By Jane Bartlett Pappas
This reporter had the pleasure of talking to Nancy Lilly (C’15), one of the group leaders on the SOP ski trip that took place Feb. 1-3. Along with Lilly, Sam Costas (C’13), Pierce Byers, John Benson and Sam Cappelman (C’12) were all leaders of the group. The others that attended included Stella Pfau (C’12), Liz Urquhart, Robert Strange, Ashley Block, Watson Hartsoe (C’13), Ford Rushton (C’14), Nicki Hubbard, Ben Yunker, Alexandra George, Elise Landreaux, Rachel Schuman (C’15), Daniel Fortner, Hallie Crosby, Heather Crosby, and John Peyton Bush (C’16). The group of 24 traveled to Sugar Mountain, North Carolina. “The great thing about the SOP trips is that everybody has a different experience,”
Lilly said. There were skiers of all different levels, ranging from beginners to those who have skied their entire lives. Lilly explained how everyone would go off and do their own thing during the day, so the main group bonding time was when they would eat. “On the first day, we ate about six bags of popcorn and a lot of goldfish.”
SOP Director John Benson brought his wife, Emily Puckette and son, Elliot along for the trip. “One night we all watched Where the Wild Things Are with the Bensons. They were like the parents of all of us on the trip”, laughed Lilly. The Sewanee skiers were lucky in that it started to snow on Saturday afternoon, and all day Sunday. In the words of experienced skier Lilly, “it was pretty epic powder for North Carolina.”