The Occidental Ski and Board Club (OSBC) has plans for a very active spring season, and has already taken ski trips to Big Bear and Mammoth. According to President Jasper Clarkson (junior), the club hopes to ski every weekend and host social events such as yoga and hikes.
The current OBSC is a revival of a ski club that dissolved during COVID-19, according to club treasurer Keean Stauber (junior).
“My freshman year, I met up with some of my friends who also really loved to ski, and we started going to Big Bear,” Stauber said. “We floated the idea of making this into an official thing because we realized there’s a lot of benefits to forming a club.”
Clarkson said he was among the skiers whose intention for the club was to make snow sports financially accessible for students. He said Alterra — one of the largest owners of ski resorts — offers college students discounts for Ikon passes, which are available through OSBC.
“We can get a [basic] season pass for under $600, where it’s normally $700 to $900,” Clarkson said.
Stauber said the club has held raffles for passes and advises members on the optimal time to purchase passes. The club is not only concerned with making passes more accessible, but they also focus on accommodating skiers and snowboarders of different experience levels, according to Clarkson.
“I think my expectations were to be able to ski with my friends and get club money to […] support ski adventures,” Clarkson said. “But it’s totally gone beyond that now.”
OSBC Creative Director Ella Lietzau (junior) said members’ skill levels range from beginner to advanced.
“We did a beginner day last year to encourage people to […] try something new,” Lietzau said.
According to Clarkson, Big Bear is especially novice-friendly because of its mild weather and close proximity to Occidental. He said this year, the club has been organizing groups depending on people’s preferred speeds and difficulty of terrain.
“We have point people from the [executive] board that are designated to each group and people can text them and [ask], ‘Where are you guys skiing?’” Clarkson said.
OSBC took a trip to Big Bear Feb. 14, according to their Instagram. Maya Johnson (sophomore) said this was her first ski trip with the club.
“I had an amazing day,” Johnson said. “I was like, ‘This is great, it’s great to get back into skiing.’ It’s crazy that I can be on campus one morning and then be skiing the next.”
Club members carpool and share lunch together on their day trips to Big Bear, according to Clarkson.
“We all did some runs together and it was a lot of fun,” Clarkson said. “Carpools went well. I think people were gelling with each other in the car and it was fun to ski with a bunch of new people.”
According to Vice President Paige McCarthy (junior), future trips for the club include skiing and boarding at Mammoth Mountain, a resort five hours from LA, from Feb. 20 to 22 and from March 27 to 29.
During a spring break trip to Mammoth last year, Clarkson said the club had a series of great ski days as a result of a large snow storm.
“We just got a crazy powder day after the storm,” Clarkson said. “We found some big cliffs to jump off. It’s always fun in the Sierras when there’s so much snow. Because the snow is so deep, you won’t hurt yourself.”
Skiing and boarding weren’t the only activities the group participated in on the trip, according to McCarthy.
“We had spent three days skiing which can be hard on your body,” McCarthy said. “The second-to-last night we went to the hot springs that are right outside the town of Mammoth, and we all just soaked in them and watched the sunset. It was so beautiful and fun.”
Clarkson said sharing meals together is a large part of OSBC. He said the club plans to have weekly dinners at members’ houses.
“We had one night in Mammoth where we all worked together to make dinner for the entire club,” Stauber said. “We all ate together […] and it was a fun community event that was separate from skiing [yet] probably the highlight of the trip.”
The club also organizes yoga sessions led by Occidental College yoga instructor Maja Zimmerman, according to Clarkson.
“We’re trying to do more club events on campus, so it’s not like you have to pay a bunch of money to go ski to be a part of the club,” Clarkson said.
According to Clarkson, the club plans to do the “California Challenge” as their last big event for this spring.
“We’re going to camp out in Joshua Tree, […] ski a couple runs [at] Big Bear and then drive out to the ocean and surf — try to do it all on the same day,” Clarkson said. “It’s pretty magical to be able to have 70 degree weather here every day, be able to see the ocean from Fiji and drive to the snow just for a day trip.”
Contact Sophie Ha at has@oxy.edu
