KSU Alumni Ski Trip — Colorado · 2022
KSU Alumni Ski Trip
KSU Alumni Ski Trip
Telluride
Where it all began. The first-ever KSU Alumni ski trip — and the mountain that started a tradition.
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Where it all began. The first-ever KSU Alumni ski trip — and the mountain that started a tradition.
Every tradition has a first chapter. For the KSU Alumni Ski & Snowboard Club, that chapter was written on the slopes of Telluride, Colorado in January 2022. The founding alumni ski trip to Telluride brought together 40+ Kent State alumni for a week of powder, peaks, and the kind of shared experience that turns acquaintances into lifelong friends. We partnered with OutsideLife from day one, and the blueprint they helped us build has powered every trip since.
Co-founded by Andrew Shepherd and Mark Wolterman, the KSU Alumni Ski & Snowboard Club took its first trip to Telluride in January 2022. The mission was simple: keep the crew together after graduation and keep shredding the gnar. What started as an idea became an annual tradition that now draws 40–50+ alumni to the best mountains in the country every January.
Telluride is one of the most iconic ski destinations in America — and it earns that reputation on every run. Nestled in a box canyon in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, the resort offers 2,000 acres of terrain, 4,425 feet of vertical drop, and the kind of dramatic mountain scenery that stops you mid-run. The legendary deep Rockies snowpack means powder days come early and often.
What sets Telluride apart from larger Colorado resorts is the intimacy of the experience. The mountain never feels overcrowded, the historic Victorian mining town at its base is one of the most charming in the West, and the free gondola connecting the resort village to the town of Telluride makes everything effortlessly accessible. Whether you are carving groomers on the frontside, charging the expert chutes of the Gold Hill area, or ducking into the trees for a powder lap, there is terrain for every level of the group ski trip.
For a KSU alumni group ski trip, Telluride delivered everything we could have asked for on a first run — and set a standard that every trip since has been measured against.
The Mountain Lodge Telluride is the kind of place that makes a ski trip feel like something more. Located in Mountain Village at the base of the Telluride ski area, this slopeside log-and-stone lodge sits directly on the mountain with ski-in/ski-out access, soaring timber ceilings, and the warmth of a Colorado mountain cabin scaled up to resort proportions. For the founding KSU alumni ski trip, it set the bar for every place we've stayed since.
Steps from the lifts in Telluride Mountain Village. Clip in from the property and ski back to the door at the end of the day.
Hand-hewn log construction, vaulted ceilings, stone fireplaces, and private decks with forest views. The cabins feel like a mountain home, not a hotel room.
An outdoor heated pool, hot tubs, and a stone patio surrounded by aspens — the perfect end to a day on the mountain before hitting Telluride's après ski scene.
The free Telluride Gondola connects Mountain Village to the historic town of Telluride in minutes — dinner, bars, and the full town experience without a car.
The first trip.
The San Juans.
The beginning.
The KSU alumni ski trip has visited Telluride, Jackson Hole, Crested Butte, and Aspen/Snowmass. Every January, 40–50+ alumni take over a new mountain. Drop us a message or follow on Instagram to get on the list before the link drops.
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