Tyler Davis
    For many years, the Huntley High School Snow Raiders Snowboarding and Ski Club has provided students with the chance to take to the hills at Alpine Valley Resort and refine their snowboarding skills. There are about 75 boarders in the club, but not all of them attend every trip.

     The club provides a necessary release from academic pursuits for some students such as junior Ty Dingbaum.

     “I gone on every trip,” said Dingbaum. “They’re all just awesome.”

     He finds it hard to define his favorite snowboarding moment.

     “Every trip is exciting,” said Dingbaum. “There’s not really a [single] moment, it’s a continuous moment from start to finish.”

     Dingbaum has been snowboarding for eight years, and has been in the club for all three years of his high school career.

     As is with most sports, snowboarding carries with it an inherent risk. For Dingbaum, his worst injury was when he broke his wrist.

     “I was going to go off a jump, went off wrong, and so I landed wrong and landed on my left wrist and put all my weight on it,” said Dingbaum.

     Despite the injury, Dingbaum wouldn’t dream to stop snowboarding.

     Junior Robert Powers, who has been snowboarding for five years, also witnessed what he called a “catastrophic accident” on the hill at Raging Buffalo in East Dundee.

     “We were having a boarder cross and a fellow rider slammed into me and tangled up with a friend,” said Powers. “He popped out his collarbone.”

      The Snow Raiders are able to look past the potential risks and past injuries in order to enjoy themselves.

     “Really, in itself it’s just an exhilarating experience,” said Powers.

     Sponsor Angela Zaleski has been snowboarding herself for over ten years.

     “I like it because it’s something you can do by yourself, or with your friends,” said Zaleski. “It’s something athletic too, which I’ve always liked, and it’s just a rush.”

     There are many things that compel Zaleski to keep riding, and they are in line with the same things that drove her to be the sponsor of the club. This being her fourth year sponsoring the Snow Raiders, she is pushing for even bigger trips in the future.

     “We created a new student committee and one of the ideas is to do a big weekend trip,” said Zaleski.

     The Snow Raiders have also recently had a theme trip, where everyone wore Hawaiian shirts and Zaleski handed out leis, “just to be dorks.”

     Among the benefits of the club is that students may receive free lessons from Alpine Valley instructors Students involved also get a discount whether they are with the group or not. Most of all, however, Zaleski hopes that the Snow Raiders can take more from the club than what is supplied in the short term.

     “One thing I really like about being a sponsor is that I hope the teens take snowboarding to do as a long term activity with their friends and family,” said Zaleski.

Post Author: Mike Krebs. Mike Krebs is a staff writer for The Voice. He is currently a junior a Huntley High School. Aside from writing for the Voice he works at the Crystal Lake Country Club as both a caddie and on the Bag Room Staff. He has been an Explorer at the Algonquin Police Department for two years and currently holds the rank of Lieutenant. He also volunteers with the Tri-Area Court for Teens for Lake in the Hills, Huntley, and Algonquin. He enjoys spending time with family and friends. When possible he enjoys playing paintball with friends at local fields.