Ski Trip to Sugar Mountain Part 1

I am well aware that I have been MIA for a few days.  This Christmas season has been crazy for me and last week was the culmination of it all.  Between 3, yes 3 separate work Christmas parties, a Christmas party for the basketball team and two away basketball games (and not to mention having to be at work all week), I was not sure which end was up by the time I got back from Georgia (yes we played one of our away games in GA).

But I did not have time to relax because we left the next morning for a much needed VACATION!  My BIL and FSIL took a ski trip last winter and had a blast so they decided to get a group together, rent a cabin and do it again this year, so we got a group together and headed to Sugar Mountain in North Carolina. This place is  so pretty, the scenery is amazing!

I had been snowboarding once about 8 years ago, but it was not a pleasant experience and I ended up turning in my stuff and spending the rest of the day in the lodge while the people I was with played on the slopes.  I promised my brother who has become a snowboarder extraordinaire that one day when I finished playing basketball that I would let him teach me how, but we've just never had a chance to get together on the slopes since he is in college now.

 I was a little apprehensive to get on my board, but most of the people we were with were inexperienced, too, so we all figured it out together. The first day was much like my first snowboarding experience.  I spent the majority off the day on my @ss, or my knees.  I felt like I'd done a full body workout every time I got to the bottom of the [bunny] hill.  Let's just say I am glad we rented the snowboards for 2 days up front, because I finally got the hand of it on the second day and it was soooooo much fun!  By the end of the second day, I could get down the hill without falling, steer myself, stop myself (very important skill), and even get off the ski life with out busting it on the ramp--the ski life was seriously the worst part; I have 4 bruises on my left leg and 3 of the 4 are from a nasty spill I took trying to get off the chair lift.

this is how we spent much of the first day

so excited that I figured it out!

snowboarders

 I was so excited that I had to call my brother to tell him that I could snowboard!  I am ready to get on the slopes again to show him my moves...and get some much needed pointers.

Of course snow boarding was not the only thing we did on the trip....we got to spend one morning on Grandfather Mountain......more to come on that tomorrow!