Despite a mild winter, Oswego students will get a chance to ski and snowboard right on campus on Feb. 17 as part of the annual Rail Jam event being held outside Marano Campus Center from 1 to 4 p.m. 

The event, organized each year by the Ski and Snowboard Club, is an opportunity for the on-campus community to come together during Oswego’s typically harsh winters, staying physically active and competing for prizes.

“You can embrace that darkness and the snow in a good way, a positive, community-based way,” Joseph Dolan, the president of the Ski and Snowboard Club, said. “There’s music, we’re going to have Monster Energy coming out, there’s some different prizes. It’s just a fun way to be active outside.”

This year’s Rail Jam has run into complications due to relatively high temperatures and a lack of consistent snow, though, forcing the event to move from its typical location in Hewitt Quad to the hill near the campus center. 

“It’s just a disappointing winter for snowfall, but we’re doing our best,” Dolan said. “It’s not going to be as big, but we’re still aiming to do it.”

Dolan said that SUNY Oswego’s Facilities Services staff has been crucial to making sure that Rail Jam can still go on with plenty of snow for students to ski and snowboard on despite the warm winter.

“We work with maintenance and grounds crew, which they’ve been great. They’re always great,” Dolan said. “They’re going to do their best to use their big payloaders and move snow from the big pile over in the athletics parking lot over towards the fields.”

The tradition of Rail Jam began in 2012, when the Ski and Snowboard Club first turned Hewitt Quad into a snow park. It has continued each year, largely without pause but did halt in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It’s of course a legacy to carry on, to get more people skiing, to get more people knowledgeable about what skiing is,” Dolan said. “To make it through COVID and come back now, and we’re still going with it, it’s really exciting.” 

Despite the hurdles, this year’s Rail Jam will still occur, and Dolan said he’s still looking forward to the unique energy the event brings to Oswego’s winter season. 

“It’s not something you see every day, skiing on campus, between all the buildings and what not,” Dolan said. “Everyone’s excited, everyone’s happy. It’s pretty light.” 

For more information on Rail Jam and other Ski and Snowboard Club activities, visit their page on SUNY Oswego’s Laker Life website at https://lakerlife.oswego.edu/organization/skisnowboardclub.

Photo via oswego.edu