We chose Wintergreen, VA for its close proximity to home base (just a 3 hour drive and we were there!) and because many of our friends had been there and loved it. We had heard the slopes are a little shorter, which is true, but we are the beginners of beginners, so that was fine by us!
I went skiing with my family once in high school, but Parker had never been. He has been talking about wanting to go ever since we got married, so this trip has been a long time coming. We were like little kids on Christmas the first day: all suited up in our warmest and ready to hit the slopes!
We decided to take a lesson, which I highly recommend if you've never been or haven't been in a really long time. It was helpful just to get the basics down and probably prevented a few falls, although we still managed to fall a lot. More on that in a bit.
We stayed on the green slopes the entire time. As excited as we were, our biggest fear was twisting a knee or an ankle, so we were Mr. and Mrs. Safety for the weekend. Slow skiing for the win! By the end of the trip, we felt like we could have graduated to the blue slopes but ultimately decided not to push our luck. When we come back next year, we will definitely (and carefully) try out the blue!
We skied about 7 hours both Friday and Saturday. Friday definitely had the perfect conditions. There were minimal lines for the ski lifts, and they were making snow all day, so the slopes were nice and powdery! Saturday, it was very crowded and a little icy compared to the previous day. We spent a lot of time hanging out in line for the ski lifts, so we tried to make skiing down the mountain take as long as possible to make each run worth it!
I'd love to say that we never fell, but that would be a lie. Despite our cautious decision to stay on the bunny slopes, we still faceplanted quite a bit! One of us fell a lot more than the other, but we won't say which one. ;) Funny enough, when we realized the other had fallen, each of our first inclinations was to pull out the phone to take a picture. A good fall needs to be documented!
Parker decided to take it one step further and create this collage of pictures he took when I just couldn't seem to get up after a fall. Seriously, it's harder than it looks! He said it best... the struggle is real.
It's funny, because the weekend was simultaneously relaxing yet exhausting. It was the perfect getaway, but we were both so tired by the end of each day. We were asleep by 9 PM the first night and 10 PM the second night, which is pretty early for us on a weekend. Skiing is no joke!
Skiing in Wintergreen has definitely been our favorite experience of the year so far, and I am so grateful to my husband for making such a perfect adventure buddy and best friend. We are counting down the weeks until we can go again next year!
