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Gabriella Fernbaugh:
One of ASU’s largest clubs is centered around skiing and snowboarding trips. ASU Snow Devils creates new experiences for snowboarders and skiers of any level. In this feature, we attend one of these trips and experience what its like to be a Snow Devil.
I’m Gabriella Fernbaugh and this is State Press Play
I am here with State Press Podcast reporter Abby Bessinger, who attended their past trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. Hello Abby!
Abby Bessinger:
Hi!
Gabriella Fernbaugh:
So, How did you hear about ASU SnowDevils?
Abby Bessinger:
During my freshman year, I was looking at different clubs to join. I came across the ASU Snowdevils.
I grew up skiing my whole life; that's why I was interested. I learned how to ski on the west coast but I am from the East Coast where most snowboarders and skiers call it the ice coast. I had joined the club but never ended up going on a trip.
Gabriella Fernbaugh:
So what exactly is ASU Snow Devils?
Abby Bessinger:
I would say the SnowDevils at ASU is a close knit community of people who love the mountains and want to have a good time on the slopes. The club takes about 4 trips during the winter season up to big resorts here on the West Coast. The way it works is that you ride up in a car full of members and spend 3 days on the slopes and the rest of the time when you're not on the mountain you’re hanging out and having fun. I spoke with connor cagno
Connor Cagno:
The point of going on these trips is to meet people who do the similar same things as you. And my car, I got really lucky. I got the all four of us were brand new to the club. None of us had been on a trip before. And now, two of them are officers. The three of us have been in for two years. One of them went on three of the four trips last year. So I think we kind of bonded really well in that 910 hour car ride. Yeah. You. It's kind of hard not to.
Gabriella Fernbaugh:
You don't usually associate snow sports with Arizona. Did any of the club members touch on that?
Abby Bessinger:
Yeah for sure, many of the members who I spoke to either grew up in practicing the sport or were from Arizona and had never experienced resorts like SnowBird where the base elevation from Snowbird center is already 8,100 feet. I took a lift with Snowboarder and new member Jacobe Stevens and he had said coming to Utah was a dream come true.
Jacobe Stevens:
Let's see is the third day being in Utah also first time in Utah I grew up snowboarding in Arizona so I only have poopy snow conditions so coming to Utah is literally a dream come true because the snow here is fantastic and the mountain is like four times the size of snowball so it's pretty exciting.
Abby Bessinger:
Other members like Cody Trett, I.O Fielder, and Connor Cagno said, without the SnowDevils they probably would not still be heavily into the winter sport.
Cody Trett explained how his mom introduced him to snow sports.
Cody Trett:
So my mom is a ice skating teacher. She's ice skated since forever. And so I learned how to ice heat since the day after I could walk. And then between just the similarity between ice skating and skiing, and you know, my yearly family trips we would take I just kind of got a knack for it. Then last year was the first year that I decided that I'm really going to make this a hobby and I've progressed a lot in the last two years.”
Abby Bessinger:
IO Fielder Explained what it was like growing up on the Ice Coast
IO Fielder:
I grew up learning how to ski on the ice coast. Like the Maryland area, whatever's closest there I don't remember I was too young. Then I moved to the West Coast. Someone at Snoqualmie, specifically West is my home territory. Now I live in Arizona and go all over the place with the snow devils.”
Abby Bessinger:
Connor Cagno expressed how Snow Devils have kept him active in Snow Sports, and without it, he would not be on the slopes as much as he is now.
Connor Cagno:
I'd say my favorite part is going to places that I wouldn't have been able to go otherwise. I mean, the house right now. It holds 50 People indoor basketball court or an excellent of the best mountains anywhere near us and without the ski club. I would never have found this gem I guess a lot of other mountains because I I grew up in Arizona and so I would always go skiing in snowball and kind of getting away from that as I excuse my parents it's it really made me enjoy the sport so much more than I think like if I didn't join the club I probably wouldn't be skiing still.
Gabriella Fernabugh:
Snow Devils took 46 of its members on a trip to SnowBird Resort in Salt Lake City, Utah. Can you break down how the trip was coordinated?
Abby Bessinger:
This trip to Snowbird was $450 for riders and $420 for drivers (all gas expenses are reimbursed) and that included a place to stay and your lift tickets for three full days of skiing if with the Ikon pass. The club provides members with discounted IKON passes up to 30% off, and lemme tell you those passes are expensive. The Ikon pass gives access to 50+ ski destinations worldwide, so it is a super sweet deal.
Aidan Ruiz:
If you buy an icon pass with us with our discount at the beginning of the year, it will pay for itself with four days of skiing, I promise you and after that the rest of your season is completely free at any icon pass locations. And I just I literally push that so much because it's so true. We just want you know, members to get to the mountain as cheap as possible”
Gabriella Fernabugh:
On the second day of the trip, you joined the team at their AirB&B. What was the club's dynamic like?
