The months-old snow in the Southwest horseshoe finally found a purpose, as a jump for competitors at the annual WinterFest rail jam on Friday, Feb. 27. The event, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Ski and Board club, lets students compete in a freestyle skiing and snowboarding competition.
“We were here the last two days just shoveling snow for hours, building the lips, building the jumps,” Etta Schnackenberg, freshman marketing major, said. “It’s been a real team effort, so I’m super grateful.”
During the rail jam, competitors flew down the horseshoe’s hill and showed off their best tricks to a large crowd.
“I’m going to try a backflip and I’m probably not going to land it, but I’m going to try it because it’s for the people,” William Harrington, sophomore informatics major, said. “My goal tonight is to fire up the crowd. It’s a big community event.”
The rail jam is sponsored by Red Bull and their energy drinks were handed out to the crowd at no cost. The event also featured live music and a DJ set that gathered a large crowd.
Schnackenberg invited her friend from home, Sydney Drane, to compete in the event. Drane, from Pittsfield, Mass., was excited for an opportunity to build on her skills.
“[I’ve] been riding for [about] 13 years, self-taught, but I’m still learning every day, shaking bad habits,” Drane said.
Many competitors had prepared by practicing at terrain parks or warming up at local ski areas prior to the competition, but some didn’t feel the need to prepare as much.
“There’s not a lot of [preparation], it’s mostly just send [it],” Mihai Gavala, sophomore mechanical engineering major, said.
Gavala started skiing when he was three years old and raced on club and high school teams for 15 years, but there was lots of variation of experience among the competitors. Nathaniel Hylan, sophomore civil engineering major, only started skiing last year.
“No nerves at all…everyone’s here to have fun, so there’s not a lot of pressure for someone who just started last year,” Hylan said.
Others, like Mitchell Devaux, sophomore finance major, have been skiing for as long as they can remember.
“[I’ve been] skiing since the womb,” Devaux said. “I’m from Colorado, so I’ve been out [on the mountain] my whole life.”
While there was a contrast in years of experience, all the competitors had a shared love for skiing and snowboarding.
“[Snowboarding] has always been a deep passion of mine so it’s great to be out here,” Joe Shermeta, freshman architecture major, said. “It’s great to find community at college with everyone else who shares a similar interest with me. It’s just such a blast.”
Three out of the five winners were UMass students; Schnackenberg won the women’s snowboarding division, Karina Kruchynska, a senior biomedical engineering major, won the women’s skiing division and Aidan Williams, a senior architecture major, won the men’s snowboarding division.
“I cannot even explain how ecstatic I was. It felt like a dream standing there in front of everyone looking at me, cheering me on. I won my first ever rail jam,” Kruchynska said.
Kruchynska said that in her experience, there haven’t been many women who participate in terrain park skiing and snowboarding.
“If I could shout out anything, [it] would be to encourage more women to participate in competitions like this, it’s always inspiring to see more girls going after it in the park,” Schnackenberg said.
Anastasza Dowbusz can be reached at [email protected].
