Some business school students walk out the door at graduation and see their old classmates only sporadically. But for the class of 1992, getting together is an adrenaline-producing event—an epic, weekend-long ski trip that takes place every winter.
The tradition began in the mid-1990s when a small group of friends including Dan Hoskins, ’92; John McBain, ’92; Ed Ryder, ’92; and Jim Tuchler, ’92, took a trip out to Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado.
“It was probably a core group of 10 of us for a number of years, and then it started to grow as more people started hearing about it,” says Ryder, managing principal and real- estate investor at BayRock Partners in Chicago, who serves as the official coordinator of the yearly outing.
Now in its 26th year, the Booth Class of 1992 Ski Trip typically draws between 20 and 35 classmates. Most years, the group travels to Lion Square Lodge, a ski-in, ski-out condo resort in Vail, Colorado, to hit the slopes, share dinners, and reminisce in the hot tub.
“I think there is a very human desire to keep up with people you’ve known for a long time, and who remember you when you were younger,” Ryder says. “And when we get together, it’s like nothing has ever changed.”
Ryder admits he’s not the most accomplished skier himself. Originally from Long Island, New York, he worked as a financial analyst in Florida before coming to Booth. His first time on the slopes, he was so inexperienced that it took seemingly forever for him to get down. “I was literally the last person to come off the mountain,” he laughs. “I had the ski patrol guys right behind me.” But he fell in love with the sport, especially with pristine glade skiing. “I love going out into the trees, especially when there is fresh powder, and just cruising along,” says Ryder. “It is so peaceful and beautiful.”
Ryder treats the Booth trip like a real-life B-school case, creating a complicated spreadsheet with all of the costs for beds, meals, and lift tickets, which are then split equitably between participants. In the beginning, accommodations were spartan, with classmates sharing beds and sleeping on pullout sofas. When John Greener, ’92, now chief human resources officer of online pet retailer Chewy in Dania Beach, Florida, was forced to sleep on a pullout one year and was kept up until the wee hours by rowdy classmates, the group instituted the Greener Rule, declaring each participant must get a real bed. “We’ve reached the point of maturity where sofa beds are off limits,” says Ryder, noting most participants are in their 50s. “That’s a bright line now. We always get a big expensive room right by the gondola that we call Base Camp. The refrigerator is stocked with food and beer and wine, and everybody goes there for breakfast in the morning and happy hour before dinner.”