The Fenton-Linden ski team recently travelled to northern Michigan for a team bonding weekend at YMCA camp Hayo-went-ha, located in Belair. The skiers left Fenton on Thursday, Nov. 10 and travelled more than four hours to the camp, situated on the north end of Torch Lake. At camp, the team spent the weekend participating in team building activities in order for new and veteran members of the team to become acquainted with each other before the season started.

“We headed up to beautiful camp Hayo-went-ha this previous weekend,” coach Tim Hiscock said. “The whole purpose of the trip was to kick the season off and have the kids get to know each other. Skiers that have been apart of the team before all know one another pretty well, so we use the trip as a way of introducing new members to everyone else and making them feel like a part of the team.”

The ski team itself is a multi-scholastic organization, with skiers from the Fenton and Linden school districts competing together as one team. The trip was done in part for students from the two different school districts to introduce and familiarize themselves amongst each other before the season officially begins.

“Our team is split between two schools, so Fenton and Linden skiers both train and compete together,” sophomore Braden Lapa said. “With there being kids from both schools, there were some Linden people I didn’t really know well. The whole point of this trip was for everyone to get to know each other better, and when you put a bunch of kids in the woods and make them do a bunch of challenging activities, everyone becomes friends pretty quickly.”

Camp Hayo-went-ha specializes in team building exercises, hoping to inspire and establishing unity and cooperation amongst a group. Besides learning to work as a team, athletes also looked to overcome individual obstacles and fears.

“I did something that I didn’t think I could do,” junior Madeline Hiscock said. “There’s a high ropes course that we did at camp, and when I saw the course, I was really nervous to even get on it. I was pretty scared. But, the counselors were really encouraging and helped us conquer our fears. I ended up doing it.”

In addition to all the activities the group conducted, many team members spent time exploring the landscape surrounding the camp. Located on Torch lake in the midst of the forest, skiers spent time hiking the woods and walking along the shoreline of the lake.

“Besides the time we spent walking the woods, I liked going out to the point, which is an area on the lake, and watching the waves roll in,” junior Kelly Kemp said. “That was my favorite part because the view of Torch Lake is really beautiful. We found Petosky stones and watched the sunset.”

The Fenton-Linden ski team returned home on Sunday, Nov. 13. Coaches and athletes hope to take the skills they learned at Hayo-went-ha and implement them into their trainings and competitions. Skiers officially begins their training season in the week following their return from camp. Without snow, skiers are focusing on dry-land training in the time ahead. They will train on land throughout November and look to hit the slopes by early December.