This past weekend 180 GW Law students made the trek out to Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia for the annual SBA ski trip. Although expectations were high, with tickets selling out within a day and three extra cabins needed to accommodate increased demand, the trip did not disappoint. Both veteran and rookie ski trippers report that the trip provided the weekend getaway they needed to de-stress and escape the daily grind of law school life.

 

Those who made the journey had an array of options with which to occupy themselves, from skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing, to frequenting the local bar, relaxing and watching movies, or simply catching up on some much needed sleep. There were also several group activities, including a pizza party Saturday and a trip to the nightclub "The Connection" that evening.

Casualties of the trip were low, with SBA Vice President of Programming reporting that only one student, Three L Angelle Smith, suffered a sprained ankle, and one unfortunate coffee table suffered an early demise. According to Bianchi, "I believe this is the first time something has been broken during our stay."

Despite the casualties, most students had an enjoyable experience at Snowshoe. One of students' fondest memories from last year, the local bar "The Connection," proved to be an enjoyable experience once again. According to Two L Megan Mueller, "The Connection was hopping as usual." Mueller went on to note that "at night, the bar gets pretty rowdy with all the locals." Another Two L, Dan Straga, however found the locals to be a little less rowdy than last year, as he was not challenged to any fights during his night out this time around.

Although there was no wet t-shirt contest at "The Connection" this year, there were several dance competitions amongst GW students. One of them was won by Three L Melissa Colangelo, who brought home a Budweiser hoodie for her efforts. The other competition was a dance off between SBA Senator Elizabeth Westbrook and the SBA President Brett Sheats, although there is no firm consensus as to who proved victorious in that competition. According to Westbrook, the competition "was very spontaneous." She describes, "we hadn't seen each other the whole trip. We locked eyes across the room. He threw a move and I threw a move back. I threw in a 'crutchie' at one point. I definitely won."

 

In addition to frequenting the local establishments, students also found time to hit the slopes. According to Chris Davis, the skiing this time around "was great." He enjoyed the "perfect conditions and great company." Although Snowshoe is "more of a hill than a mountain," he found the skiing to be "surprisingly good compared to last year," noting that "it gets better every year."

 

Others decided to tube down the hill. Two L Laura Farach describes the experience, "all you have to do is hook your tube to a lift, and it takes your tube and carries you up. It's super fun, and you can all go at the same time attached to each other. You can go all different ways - on your backs, on your knees, on your stomachs. We went down the mountain over fifteen times in an hour. It was good old-fashioned fun, I felt like a kid."

In addition to the great times at the bars and on the hills, Farach and several other students noted that the best part of the trip was being able to spend time with friends and meet other students they may otherwise never know. As Farach notes, "It was really nice getting to know a lot of the One L's, because One L's and upperclassmen often don't interact. It was nice to expand beyond your class." Two L Kim Clark agrees, saying that, "the trip was definitely fun like last year because there were a lot different people from different groups that you are able to meet and socialize with."

Perhaps Kevin Budris sums it up best. According to Budris, "I did not attend the ski trip last year so I was not sure what to expect beyond a much-needed weekend away from D.C. The trifecta of beer, West Virginia locals, and fresh fallen snow, however, left me with a sense of euphoria that I fear will go unmatched until next year's ski trip."