Spring Break
Ski program adds deck to Mount Aggie
By: Jessica Henning
Issue date: 10/2/07 Section: News
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Assistant Director of the Division of Marketing and Communications Kelli Levey, said that George Jessup was the one who talked Sun & Ski Sports into donating the equipment.
Jessup founded the ski program at Texas A&M after retiring as a health and kinesiology professor and still teaches some of the intermediate ski courses on campus.
His work over the previous few years is what led to the donation of the ski deck.
"I wanted that [ski deck] and kept asking for it every time I saw it, and now they're moving their store and won't have room for it. [Now] we get it," Jessup said.
The previous ski decks at A&M were more like small ramps and were located where a parking garage now exists close to Kyle Field, but with additions and a height of 70 feet, the decks have moved by the Varsity Tennis Center on West Campus.
"I built the first two versions pretty much on my own, and now I'm happy to say it is part of the culture of A&M," Jessup said.
Student skiers helped to disassemble the deck and transport it from the Houston business to College Station.
The ski deck will remain in storage until a permanent home can be made for it.
A&M's Mountain Sports Club started a capital campaign to raise an approximate $400,000 to build an enclosed space for the apparatus, Jessup said.
He said he wants to have the ultimate Aggie skiing experience by adding falling imitation snow to the indoor ski area someday.
"I hope to see that before I die," he said.
The ski deck's surface consists of a material called Snowpak, which is similar to the Astroturf textile used in many sports stadiums.
Sun & Ski Sports instructors will be available for free lessons on Mount Aggie to consumers who buy a minimum purchase at any of the local Houston businesses.
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