Many students start their complaints about winter with the first snow, but the first snow is a beacon of hope for skiers and snowboarders, who revel in the fresh powder that covers the streets. Some people hate these cold winter months for doing nothing except make them freezing and miserable, but for a skier/snowboarder, winter is made bearable by trips out to the slopes. Lucky for Cannon Falls students, they have a top notch ski and snowboard place just fifteen minutes from town! Welch Village is an asset that many students have the good sense to take advantage of. One of these students is Dalton Tanner who, when asked what he loves most about snowboarding at Welch, replied, “The freedom it gives me…I don’t have to worry about school or anything else that involves in my life or gives me stress.” Despite the frigid temperatures this season, Tanner also says that he has gone “5 or 6 times.”

Skiing and snowboarding are also a great way to get a little exercise during the winter, especially when not participating in a sport. However, for students such as Grant Schlichting, skiing is their sport.

Schlichting says, “Most people wouldn’t, say, consider ski racing a sport, because all you do is go down, but there is actually a lot more to it.”

Welch offers a racing class where students such as Grant can train and compete.

As if Cannon Falls students need another reason to go out to Welch, they don’t even have to own their own skis, or know how to ski. At Welch, and pretty much every other ski place on the planet, ski rentals and lessons are available. After being asked if she would continue skiing after trying it this year, Rianne Lund said, ”I’ll keep going probably I guess for a while.” Lund also says she is glad Welch has rentals because then “I don’t have to pack them up [skis] and stick them in my car.” There are plenty of easy –also called green — runs for beginners at Welch, but there are some harder — blue and black — runs for more advanced skier/snowboarders as well.

So, yes, there are a lot of times students may absolutely hate winter, but while skiing or snowboarding, those feelings will disappear, at least for a few hours.

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