The wind in your face, the adrenaline of flying through the air and the screaming from the sidelines are just regular occurrences from App State snowboarding.
The App State Snowboarding Team is a club sport offered through the school and open to all. The club has been around for about 8-10 years and is still running strong.
“Do it, it’s a lot of fun,” said senior finance and banking major Brandon Holshouser. “You will meet a lot of new people and everyone is super fun to be around, just join.”
Holshouser is the current president of the App State Snowboarding Team and encourages all Mountaineers to check it out.
“Since it is a club sport, you just have to pay your dues and show up there’s no tryouts or anything,” Holshouser said.
Part of what makes this team so diverse is the ability to compete or ride with your teammates. The travel team currently has 36 members, along with 80 more who don’t compete.
Beech and Sugar Mountain are the most common and local slopes to compete at through the club. Bryce and Wintergreen Mountain are both located in Virginia, and it’s where they compete after Beech and Sugar as the season progresses.
A competition held at Beech every year is the Rail Jam. During the 2023 season, it was held on Oct. 28.
Senior risk management and insurance major Jack Goodman, the club’s former 2022-23 president, described what led him wanting to become club president.
“I wanted to get us some cool merch and take us to Nationals and improve everyone’s riding, we got first place overall last year in the park,” Goodman said.
The App State Snowboarding Team will persevere through any weather conditions just to practice and improve skills they have been longing to work on.
“Everybody is a homie and super stoked to ride together no matter the conditions,” Goodman said. “Some days there was pouring down rain and ice, and we would always make the best of it.”
Each teammate has different skills they are proud to show off after much hard work and dedication.
“I go in the air sometimes,” Holshouser said.
Holshouser works at App Ski Mountain, which allows him to go out and ride after classes and a long shift.
“We work hard, play harder,” Holshouser said.
Goodman rides at App Ski Mountain a couple times a week and mentioned how much he loves to go out and try new tricks he has seen others around him do.
“The Rippy flipp 900 is the trick I’m most proud of,” Goodman said.
Meisha Chromey is a senior psychology major with a studio art minor from Asheville.
“They will cheer you on whether you land or fall,” Chromey said. “I honestly don’t throw that many tricks compared to a lot of people on the team, but at Wintergreen I did my first ever 50 to frontboard on a box.”
Chromey mentioned that joining the team is the best decision she has made for herself in college. Early mornings and long drives are necessary but totally worth it, when you feel that Mountaineer air on your face, and a trophy in hand.
“Any kind of rail jam competition is my favorite, getting to hit all sorts of rails and boxes with all of your friends on the sideline hyping you up is just the best,” said Jacob Duncan, a junior biology major and club member from Winston Salem.
Duncan said he is most proud of a board slide.
“It’s a trick that anyone can learn, and looks good on any feature, you can add so many things to it, like spinning on and off the rail,” Duncan said.
The App State Snowboarding Team is more than just a club, but a family. Brandon and the rest of the club members encourage everyone to check it out.
“Definitely the people,” Holshouser said about his favorite part about the club. “We don’t really do it for the competitions, but the reason we stay is for the people.”
