Despite Seattle Pacific University’s close position to numerous ski resorts, there is currently no club dedicated to skiing or snowboarding among the over 50 registered clubs on campus.
Crystal Mountain, the biggest resort in Washington state with nine lifts, a gondola and a rope tow, is a two-hour drive from downtown or 83 miles. The Summit at Snoqualmie, which is 50 minutes or 51 miles from downtown, is also an impressive resort in Washington with 17 lifts and five magic carpets. Stevens Pass is the same distance from Seattle as Crystal Mountain and features ten lifts, two rope tows and two magic carpets.
David Nelson, a junior majoring in political science who went up several times to Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie during the 2024-2025 skiing season, noted how he struggled to find people to ski with during the season.
“I’ve gone to Stevens Pass probably about five or six times this season, and I went to the Summit at Snoqualmie once,” Nelson said. “[I’ve gone up with] mostly friends, and then some family. I didn’t really have an SPU group that went up this year. I talked about it with a couple people, but it just didn’t really come about, probably because there’s no club at school.”
According to Arthur Li, a sophomore majoring in nursing and a programer for the Outdoor Recreational Program, several years ago ORP used to help skiers and snowboarders at SPU organize trips until after COVID.
“I think we might have in the past, but we don’t anymore, or currently we do not. From my understanding, the school introduced an insurance policy in 2022 or 2023,” Li said. “After that, everything we do in STORP has to go through insurance, and the insurance company will not [let us go] because it’s too dangerous. We’ve tried [hosting ski trips] a few times, and they just wouldn’t green light them.”
The exact role of ORP in these activities is questionable, even to Kevin Deschler, the faculty advisor for ORP.
“I’m not sure if ORP has ever hosted skiing or snowboarding trips,” Deschler said. “We have not hosted any such trips in the nearly two years that I’ve overseen the program.”
James Loffink, a sophomore majoring in music production who grew up skiing near Portland, Oregon, wishes ORP had equipment for skiing and snowboarding as they do for their hiking and camping trips.
“That would make it easier, if I didn’t have to keep [skiing equipment] in my dorm room,” Loffink said.
Deschler is open to ORP having skiing and snowboarding equipment in the future if there is enough need.
“Every year I task the STORP team with making outdoor recreation equipment recommendations and proposals, to ensure we have the kinds of gear our students are looking for,” Deschler said. “While I don’t have any such proposals on my radar at this moment, I’ll consider and take seriously any suggestions both from my team and from any SPU students who would benefit from new gear purchases.”
Renting gear may be better for part-time skiers, but getting tickets alone to be able to ski or snowboard at a resort can be expensive in and of itself. The two most popular skiing and snowboarding passes are the Ikon Pass and the Epic Pass, with both going for over $1000 dollars. To Nelson, one of the biggest difficulties he had with the 2024-2025 season was getting the right pass for skiing.
“I was going to get one this year [an Ikon or Epic pass], but I decided against it because I just wasn’t sure about my schedule — how often I’d actually be able to go and whether it would be worth it,” Nelson said. “I was interested in Snoqualmie’s season pass, but they didn’t have a good student discount. So it wasn’t worth it to me. I was hoping they’d have a good student pass.”
The Ikon and Epic passes grant access to many popular mountains, with Stevens Pass being on the Epic pass and Crystal Mountain and the Summit at Snoqualmie being on the Ikon pass.
The 2025-2026 season passes for both were made available in early March and include spring skiing for the 2024-2025 season as well. The Ikon pass, the most expensive of the two, goes for over $1300 for 2025-2026 with prices expected to increase periodically, but there are discounts available. College students can get cheaper rates for the Ikon pass through Outside Life, an organization that offers students in college discounts and helps students and groups at countless colleges plan skiing and snowboarding trips.
This link was granted to the Falcon by Outside Life to help students at SPU access this discount.
According to Nelson, he settled on buying single-use night passes at local resorts as they were relatively cheap and offered good flexibility for his schedule during the day.
“They’re cheaper, and they kind of work[ed] with my schedule. I head up around around noon and get there before 3 p.m.,” Nelson said. “My pass is from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and it’s like half the price of a day pass. Stevens has lights on all the good runs. So it’s a great experience at night.”
There is a need, however, at SPU for a ski club according to Li.
“I’ve talked to other SPU students before, because we go skiing sometimes and we’re like, Hey, imagine how nice it’d be if we had a ski club? We don’t have to offer a crazy discount. It can just be as simple as a Facebook group.”
Deschler is supportive of students that want to organize a skiing club and sees the potential in such a club.
“Just about any club should exist if students would be excited to participate in it,” Deschler said. “Anyone interested in starting a snowboarding or skiing club may contact the Committee for Student Clubs or visit the ASSP website for more info.”
