Friendships warm up on the snow

Sunny smiles and slushy snow made for epic spring-skiing conditions for the 18 students on Campion’s annual trip to Copper Mountain. 

The students spent three full days of skiing and snowboarding together during the four-day trip based out of Leadville. “With COVID disrupting a big part of the year, it was refreshing to get off campus and enjoy God’s creation,” reflected Kylie Wehling, junior. 

Coming from Kansas, Jared Marcenaro was one of the students in the group who experienced skiing in Colorado for the first time. “What made the trip great for me was being able to learn and fail around friends,” Marcenaro remarked. “They always helped me back up and told me what I could do better. They also pushed me to do more difficult runs and tricks.” 

The students were in agreement that the relationships formed from time spent together were the true highlights of the trip. “The people who were there made the trip fun,” said Love Pickle, junior. “On the slopes, we were cheering for each other, which was so ‘sick,’” she explained. 

“I think the relationships between friends and even people that didn’t hang out before grew so much on the trip,” said Karson Lee, junior. “I had a great time with my friends, but I also had an amazing time hanging out, laughing, and getting to know people who I hadn’t known very well before.”

Aside from skiing and snowboarding, the students had the chance to spend Sabbath together in an intimate setting for worship and studying the Bible. After church, they took in the mountain views while tubing down the local sledding hill. Each evening, students caught up with homework and held rowdy ping pong tournaments.

The ski trip had been rescheduled due to COVID quarantine restrictions after spring break, but even in April, Copper still had sufficient snow to keep all of the runs open, and the students appreciated the warmer-than-usual temperatures. Pickle commented, “Honestly, the fact that the weather wasn’t freezing cold was the finishing touch.” 

Jill Harlow, Communication Director