Last weekend, the DU Alpine Club (DUAC) took on the winter mountain town of Crested Butte for a three-day ski and snowboard extravaganza. An outdoors club run entirely by students, DUAC subsidizes trips so its roughly 250 members can explore the wonders of Colorado and its surrounding beauty for cheap.
“This Crested Butte trip is really unique because we take advantage of the three day weekend to turn it into a four day trip,” said DUAC Vice President Hank Elder, senior finance major, from Tucson, Ariz.
A roughly four-hour drive from Denver, DUAC left Friday mid-day and made it to Crested Butte in the afternoon, after taking highway 285 south to 50 west—one of the best drives in Colorado, according to Elder. All 30 attendees stayed in a house with a crystal clear view of the mountain, complete with a full kitchen, sauna and Jacuzzi.
DU’s Alpine Club, which has taken various trips this year.
The perks didn’t stop there. While one day of riding at Crested Butte Mountain costs the average skier/snowboarder $90, it cost DUAC members $180 for lodging, transportation, a couple group meals and three days’ worth of lift tickets.
“I’m just hoping everyone has as much fun as they did last year,” said senior Kyle Chynoweth, mechanical engineering major from Parkland, Flo. and one of DUAC’s Publicity Officers. “Last year it was my favorite trip. I met a ton of cool people and it turned out pretty great.”
The comradery of DUAC is one of the biggest bonuses that makes every weekend trip one for the books.
“It’s a super cool group of people from all different demographics and organizations,” said sophomore Molly Woodhull, biology major from Dayton, Ohio. “DU social life tends to be focused a lot around Greek life, and I’m in Greek life, so I tend to do a lot of things with that, but I’m excited to get to know this other group of people.”
While one must be cautious of the potential dangers that come alongside venturing into mountains, DUAC officers are required to be first-aid and CPR certified, while a few of them have gone above and beyond that. Members also have the opportunity to be educated on wilderness survival techniques.
“They just hosted a wilderness first aid class here and a lot of people took it,” said Chynoweth, and “no matter where we are, no matter how bad you hurt yourself, we’re close enough to get to a hospital.”
DUAC also hires guides for the extreme sports trips, and there are a few of those trips scheduled to happen this winter quarter. The club’s expected trip to Silverton is one students can really get excited for.
“It’s an extreme skier mountain,” said Chynoweth. “The chair takes you up about 1,000 vertical feet and then you hike an additional 1,000 feet with your skis [or snowboard] on your back.”
Another one of Alpine Club’s guided trips is to Telluride/Ouray.
“The town of Ouray is nestled in this humongous box canyon and we stay at a hotel with its own hot spring tubs,” said Elder. “You ice climb with professional guides one day (they provide the gear), and ski Telluride mountain the other.”
The student body should know it is never too late to become a member of DUAC. Membership costs a yearly fee of $40, and the club holds meetings every Wednesday at 8 p.m. inside Sturm.
Whether it’s snowshoeing, ice climbing, dogsledding, hiking, biking or skiing, DUAC has a trip in store for just about every student on this campus. Visit their website for more information.
