Skiing on the Extreme
January 18, 2010
Filed under Community, Student Life
Let’s be honest, the only time anybody in North Augusta is going to see snow is if they go to the mountains for some skiing. Luckily, North Augusta is not far from some great ski lodges. Many churches in the local area go on ski trips with their youth between January and March.
When speaking with students from the school about skiing I asked them, what church they went to, where they ski and what they liked most about the resort they stayed at. Ashlyn Kelly, who goes to Grace United Methodist, said her youth group ski in West Virginia at the ski resort called Winterplace. She recalled her favorite memory saying, “last year, I tried to ski down one of the harder ski slopes but I sucked and I wimped out so I had to slide all the way down on my butt. It was quite embarrassing.”
Ski trips at Grace United Methodist are somewhat a reward for the youth after they do a certain amount of volunteer work around the community and in the church. Karen Denny says, “It gets the kids more involved, and helps some of them get service hours for school.” Savannah Hiatt attends Saint Bartholomew Episcopal Church. She said that her youth group normally skis at Winterplace also, but this year they will be skiing Wolf Ridge in North Carolina. “Ski trips with my church have always been something to look forward to. It is great to bond with everybody in our youth, and friends that are brought along. My favorite trip was my freshman year; I had a blast, met some new friends, some on accident, and made tons of memories! I also got a few good pictures of me falling.”
Keely Gillespie went on her first ski trip this year with Redeemer Presbyterian Church. They also went to Winterplace in West Virginia. When I asked Keely about her experience, she told me, “Skiing was a fun experience. The first day was pretty rough but after learning the basics it was really fun being able to go down the slopes.”
Halie Curry and her family travel all the way to Vail, Colorado to go skiing. “We always fly out of Atlanta and land in Denver. My family and I stay in a condo in Lions Head Village the ski resort. We have never bought any skis we just rent them from the shop available. Normally we ski for five days; in all the years I have been I have never been disappointed. The slopes are always nice, and always have snow on them. It is never too crowed and we do not have to wait in lines to get on the lifts. Another great thing is that you can ski for hours without having to get on a lift over and over again, because the mountain is so big.”
I asked her if any family members had ever been hurt, or if she had seen anyone get hurt. Halie replies, “I have seen a few people get hurt; normally these people are on the expert slopes. No one in my family has ever been hurt before.”
When I asked her about the trails and how it was different from Winterplace she told me, “There are a variety of trails and slopes on the mountain. You can ski the back bowl (very wide slopes that dip in just like a bowl), and you can ski through the tree trails. At Winterplace, they do not have tree trails, so that is a major difference because those are really fun. In addition, there are bunny slopes for the beginners and black diamonds for the intense skier. Winterplace is good if you do not want to go very far and you still have a great variety of slopes, you just have to wait in line more than you do in Colorado.”
Halie and her family have been there three times and she says that she hopes her family keeps going back.
Skiing is a great exercise, and it is a fun sport to do with your family or youth group. It is also a great bonding experience. So get away from the crazy climate of North Augusta and go skiing!