Abby Bessinger:
First off let me just say the house for this trip was 14,000 square feet. It was absolutely insane. So in the morning, we hung out and everyone was getting ready for the day. Members were cooking breakfast, drinking their honorary Red Bull, and getting dressed up in all those layers to stay warm on the mountain. Some members have their own morning ritual before heading to the slopes such as Snow Devil Jacobe Stevens
Audio of Jacobe stretching
Gabriella Fernabugh:
So, can you explain what it was like arriving at the mountain with Snow Devils?
Abby Bessinger:
The great thing about the Snowdevils is that you and your car decide when you want to get to the mountain, so that would be the first lift at 9am or you could have a slow start. Usually groups form and you can hit whatever terrain you'd like to battle that day. I rode a lift with social media officer Jonah Landeck and he was stoked to ski Mineral Basin. Jonah explained the complexity of mineral basin.
Jonah Landeck:
Mineral basin that's the backside of snowbirds. So to get there, you need to either take the tram which goes all the way up to the top and you get to the other side or I think this is a more fun way you take Peruvian Express up to the top and then there's a tunnel and the tunnel is about like 500 feet long. And it takes you to the other side of the mountain and inside the tunnel is a magic carpet. And you write up the magic carpet it's like a little museum it's got like a mental like you know cool like history and stuff. And then you get on the other side and it's not like this at all there's much less trees a lot more open terrain, kind of like a bowl and you know some more some more advanced terrain there. I think there's some shoots some cliffs as well. I'd say definitely leans towards more towards the advanced crowd, but it's a lot of fun and I highly recommend it.
That's definitely my favorite part of Snowbird. While the powder was amazing, amazing, and the terrain was amazing, there was a lot of fresh tracks, there was a lot of high winds, and there was a lot of snow storms. So I only did maybe like two or three runs at mineral base, and I just spent the rest of the day here. But other than that, you know, I never have a bad day when I'm out here on the slopes.
Gabriella Fernabugh:
What was the skill level of some of the members?
Abby Bessinger:
I would say there were a range of different levels and everyone was so kind to one another. Like the goal of these trips is to get a taste of the mountain and really understand if you like it or not, and ultimately just get better at the sport. I think the SnowDevils does a great job at that and everyone is super supportive of one another. If you are debating your skill level on the mountain and want to go on these trips just do it . Everyone wants to see you succeed and even if you fall it's all a part of the process. Everyone falls at some point haha.
Snowboarder Peyton Neimeier really emphasized how these trips create great environments for people wanting to learn.
Peyton Neimeier:
100% If you don't know anybody go 100%. Because it's like you're meeting people with a common interest, who are all different. So you have something to share. But you also have something to learn from all of these people.”
Gabriella Fernabugh:
So overall, from this trip, you gained a really big perspective into what it's like to be a part of this club. Did you get any insight on what this really meant to members of snow devils?
Abby Bessinger:
At the end of the day, they're all ASU students getting these experiences from these trips, not in an academic setting. And that was just so sweet to watch people get to be themselves in new locations with new people, like so many of these people don't even know each other before they go on the trips. And when you're in a car for 10 to 12 hours, you make best friends, and you come home with best friends. And it's like you probably wouldn't have even known these people if you weren't willing to put yourself out there and be in a club like this. Wow, that's beautiful. Snow devils brand ambassador Drew and guard explained what snow devils meant to him.
Drew Engard:
I've been with the Snow Devils since my freshman year. So I actually went on the Snowbird trip for my first time freshman year, so it's been about three years, but I've been skiing for about 17 and the snow devils to me is really just the community I get to go hang out with and the slopes are all different in our own ways, but we kind of mesh together, meet up at the mountain and just have a ton of fun. And what's one word you would describe skiing today? Exhilarating. That's my one word for skiing. It's exhilarating.”
Gabriella Fernabugh:
Something that I think students at ASU should really take into account is a issue offers so many experiences to grow as an individual to grow as a student. And clubs like snow devils really allows people to grow as a person. And through that it's making friendships and meeting new people. Did any of the members touch on that?
Abby Bessinger:
ASU offers so so many experiences, but being a part of the stone ovals offers so much more. So many people in this club have made lifelong friends like the best of friends with a common interest. So snowboarder pay Niemeyer and skier Annika Hebner became best friends through the snow devils. And they each had something super sweet to say about each other.
