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Skiing of the Seas - Still Another Not a Cruise Live Blog

Matt

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Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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I haven't left the state of Florida since February 2020, but that's about to change as I'm taking my oldest daughter skiing for her first time.

As a kid, I'd go skiing all the time.  But I haven't gone skiing at all since I think high school, or maybe college. So it has been about two decades since the last time I hit the slopes.

Earlier this winter I had looked at going skiing up in Vermont, but quarantine rules make that kind of trip impossible.

Then, I saw a Facebook post from @AnnetteJackson's family of a ski mountain in the western hills of North Carolina and I knew I had a chance!

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After doing some research, we're going to take the 10 hour drive up to Beech Mountain, which is outside the thriving metropolis of Boone, North Carolina (less than 2 hours from Asheville).

We're going to do a long weekend over President's Day weekend, since my daughter gets 1 day off of school and I convinced my wife to let me pull her out of school for one day before the weekend begins.

I managed to find a ski condo about 20 minutes from the mountain.  Rentals went very quickly in the days I took to decide what to do, but I think for us it will work quite well.

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I also spent a lot of my credit card points on Amazon purchases for the necessary cold weather clothing we need.

I was also able to rent our equipment and get lift tickets via the Beech Mountain website.

The only thing left are lessons, which are available in person on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the lesson. I guess we will be getting up early to lock in those.

My hope is my daughter will enjoy skiing as much as I did at her age, while also hoping I remember how to ski. It can't be that hard to remember how to do things, right?

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Besides injuring myself in a classic case of "Matt, you're not 20 years old anymore", I'm also slightly concerned my daughter will find the cold and windy temperatures too much and want to stop.

Plan is to go after school next week and stop half way in South Carolina, and then get to the mountain the next day.

Basic approach should be:

  • Thursday: Start drive up
  • Friday: Arrive at mountain. Check-in, get equipment, provisions, etc
  • Saturday: Ski!
  • Sunday: Ski!
  • Monday: Drive home bright and early
teddy Pinnacle

teddy

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This is awesome!!   I bet the two of you have a blast.

I loved skiing throughout my 20s and into my 30s, but I never went as much as I wanted...despite living for three years off the access road to Saddleback Mountain in Maine (and 30-40 minutes from Sugarloaf Mountain).   Because I didn't ski frequently, I had a few hours of great skiing once my leg muscles warmed up...then they started getting tired and I would fall a lot.

At 40, I had a successful back surgery and decided the risk wasn't worth the reward anymore.

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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16 hours ago, teddy said:

Because I didn't ski frequently, I had a few hours of great skiing once my leg muscles warmed up...then they started getting tired and I would fall a lot.

Essentially I'm going to be the old man in this clip

 

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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On 2/3/2021 at 2:15 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

I took skiing lessons once.  I never did learn how to slow myself down and stop.  The only way I could ever stop was by running into the snow fence at the bottom of the hill. To be honest, it did work.

Have a blast!

#dontbelikeme

 

While I don't think that will be a problem for me, hoping my daughter figures that part out!

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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22 hours ago, rjac said:

I don't see anything about a drink package being offered. I think you're DEFINITELY going to need one based on when the last time you went skiing

Gonna have to stock the condo fridge!

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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19 hours ago, twangster said:

Skiing is a lot of fun and on a sunny day the contrast of a blue sky and white snow in mountains is breathtaking.  

Might be a good excuse to bring my Sony RX100 I purchased for Alaska. Should fit in my pocket easily enough

Lovetocruise2002 Pinnacle

Lovetocruise2002

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Ok, let this be the point where I document that I am not the first one to start a “not a cruise blog”.  So if I decide to do a “cruise snob heads to the mountains” blog eventually, it will be because our fearless leader did it first. ?

Anyway, I cannot wait to see what fun happens from this! Father/daughter time is precious. One day she will turn into a teenager and you look back on this and cherish it. Enjoy!!

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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12 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

So if I decide to do a “cruise snob heads to the mountains” blog eventually, it will be because our fearless leader did it first. ?

Just as long as you don't start the live blog many weeks in advance, which you started doing first.

Awkward Peace Out GIF by swerk

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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Weather forecast so far looks favorable for snow.

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I'm always leery of forecasts a week away or more, but one issue I've been paranoid of when going to NC to ski is it becoming too warm to ski.  

Looks like we might even see some falling snow the day we arrive.  And it will be sufficiently cold too!

coneyraven Pinnacle

coneyraven

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You two will have a blast.  The Wisp Ski Resort in Garrett Co, MD is about 45 minutes away for us.  Although I haven't ski'd in a long time, at my age, I actually enjoy the "Bear Claw" which is a Snow Tubing Range better .... ain't nothing better than hitting "air" on the way down.  Plus, with it being part of the Deep Creek Lake Recreational area - I never get bored

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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Gotta love weather forecasts. It has changed again.

Now, no precipitation on Friday and Saturday is freezing rain. Of course, this is for Boone and higher elevations would see different weather.

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The mountain website has its own weather forecast too

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twangster Pinnacle

twangster

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1 hour ago, Matt said:

Gotta love weather forecasts. It has changed again.

Now, no precipitation on Friday and Saturday is freezing rain. Of course, this is for Boone and higher elevations would see different weather.

The mountain website has its own weather forecast too

 

Forecast calls for days of fun followed by a few days of sore muscles.  Hopefully the threat of a sore backside from falling down frequently will fail to materialize as the day evolves but forecasters are not able to model this accurately at this time.

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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29 minutes ago, twangster said:

Forecast calls for days of fun followed by a few days of sore muscles.  Hopefully the threat of a sore backside from falling down frequently will fail to materialize as the day evolves but forecasters are not able to model this accurately at this time.

You're not wrong. Last couple of days I've done a few bike rides up the "hills" we have here to try to blast my quads to prep for skiing. 

Fear not, still getting a solid 9-10 hours in front of my PC to even out the nerd quotient.

DDaley Pinnacle

DDaley

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How exciting! I bet she will love it. I used to go with my dad all the time for the 3 years we randomly lived in Massachusetts when I was elementary school aged, and we always had such a good time. 

This will be my 4th year in a row going skiing after having taken a 20-year hiatus prior, and it was easy enough to pick back up (aside from the body aches after day one) so I think you should be fine. Definitely pack a heating pad and an ice pack and be ready to draw a hot bath just to soak your calves in when you come in! 

I had to say "aww" to that cute little terrain map of NC, we have been going to Mammoth Mountain in the Sierras these past few years and the map is so wildly complicated in comparison, haha. Can't wait for the pics! 

 

 

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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9 minutes ago, DDaley said:

I had to say "aww" to that cute little terrain map of NC

I know what you mean. I learned to ski in Connecticut, and their "mountains" are a joke. But for beginners and old farts like me, I think this will be just what we need for getting out there again.

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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Looks like it's going to be above freezing for the weekend. I'll be honest, I'm disappointed. Not just because it would have been nice to have snow instead of rain, but cold rain is really awful. 

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It might help keep crowds away, but I'm more concerned about the ski conditions and icy slopes. 

For what it's worth, today it's 42 degrees and all the trains are open (according to their website).

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