On Saturday, February 8, over thirty members of the Upper School were scheduled to go on the third annual PDS ski trip. After two successful years, the event—from 2:00 pm to 11:30 pm at Blue Mountain Ski Resort—was highly anticipated among the students. However, mere hours before the event, a message went out to all participants, notifying them that due to inclement weather, the ski trip was canceled.

Senior Rohan Shah, who created and planned the ski trip, lamented that “everything was already planned, but unfortunately, it was set to snow that night, and the faculty didn’t want the bus to drive back in the snow.” The planning process was similar to previous years, following a plan that Rohan created in his sophomore year after promising a ski trip in his campaign for class president. He reflects that “when it came to planning the trip, the faculty didn’t seem optimistic that it would happen,” but after he created a specific plan that “took care of transportation, every single place people would be picked up, [and] the location,” the faculty agreed to have the trip. Since then, that plan has become the framework in which the following ski trips have been executed.

It is unfortunate that despite the months of planning involved in this event, it could not take place. “I expected to go with my friend,” said sophomore Elizabeth Nagy, “so I was really disappointed when I found out.” In a school where the students are constantly dealing with stress from assessments, projects, and schoolwork, such events allow students to destress and bond with classmates outside of the classroom. Hopefully, PDS students will be able to look forward to another opportunity to bond with peers at next year’s ski trip.