North Carolina 08'

I dont think we could have had a more perfect trip to the Mountains in North Carolina. Snowboarding has always been a passion of mine. I usually take multiple trips a year. Michigan, Montreal, and North Carolina. My favorite of all these trips, is North Carolina. We usually take a group of about 20 to 25 college students to the montains in Appalachian North Carolina. The thing i like about this place, is that its very private. Its a full-fledged ski Resort, but its very secluded and it isnt over-crowded. This is exciting for someone who enjoys the sport for what it is, and doesn't want to worry about dodging kids and people new to the sport. This year in particular, i was incredibly excited because we were going before christmas, and not after. This means even LESS people would be on the slopes.

We rented 4 different 15 Passenger vans from Hertz, and met at a church at 4am. We need to be at the resort by 6pm, and its a 10 hour drive without stops. That being said, we pulled in at 6:10pm and they let us check in without penalty. We got unpacked and went to a local barbecue place that was right on the mountain. It had a beautiful overlooking view of the valley below, complete with snow and sunlight. Perfect. The food was also incredible. There is nothing like home-cooked North Carolina Barbecue. This "Whatever-the-cook-makes" style restaurant was a nice change of pace from the main-stream dining style of Central Florida. It was the highlight of the day. We went to bed and started on the slopes the next morning.

Now, the funny thing about Appalachian Ski Resort, is that if it is too warm to snow, they make their own. And the first day, they made plenty. Three feet exactly. Now, if you have ever been in three feet of snow, you would know it doesnt allow alot of snowboarding leverage. We had to wait for the rollers to pack it down before we were able to snow board. Unfortunately, this took awhile. Two Hours. We had to sit on the balcony overlooking the slopes. Kind of a tease. But we were able to get on the slopes as soon as the Rollers were done, and get a good 3 or 4 hours of boarding done before we called it a night. We went down the mountain and into town to get food and gear from the local Wal-Mart located at the base of the mountain. We decided to do the cooking at the resort instead of eating out all the time. This saved money and provided more time to be on the slopes for the group. Dinner that night consisted of Lasagna and salad. Perfect Dinner for the day.

The second day was perfect. With tempertures in the low 50's, it wasnt to cold and it wasnt too hot. I was able to snowboard in a T-Shirt. Absolutely perfect. We had one of the kids in our group get a concussion, which kind of put a damper on the mood because we had to rush her to the Emergency Room at the bottom of the mountain. Luckily, she was fine, and was back at the cabin by nightfall. She wasn't able to ski the rest of the trip, but she was alright. Luckily, the Cabins were nice enough to make her stay enjoyable anyway.

The Third and final day was rough for me especially. After spending the first two days snowboarding incredibly, my trip ended on a bad note when i went down a Black Diamond slope at the wrong time. A small kid was learning to ski with the trainer and swerved off from her group and in front of me. This was fine, i was gonna go around her. But when she tried to stop and tumbled in front of me, i had no choice but to jump her. Unfortunately, i landed on a path of ice and did a little tumble myself. I dislocated my shoulder and pulled two muscles in my back and stomach. Wasnt my plan on ending my week. But it was alright. At least it was at the end of the trip, and not at the beginning.

The bus ride home was uncomfortable because my shoulder had to be elevated higher than my collar bone. Luckily i had my laptop and a bunch of movies to keep me occupied. It was a productive trip. Although, the hospital trips werent the pride of the excursion, they brought the group closer than they were due to spending hours in a cramped hospital room together. We got home in less time than it took us to get there. We returned the cars, said our good byes, and when on our ways. It was a productive experience, and i look forward to next years trip.