About 50 Ohio University students spent the better part of Friday afternoon on South Beach - but they were donning snow gear and gloves instead of swimsuits and flip-flops.
The OU Snowcats, the skiing and snowboarding club, hauled truckloads of snow from area parking lots for Rail Jam - two jumps and a drop-in leading into a 20-foot rail.
Winter sports suppliers Aspen Ski and Board and Redd Flock, and ski resort Mad River Mountain, sponsored the event.
The free event went over well with participants, including junior Bobby Mileti.
It's pretty sweet
said Mileti, who is studying civil engineering. I've never seen anything like it at OU.
The location made it difficult for Snowcats to hold a conventional rail jam - which usually requires multiple hills and much more snow.
Considering where we put this you couldn't ask for much more said Craig Caputo, who snowboarded at the rail jam.
He added that while he enjoys the Snowcats' quarterly trips, he wishes they put on more small events like the rail jam.
Stephanie Grubor, a fourth-year student at Ohio State University, drove to Athens to snowboard at the rail jam. She said that there could (have been) more stuff
but that it was worth the drive.
Snowcats' Marketing and Public Relations Officer Danny Messmer said he considered Rail Jam a success, despite some last minute complications.
Only one of two promised rails was set up on South Beach because the other one wouldn't fit in a truck, Messmer said. Despite having one fewer rail than expected, event planners were happy with the turnout.
It ran really well
Messmer said.
The Snowcats' next event is a whitewater-rafting trip to West Virginia later this year. The club has organized similar trips before and last year was awesome
Messmer said.
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Joe Fox
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