Studying the slopes: Students get a fun day out of class

Published 5:00 pm Monday, February 13, 2023

FERGUSON RIDGE SKI AREA — It’s not one of the “Three R’s,” but it’s certainly a valuable skill to learn, particularly in Wallowa County. That’s one reason students from all the schools in the county were treated to a free skiing day last week at Ferguson Ridge Ski Area.

More than 150 students from Joseph, Wallowa, the Alternative High School and home schoolers hit the slopes Thursday, Feb. 9, in an activity sponsored by the Enterprise-Joseph Lions Club.

Adult enthusiasm“It’s really nice for them to host this,” said Dani Weaver, who teaches English, science, drama, physical education and wellness at Joseph Charter School. “We like (the kids) to learn new things, like wellness.”

Weaver, who also is an adviser to student government at Joseph Charter, said the students get to participate partially as a reward for keeping their grades up.

“We just like to give kids a positive incentive, to get them outside and get active,” she said.

She said Fergi has been hosting the student ski day for five or six years.

Tamera Jones, superintendent of the Wallowa schools, was on hand and said her school has been participating for just a couple of years. She said they brought about 80 kids in two buses to the ski day.

“It’s such a great opportunity for kids who don’t get a chance to do something like this,” she said. “It builds so much confidence.”

Jones said she was on hand just to watch and hasn’t skied in several years.

“I learned in a garbage dump in Chicago, Illinois, that they turned into a ski hill,” she said. “Then I lived in the Tollgate area (in the 1980s) and there was a lot of skiing in those years.”

Ron Pickens, a teacher at the Alternative Education High School, said four of his students were able to attend the ski day and there were a number of home schoolers, as well, though he didn’t know for sure how many.

Pickens, who was instrumental in revamping the skate park in Enterprise and establishing a bicycle playground in Wallowa, is about more than wheels for kids.

“I’m about getting kids outside,” he said.

About 70 students from Joseph made the slopes, Weaver said.

Enterprise had to miss the ski day and reschedule, high school Principal Megan Hunter said.

“That date did not work for our students,” she said. “We had too many other irons in the fire.”

Hunter, who is in her first year at Enterprise, said she hoped to have Enterprise students on the slopes March 2.

“It’s a fun tradition for our students to be involved,” she said.

Kids had fun

The students certainly agreed it was a fun tradition.

Kade Hook, a 12-year-old from Joseph Charter School, said he’s been skiing since he was little.

“I love it,” he said.

Lauren McBurney, who goes to school in Joseph, has been skiing since she was 2 or 3 years old. She came to the end of a slope sending a spray of snow.

“It’s my favorite thing to do in the winter,” she said. “My mom got me to do a snowboard … but I’m way better at skiing.”

Not all of them have been skiing since their early years.

Zander Walker, a junior at Joseph, was on just his second week snowboarding.

“My girlfriend said, ‘We’re going up to Fergi one day,’ and she taught me,” he said.

Many of the novice skiers started out on the “bunny hill,” Jones said, where a tow-rope hauled skiers up to the top of a moderate slope.

Some of the more experienced skiers, as well as members of the Lions Club, the Eagle Cap Nordic Ski Club and the Ski Patrol helped the novices learn the ropes. Liza Strickland, a Joseph Charter School teacher, was on hand helping kids mount the T-bar for a ride up to the main slope.

And it’s rare anyone gets hurt. Although a typical scene from a ski lodge may be people sitting by the fire with a leg in a cast or splint, that would be unusual at Fergi. Weaver said she’s only heard of a single incident.

“Years ago, somebody sprained their ankle, but usually they don’t get hurt,” she said.

Lions sponsorship

Jerry Hustafa, president of the Lions Club, said the club paid for renting the boots, skis and snowboards, as well as for a hamburger lunch for the kids. He said the club received a grant of about $7,500 from the Nature Conservancy for the ski day.

Hustafa said originally, the club was seeking a grant to establish a ski bus that would run between Wallowa and Lostine.

“It didn’t work out very well; we didn’t have a lot of support, and then came COVID,” he said. “So we shelved that idea and used that grant funding to support a high school ski day.”

Going directly to the schools, including covering the cost of the diesel fuel the buses use, proved to be a simpler proposition.

The main goal, Hustafa said, is to give the kids an enjoyable day that may prompt them to come out to ski again.

“The plan today is to get as many school kids together as we can and get them all equipment,” he said. “There are kids here who may not usually come out to Fergi and we want them to come out and play in the snow. If they come out here and ski, they may come back and ski.”

But overall, it’s about giving the kids a fun day.

“It’s just nice to have kids get invested in things that are healthy and fun,” Weaver said.