Colorado Mesa University students, grab your skis or board, put on your long underwear and head up to Powderhorn ski resort. CMU Student Life and the CMU Alumni Association have partnered up to bring a day of fun-filled events to the students and alumni of CMU. 

CMU is fortunate to have a mountain roughly 45 minutes from campus, which has provided an annual event for Student Life. On January 27, Powderhorn will host a “Mavs Take Over the Mountain” day for all CMU students and alumni. This isn’t the first time that the resort and school have partnered up either, as it has been done in the past and has had great success before.

Maverick students will have a special 20 percent discount off the regular price tickets. The normal full price is $71, but students may only have to pay $29 for a full day. Not only will students get a discount to ski or board their hearts out, but there will be other events going on throughout the day. 

There will also be a plethora of giveaways that occur every hour. The main prizes are a snowboard and some lift tickets, with smaller goodies to win from the likes of Gear Junction and from the school.

It doesn’t stop there, Emma Leenerman, Coordinator of Alumni and Campus Engagement, said that along with the prizes there will be other things to do besides skiing. 

“We have got a couple of bands coming up, Wave Eleven and SUCKAFISH,” Leenerman said.

So even if skiing doesn’t sound all that fun, there will still be activities to participate in without hurtling down the mountain. There will be food and mingling galore and plenty of things to take part in with your friends that can be done without skis or boards.

There will also be cheaper lessons for any willing to learn how to ski so that they can be shredding away in the future.

At eight in the morning on the 27th, Student Life will be providing a free bus to shuttle students from the campus all the way to the mountain. This means no gas costs, no packing, and best of all: no driving after a long day of skiing. The bus will then take students back to the campus at five o’ clock and conclude the day for the students.

However, if being restricted to the school’s stopwatch isn’t appealing, lodging will be discounted as well. It also offers those that have spent good money on a season pass a close place to rest up before another day of skiing.

While this all does promise to be a great experience, there is one problem. The snow. Colorado has been in a bit of a dry spell this year, and as a result, Powderhorn’s slopes have suffered. Currently, there are only a couple of green hills open for skiing and it will stay that way until there is more snow.

This doesn’t mean that there will be nothing to ski on, just that the easy slopes could get a tad crowded and there could be some grumpy skiers that are typically used to riding blacks all the way down. So, everyone, begin praying and performing snow dances if more difficult slopes are wanted. According to the weather channel, Jan. 21 is supposed to see some snow, so hopefully, it will be enough to open a few more routes.

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Do not fret though! Without more slopes open, tickets will be even cheaper since you can’t pay to ski the whole mountain when only bits of it are open. Not to mention all the food, games, and giveaways that are going on.

“We are still gonna do it! We will still people up there. Student Life might not provide the bus if nobody signs up due to the lack of snow, but we are still going up there and bring some business to Powderhorn. We will still have the bands and I think we are going to have a little bonfire,” Leenerman said.

So, whether there are more slopes open than the easy peasy green slopes, it still promises to be a good time to be had up at Powderhorn. After all, snow might melt, but a free give-away snowboard won’t.