Michigan State Wake Club members use a winch to pull them through features on a terrain park at Phi Delta Theta on Feb. 9, 2025. The Wake Club threw its annual "rail jam" in the front yard of the fraternity, building their own terrain park with various features.
Michigan State University’s campus doesn’t boast great nearby options for ski and snowboard enthusiasts. In fact, the closest ski resort is nearly 40 miles away in Brighton. One may assume this could contribute to a lack of ski and snowboard culture around East Lansing, but as winter rolls around students in the Wake Club find creative ways to showcase their slopestyle skills.
Traditionally, skiing and snowboarding has been seen as a leisure activity. The late 90s displayed an evolution in the sport, as terrain parks loaded with obstacle features started popping up in the Midwest. Local resorts like Pine Knob Ski and Snowboard School now boasts their terrain park on their website. On television, competitions in slopestyle, halfpipe, or big air at the XGames and winter Olympics draw large audiences, with over two billion people streaming the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games.
The MSU Wake Club may be known for their adventures on the water, but the club has a variety of talented students in snow sports that can put up a show in a terrain park setting.
"Growing up, kids would build parks in their backyards," construction management sophomore and vice president of the Wake Club Michael Scavnicky said. Crafting a park at home enables performers to get more practice when the local park is closed.
For those who don’t desire to grow their skills, the social aspect of spending time with friends and building features attracts many people to the club.
"It’s not like people on campus can see what we do," Scavnicky said, as the club sees most of its busiest days behind the boat. Hosting a unique event like the rail jam allows students around campus to obtain a better look at the skills Wake Club possesses.
The stars of the show in this year’s rail jam were packaging sophomore Xavier Zweering and junior mechanical engineering Sutton Wright. From board slides to backflips over flaming kegs, Zweering and Wright put on a stellar performance in front of a cheering crowd. Other athletes in the lineup included business exploratory freshman Ben Oneil, finance freshman Noah Moore and supply chain management sophomore Anderson Halland.
Although it may only appear as a social event with an acrobatic show, the Wake Club’s rail jam has a history that extends past freestyle tricks from snowsport athletes. Three years ago, MSU alumni and former Wake Club executive board member Jonah Attia helped debut the event in honor of his late friend Nick Bojo.
Attia, who participated in this year’s jam, said he was extremely glad to see the event again. The club was unable to put on the event due to a lack of snow last year, but, weather permitting, looks to carry on the tradition for years to come.
