+lift+up+the+slopes.

Delaney Maglionico

Senior Delaney Maglionico and sophomores Sophia Maglionico and Tyler Paul ride the ski lift up the slopes.

Eleven students came together for the skiing and snowboarding club, traveling to Brandywine five times this winter for four-hours on the slopes.

Participants describe the club as a fun community. 

Freshman Riley Hanzak said her favorite part of the ski club is “the people and the environment. Everyone is extremely nice and supportive.”

Sophomore Johnny Guerrero agreed. “I like my friends there,” he said. “They have a nice cafeteria area where I can sit by my friends, and of course, snowboarding” 

The ski club is led by adviser Conner Yeager, who has been taking students onto the slopes for about 13 years now. 

“I enjoy seeing how excited our students get when they are learning to ski or snowboard and just having a blast,” he said. “I remember when Brandywine made an elaborate snowboard park with jumps and a huge half pipe, which was really great.”

Hanzak said her favorite people to ski and snowboard with are Andrew Burton, Aiden Sadowski and Jacob Gugliotta.  

“They have been snowboarding for years and have taught me a lot of things about it,” she added.

Yeager tries to take the members of the club every Wednesday during the months of January through February. “We’ve only missed a few ski seasons due to district budget cuts or because of the pandemic last year,” he said.

Yeager explained what happens if a club member gets injured. “There is a ski patrol that alerts the teacher when someone does,” he said, “I’ll see how they are and contact the students’ parents.”

Johnny Guerrero said his favorite memory in the ski club was watching fellow freshman Tyler Paul, his favorite snowboarder. “He went down black diamond, the biggest slope there. I watched someone, like, die on that once!”

Guererro also recalled a past experience with the club in middle school. “One time when I went, Tyler’s parents came to watch us snowboard, and my glasses fogged, and I went down the hill without knowing how to snowboard.”

Hanzak said he joined the club“to have more time to snowboard, learn some new things from friends, and just simply have a lot of people to go snowboarding with.”

Fees for the ski club is approximately $220 dollars, which includes the lift, lessons and rental. There is an additional $30 for bus transportation that must be paid by check only.

If you are interested in joining the community of our schools Ski and Snowboarding club, contact Yeager in the art room, 135, and email him at [email protected].

Check out Brandywine’s website! https://www.bmbw.com/