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Annual ski swap raises money for Westminster’s alpine ski team

Students, coaches and community members gather for Westminster College’s third annual ski swap in the Dolores Dore Eccles Health, Wellness and Athletic Center (HWAC) on Nov. 10. The swap was a fundraiser for college’s alpine ski team who took 20 percent of all sales from the event. (Photo by Molly Gray)

Each fall, ski and snowboard enthusiasts at Westminster College scramble to get rid of their old gear and replace it with something new, or at least something new to them.

At Westminster’s third annual ski swap, which took place in the Dolores Dore Eccles Health, Wellness and Athletic Center (HWAC) gym from Nov. 8-10, students were able to not only swap and sell their lightly used gear, but also raise money for the college’s alpine ski team in the process.

“We’re just trying to raise every dollar to go skiing with the team this year,” Raffael Breu said.

Breu, a 24-year-old communication major and member of Westminster’s alpine ski team, hopes that the money raised from the ski swap will help the team travel to compete to more National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) races.

“[The money raised] will probably going to go mostly into the travelling budget,” Breu said. “We have like 11 guys [on the team] and skiing is expensive, so we need more money to go to all of the NCAA races.”

Students, coaches and community members gather for Westminster College’s third annual ski swap in the Dolores Dore Eccles Health, Wellness and Athletic Center (HWAC) on Nov. 10. The swap was a fundraiser for college’s alpine ski team who took 20 percent of all sales from the event. (Photo by Molly Gray)

At the ski swap, multiple vendors representing brands like Solomon, Atomic and Rossignol and other ski industry names brought in loads of brand-new gear, discounting it at 50 to 80 percent off regular retail prices. The ski team took 20 percent of all sales, including those gained from used gear brought in by students.

“This year’s been pretty good,” said Madison Ostergren, a 21-year-old communication major and ski team member. “Our sales are up from last year, which is pretty cool. The first couple of years are always a little bit harder.”

Although an exact number of funds raised was not disclosed to The Forum, members of the ski team reported that because of increased marketing and advertising efforts, the three-day sale went well.

“We actually raised quite a lot of money for our ski team,” Ostergren said. “Some days are slower and steady, other days it’s hoppin’.”

Students in need of fresh ski gear also gave positive reviews of the event.

“It was pretty dope,” said 20-year-old psychology major Abby Paine. “There were lots of great items for sale at a very reasonable price. It was fun!”

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Molly is a junior communication major and outdoor education minor who enjoys good food, good company and all things creative. In her spare time, you can find Molly “cheffing up,” skiing, biking, drawing and making short films. She dreams of one day working as a professional videojournalist, and would love to travel the world as a reporter. Molly is excited to start her career in video production with The Forum.

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