OCTOBER 05: Class Action

There are certain things in life that give skiers license to freak out and throw furniture off of buildings. One is the smug weatherman characterizing the persistence of warm, dry weather in January as “good”; the other is sitting in class while the latest storm is pummeling your home mountain.

Though the mystery of the weatherman continues, a private college in Salt Lake City may have figured out how to keep ski-minded students happy: put the class in the snow.

Westminster College, a small liberal arts school in Salt Lake City, launched a first-of-its-kind, program last year that offers college students a “Vertical Degree,” combining academics with winter sports. Known as Winter at Westminster, it’s being touted as an alternative to studying abroad, or forsaking school to live in the mountains. Instead of spending a semester in a foreign country (or diving into a dish sink), Winter at Westminster invites students to spend a season exploring the snow culture of the Wasatch Mountains. The cost is $15,000, and for that, students get a course load of up to 12 transferable college credits;: room, board, and books; a full Alta/Snowbird season pass and day tickets to other Utah resorts; dawn patrol rides on Snowbird’s tram; avalanche and backcountry safety workshops; Nordic and freestyle jumping at Utah’s Olympic Park; and the chance to interact with leading professionals in the outdoor industry.

“We think this is a better opportunity for somebody than dropping out to be a ski bum,” says program director Sarah West. “Instead, why not go to class then cruise up to Alta or Snowbird for a powder day?”

Last year’s pilot program had four students, three from out of state and one from Westminster. This year the college expects to enroll close to 100. Jill DeVleming, a 20-year-old junior from Whitman College, signed up and also got an internship at the Park City-based U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. She and her classmates skied several times a week. “We definitely spend time in class, but my workload’s not very tough,” DeVlemming said one morning after a dawn patrol and tour of Alta’s avalanche facilities. “I wanted to do a study abroad, but when I heard about this I convinced my parents to let me come to Utah instead.” If only more people could be so rational.

FIVE OTHER DEGREE PROGRAMS TAILORED FOR WORKING IN THE SKI INDUSTRY