Ski Trip

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712422738832880498.post-52384965157440305292008-02-24T10:37:00.000-08:002008-02-28T10:41:29.429-08:00Ski Trip<div style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px; MARGIN-LEFT: 10px"><a title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mezger-breuker/2295790011/"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 2px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 2px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 2px solid" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3190/2295790011_268f0babb3_m.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mezger-breuker/2295790011/">iPhone 016</a> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mezger-breuker/">annm&mikeb</a> </div>I decided that since I haven't been skiing in 5 years, I didn't want another year to go by. Seeing that it was my buddy Andy's birthday, I decided to take him to the resort of his choice. Andy I used to ski at least once a year when we were younger, but always in small Pennsylvania ski resorts, like <a href="http://www.skiliberty.com/lmr/interactive-trail-map.aspx">Liberty</a> or <a href="http://www.skiwhitetail.com/tour.htm">White Tail</a>. The last time I went skiing, however, was at <a href="http://media.intrawest.com/whistler/flash/trailmap/compare.html">Whistler/Blackcomb</a>, which was five days of intense skiing on one of the largest, if not the largest, ski resort in North America. I know nothing within driving distance of DC, much less on the east coast, is going to compare to that, but I thought there might be something in West Virginia that was halfway decent. Andy had been to <a href="http://www.canaanresort.com/">Canaan Valley</a>, and remembered it as being one of the larger resorts in the area, so that's what we settled on. We left Friday afternoon from Andy's cabin in Luray and drove for just under 4 hours to arrive at the resort in time for dinner. The plan was to get there, have dinner, hang out the bar and enjoy the resort entertainment the night before skiing. Then get up the next day, ski all day and drive home. We didn't plan that very well. First of all, the resort was much smaller than I anticipated. As a matter of fact, there was a single ski lodge, surrounded by hotel rooms. The lodge had one restaurant, and a "lounge" that wasn't much of a bar at all, and absolutely no entertainment. It turns out that Canaan Valley is a very family oriented place, which is great for families, but doesn't offer much for two guys in their mid-thirties who now have nothing to do for the rest of the evening. There were busloads of teenagers from various church youth groups arriving, as well as families with small children, but that was it. The funny thing is, we ended up making friends with the only other thirty-something couple there at the lounge who had no kids with them (they left them at home) and it turns out the guy is a friend of one of my co-workers in Dallas. Small world. Skiing the next day was fun because it has been so long, but overall, was probably the worst conditions I have ever been in. Most of the trails were closed, and considering how small the <a href="http://www.canaanresort.com/skimap/index.htm">mountain</a> was, that left only two slopes for us to use. One beginner slope and one intermediate. Both were either slush or ice, and I even skied on grass a couple of times. Visibility was non-existant with some very thick fog present, which ultimately cut our trip short. Still, I'm glad I went. I needed the practice so I can go back to one of the bigger resorts and enjoy it to its fullest. Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14631212759094875063noreply@blogger.com