Annika Hibner and Peyton Neimeier:
No, I just remember the first time that you Yeah, it was in the parking lot. Because we always meet before in the parking lot the day before the trips. And I didn't know about anybody. And she was kind of standing alone. And it was kind of awkward because we like go to each other. Oh, hey, what's your name? What grade are you in? Oh, you're going on the Strip? The only girls in the parking lot? Yeah, we're the only girls in the parking lot until a couple others hold up but and then it's like, just funny because you're just standing next to this person. They just find his whole spiel and you're like, okay, yeah, like say bye to them. Yeah, that's my first impression. My first impression was, I was like, I want that girl to be my friend. I don't know. The way that like we walked up to each other was just so like funny and so like normal as if we knew each other for so long as like, this girl is gonna be my friend. Like we're gonna be friends.
Abby Bessinger:
Aside from making amazing friendships skier Jack, loosen hops said that there are other unforgettable memories he has made with the club.
Jack Lusenhop:
I think it would be hard for me not to include the skiing. I do. Some of the best skiing I've ever had. But then it's also it's it's fun then to have the best skiing I've ever had with fun people and then be able to talk about that after and experience that with other people. So that's really fun.
Gabriella Fernabugh:
So on this trip, did you talk to any of the members about what some of their favorite moments were or some of their favorite things about this specific resort?
Abby Bessinger:
Yeah, for sure. Everyone said that this past trip to Snowbird was the best one yet, just because of the sheer size mansion that Aiden Ruiz was able to get for this club. And the mountains were just absolutely huge. And it was absolutely dumping
Gabriella Fernabugh:
For someone who has probably never seen snow. What is powder? And what does it mean for it to be dumping?
Abby Bessinger:
It's just like fresh snow?
Gabriella Fernabugh:
Is that the best type of snow to be skiing on?
Abby Bessinger:
Oh, for sure, for sure. And considering that so many people were also from the ice coast to have dumping conditions with fresh powders, the best type of skiing and snowboarding to ever do.
Gabriella Fernabugh:
And can you kind of explain like ice coast and why that's like not the best conditions?
Abby Bessinger:
Yeah, for sure. So it's funny because I'm from the East Coast. I'm from New York, but I grew up skiing on the West Coast. And when I wasn't skiing on the West Coast, I was on the West Coast. And so when you're on the ice coast, there's very little snow. And when you're on a chairlift, you're most likely writing over dirt. Versus when you're in Utah, and there's actual real mountains and thick, thick snow. There's snow everywhere, and you're not going to fall and hurt yourself because you'll land on fresh powder.
Gabriella Fernabugh:
So on this trip, you got to go on the ski lift with some of the members and you even got to conduct actual interviews on this ski lift. What were some fun conversations that you had with some of the members?
Abby Bessinger:
Yes, so I wrote the lift with IO filter and Cody tread and I had asked them what their favorite resorts were with the Sun Devils.
IO Fielder and Cody Trett:
It's got to be copper, copper, Colorado, they just have such a good park that it's it's hard to beat. A lesson over Snowbird is just the sheer size of the house and the amount of people that's also hard to beat. So it's kind of like, if you want to good Park skiing, you know, go to copper. If you want the good party, you got to Snowbird and the good old mountain skiing. That's true. The big mountain skiing here is unparalleled for in resort towns in the Western US.
Gabriella Fernabugh:
What was it like reporting and interviewing in these conditions? Were it was so cold What was that like for you?
Abby Bessinger:
I'm not gonna lie. First of all, I was so nervous because there were 46 people on this trip. And there were three of us doing media and I had never met any of these people before. So it was kind of scary at first, but just everyone was super sweet. The cold was a bit much, you know, considering we're in Arizona. It was such a great opportunity and I liked it. don't think I'll ever be in that situation again. And it was just so awesome that State Press sent us to go into the field and report what
Gabriella Fernabugh:
What were some games or some club activities that they did together other than snowboarding and skiing.
Abby Bessinger:
So the mansion had an indoor basketball court.
Gabriella Fernabugh:
Woah!
Abby Bessinger:
Yeah, it was so insane. So there was a lot of basketball, a lot of dodgeball, but the crew played the can game. And I don't know Gaby, can you play the can game?
Gabriella Fernabugh:
I'm not sure what the can game is.
Abby Bessinger:
If you want to find out what the can game is, you should join the snow devils.
Gabriella Fernabugh:
I guess I will have to join to find out what they can game. I'm assuming that's a game you guys played?
Abby Bessinger:
Yeah.
Gabriella Fernabugh:
Okay, awesome. So if I was interested in snow devils and I wanted to join, where can I check them out?
Abby Bessinger:
You can check out their website Snow Devils ASU dot com. Or follow their Instagram at Snow Devils ASU
Gabriella Fernabugh:
Well thank you, Abby!
Abby Bessinger:
Thank you.
Gabriella Fernbaugh:
That was State Press podcast reporter Abby Bessinger. You can check out the full multimedia story at statepress.com.
And that’s all for this State Press Play feature. I’m Gabriella Fernbaugh. This feature was produced by me. Special thanks to our managing team, Alexis Heichman and Morgan Kubasko.
See you next week, Devils!
