By Gilbert Gutierrez III
Daily Titan Staff Writer

Cal State Fullerton women snowboarders, of last year’s team, prepare for their heat to start in the boardercross, a snowboarding competition where several boarders start at the top of a mountain and race to the bottom. They decided to have a little fun before charging down the mountain. Photo courtesy Breana Hope.

As the Cal State Fullerton ski and snowboard team gears up for this winter, there’s no telling what to expect from these men and women who live for the thrill of the snowy summit.

The ski and snowboard club on campus is back for a second year and will strive to come out on top this winter in the Southern California Collegiate Snowsports Conference, a branch league from the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association.

Competitions are held at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., from late December to early April with about six competitions per season. The events are held separately for both men and women in a number of ski and snowboard events.

The race season consists of slalom for skiers only, giant slalom, boarder/skier cross, slopestyle and half-pipe.

The CSUF team will be racing against opponents from USC, UCLA, UC Irvine, Cal State Long Beach and more.

Last season, CSUF ski and snowboard president Breana Hope ranked eighth out of 40 in the women’s snowboard combined individual scores.

Hope said that the team first came about as a simple group on Facebook and gradually grew throughtout fall 2008.

She had the inspiration to start the team from her sister Cara, whom was also a member of the UCLA ski and snowboard team.

Captain Shea Helms, 22, a public relations major from San Jose, caught on to the team early last year and has been a huge asset to the team.

Thanks to Helms’ social networking skills she was largely responsible for doubling the number of team members from 10 to 20 this year.

Each student athlete pays a one-time fee of $500 for the whole season, which pays for housing and racer fees.

Much of the team’s fundraising this year came from a car wash, garage sale and My Sports Dreams, which is the nation’s leading sports fundraiser. This is cared for by faculty adviser Nathan Longcrier and Sports Club Inter-Club Council adviser Jamaar Walker.

Longcrier is an athletic training professor on campus who watches over the team, and Walker provides a lot of the updates and necessary paperwork that keeps the team afloat, Hope said.

The team is also sponsored by Grenade, Fuel TV and Wrong Gear, each play a major role of gearing up every snowboarder on the team.

A snowboarder competes in one of the giant slalom events last year. The giant slalom is a timed event where each individual rides down the mountain and carves past each flag from left to right as fast as they can. Photo courtesy Breana Hope.

Helms said one of the goals this year was to bring the team closer together than they were last season.

“Everyone on the team is just about my best friend, and we hang out every day,” Helms said.
Helms, alongside Hope, competes in all of the snowboard events for CSUF, and she feels that her skills have really developed in the slopestyle competition.

She has been riding for 13 years and feels that her skills have definitely improved after competing for the first time last year.

Despite gaining the competitor’s edge, she said, “You feel just free when you’re out there. It’s something you do to forget all your worries.”

Former team member Casey Gonzalez met Hope in fall 2008 in a kinesiology course.

The two became good friends, and when they both shared the fact that they love to snowboard, Gonzalez was instantly made a member of the team and laced up to ride that very same winter.

“None of us had ever met before, but we all became really good friends and we gelled together as a team,” Gonzalez said.

Since only undergraduates are allowed to compete, Gonzalez said that she will root from the sidelines this year and will continue to be a mentor to the team and do whatever she can for the team to be successful.

“Each person brings their own thing to the team and helps everybody else out. It’s definitely made my Cal State Fullerton experience better,” Hope said.

The ski and snowboard season for the team begins on Dec. 28 and runs to Apr. 11 at Mammoth Mountain.