Do you want to ski or snowboard? Mt. Ellis Academy can help you out as the only Adventist “boarding” academy in the United States. The school has its own ski hill just three miles from campus (and it’s the only ski hill in the area with lighted night skiing).

Bear Canyon Ski Hill is owned and operated by Mt. Ellis Academy. When school starts, students, staff and community members volunteer to get the hill and ski lodge ready for the ski season. As soon as the last snowflakes hit the hill at the end of the first big snowstorm in the fall, Ray Wheeling, MEA maintenance man, is grooming the slopes. The hill officially opens when Darren Wilkins, MEA principal, ensures that there is a “safe amount of snow” for skiers and boarders.

Students, who bring their own ski and boarding equipment, usually ski or board on Wednesday nights. When the snow is good, the entire school will be up at the lodge on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. Non-skiers visit in the lodge, sled down the hill or play in the snow.

Last winter the Mt. Ellis Church young adult group started a tradition of hosting on the hill—they volunteer to run the ski lifts, prepare goodies for the students and play games in the lodge.

The ski hill isn’t just for MEA students. The Bridger Ski Foundation rents the hill for its mogul team to practice. Community church members often join the short lift lines on Saturday nights.

In February, students from all over the Northwest gather at Mt. Ellis for a Bible conference and ski experience. Special speakers present morning and evening worships, and then participants ski Bear Canyon and two of the larger ski resorts in the area. It’s the major bargain of the decade—good music, good preaching, good skiing, good roommates (participants bunk with host students in the men’s and women’s residence halls) and good food all for a great price. For more information, contact mea@bridgeband.com.