Once a year, AHS students arrive at school dressed warmly in their ski gear with their boots and poles in tow ready to take advantage of one of the two lifts, Five Trees and Tiehack,  that are within walking distance of our school doors. Tourists come from all over the world to experience the mountains that we see everyday, so it is important that our school celebrates our unique culture created by the beautiful nature that surrounds us. The day gives students a chance to experience the outdoors while exercising and helps us create new relationships with students, and even teachers out on the slopes. The school’s administration obviously sees the benefits of Ski Day because it has been around for many years, however, in recent years they have threatened to take it away because attendance has been a big issue.

According to Student Senate advisor Tameria Wilson, less than fifty percent of the school showed up to ski day last year.

“First of all, it counts as a day of school for us, so to have fifty percent of the population not show up makes it really hard to justify. Secondly, the whole spirit of ski day is to celebrate community, not only as a high school, but as a community,” Wilson said.  “If it’s not going to be about community, not going to be about tradition, not going to be honoring a regular school day, then the question becomes ‘why?’.”

Although some kids may not take advantage of Ski Day and use it as a day off, the rest of the school who attends has had the opportunity to actually experience it, and feels that it has greatly benefited them.

“Ski Day is one of my favorite days of the year. I am able to make new friends outside of the school environment as well exercise, which I often don’t have time to do with my busy workload,” said senior Tess Schaftel, who has attended ski day every year. “It’s a day where we are able to de-stress and enjoy the incredible place we call home.”

With much debate between Student Senate members over whether ski should occur this year, they have decided that it will take place in March. Student Senate is hoping to revamp the day to get kids excited, which is necessary to make the day valuable and worthwhile. They are thinking of things like having a breakfast instead of a lunch to raise money for someone in the community. Another way they are hoping to get kids excited about the day is to try and get a speaker during breakfast from POW(protect our winters) or maybe even Klaus Obermeyer. This will be a great change that will increase the attendance because students won’t have to come off the mountain in the middle of the day. Instead of just being called out of school and skiing on their own, students can socialize with classmates and learn about our unique environment in the morning, and then have the rest of the day to be outdoors. It is important that kids want to come to Ski Day because they are excited to honor the environment that we are lucky enough to be surrounded by.

Student Senate is also working to create an all inclusive environment so even the kids who don’t ski or snowboard can participate. Great activities that everyone can enjoy are hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing or a day at the ARC where students can sled and skate on the outdoor rink. This is very important because not everyone likes to ski and that is not all the town has to offer. Students should be able to celebrate the many activities that are included in Aspen’s culture, and by adding more than just skiing to the day will allow for this.

“Ski Day is just the idea of celebrating our community and Winter!” Wilson said

To accomplish this idea of Ski Day, everyone needs to show up and participate so that it can be a valuable school day spent outdoors with friends and teachers alike.