We call the fear of trying new things as neophobia. It’s hard to break from routine, from what we know is okay. Of course, when we think of sports, we think basketball, soccer, baseball, football, but we hardly ever think snow sports. Skiing and snowboarding, however, are growing rapidly in popularity. Trinity’s own Ski and Snowboarding Club has seen rapid growth through the years.

Snow sports in the United States are on a rise, according to ​www.snowsports.org​. It states that about 80 percent of athletes who partake in the sports are under 35 years of age. It also states that snowboarding and skiing are bonding activities, and often families go together. You hear a great deal about people taking skiing trips in the winter as a sort of “vacation.”

Of course, the Winter Olympics and the X Games also draw a lot of attention to these sports. According to statistics done by CNN, the expected audience that watched the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games was about three billion people.

Not as competitive as the Olympics or X Games, the Trinity club is still having a great time. Mr. Parker Whitehouse, Mr. Michael Budniak and Dr. Sr. Kathy Cash are among those who have moderated the club, which travels to Paoli Peaks during the winter months.

“It’s a great environment on the buses to Paoli Peaks,” second-year member Noah Murr said.

Murr said they “watch a movie or two,” and the bus is “full of excitement.”

The club trips take place as follows: first they announce the trip in advance for the Friday of a chosen week; then on that Friday, students put their ski/snowboarding equipment in a classroom; finally, they head up to Paoli on a chartered bus and have a great day and evening skiing.

When they are finished skiing, they begin their bus ride back to Trinity. Typically, they arrive back around 11:30 at night.

Murr said, “It’s a workout, no joke; you’ll be sore the next morning.”

The club is also open to those who snowboard. Sophomore Hayden Bailey, longtime snowboarder and second-year club member, said, “When I first joined the club, I had no clue it’d be this popular. I was surprised but still very happy.”