[Walden]

Alright, I'm back from the High Country where I spent 3 days and 3 nights of fun.

I received three nights lodging at Cliff Dwellers Inn in Blowing Rock(Thursday-Saturday), but due to one person in our group, we were only able to take advantage for Friday and Saturday nights. Ed is the Innkeeper and he could not have been a nicer guy. The room was great and the hospitality was better. We pulled in Friday night and immediately went for a drink at Canyons in Blowing Rock. Great bar with great bartenders (Mattie and Jay). The band was nice playing some good The Band and Little Feat covers. I definetly recommend this bar if you ever travel up there.

We ended the night with hopes of hitting the slopes early, but we awoke to a bunch of rain which didn't end until about 4:00PM so we just went sight seeing.

Then the rain changed over to snow and we hit App mountain for some Ice skating. The snow didn't stopuntil late the next night. That night we also hit up the Boone Saloon to see Toubab Krewe, a great band out of Asheville. These guys are playing Bonnaroo this year and seem to be growing as the place was overflowing and people had to wait outside. Good times.

Okay so Sunday we finally get to hit the slopes of Beech Mountain. It was still snowing pretty heavy and there was actually some good powder and since I have been skiing only Colorado for the past eight years (1 as a kids instructor) that was a very pleasant surprise. Now the bad part; Beech Mountain had every snow gun on I couldn't see a damn thing the entire time. Between no visibility and being sprayed in the face with what felt like little rocks, I only got about 10 runs in the whole time before we just gave up. As bad as the mountain was, the lift operators and the Ski Patrol were even worse. The lift operators were either stoned or just not there mentally. The thing is is that you can't really complain too much about it when its free. You know what they say, "A bad day skiing is better than a good day at work."

That night we started to look for a place to stay for the night in Banner Elk and spoke with the most miserable human being I have encountered in a long time. The old bearded and pony-tailed guy that runs the AZALEA INN was so mad at his lot in life that he tried his hardest to pass his negativity on to our group, but luckily to no avail. I grew up in a tourist town myself (Helen, GA) and I understand that people can get a little irritated with tourists, but some people need to learn not to bite the hand that feeds them.

Sooo, we went back to Boone and got a nice cheap motel room and hit up The Library to watch the Super Bowl and had a great time.



Overall it was a great weekend and I want to thank Mike for the all the free stuff and Ed for being a great host at the Cliff Dwellers Inn and everyone else we met that made us want to come back to the High Country.

I have some pictures from the weekend, but I don't know how to post them so if anybody wants me to e-mail them to them to post, I'd be glad to. They aren't very good, but they're better than nothing.



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[TNKen]

Hey Walden, what's the deal? I skied all day Sunday. Once you ducked the guns at the top, great snow. BTW, what's the gripe with the patrol???



Ken

[Walden]

Maybe my eyes aren't as good as yours. I couldn't see for the entire top half of the mountain and the bottom half was better, but how many times can I ride up the slow lift to the middle just to take a two minute run? I didn't mean to offend anyone, and I am well aware that this is not the norm and that the almost blizzard conditions from Mother Nature at the top made it worse. I can't wait to go back and take some turns on a nice sunny day with the guns off.



BTW, the thing with the Ski Patrol was me trying to start conversation with one and not getting any verbal response.

Me-"Have y'all been busy?"

SP- 'Head nod

Me- "Is it supposed to snow all night?"

SP- 'Shoulder shrug

Me- "Are they going to keep the snow guns on the whole time?"

SP- 'Head nod



But, hey, I'm sure its like cops, there are some bad ones and there are some good ones.

[TNKen]

We had a bunch of folks on the hill Sunday. Don't think it was me, but I get asked that question about 20 times a day, especially when the guns are on. I was kinda white out at the top. I got vertigo a couple of times while standing at the top.



Beech (and all the rest) lost so much coverage during the warm days that I'm sure they are going to blow every chance they get to regain lost ground.



Ken

[2slikstix]

Send your pix and review to [email protected], Mike would appreciate it im sure.