Skeptical yet excited I packed my bags. I had never visited the South, aside from the ousted stepchild of the southern states, Florida, yet going to the south I always anticipated packing a bathing suit or hunting gear. This time however, I was packing to go skiing in Wintergreen, VA.
Picked up at the airport and dropped off at the top of a mountain, I was a little confused. I asked the driver where the mountain was and he equably pointed down the hill. So, I checked in and proceeded to go take a look around and look down the mountain. The hotel and “base” facilities were at the top which is a mountain design I had never seen before. However, with dozens of snow guns operating the air was thick with a brisk eastern flair, and after having one of the best snow years in history I could almost guarantee that they had bigger snow banks then Snowbird and Alta combined. With an average yearly snowfall comparable with two major storms in Utah, this year in Virginia has seemingly been hit with blizzard after blizzard as I later learned the kids had missed three weeks of school already this winter. However with all this snow, the hotel was dead. Aside for some employees mulling about I did not see a person. It was 11:00pm and I was looking to have a beer, but I scrummed to the idea of sleep.
I met Sepp Kober, the organizer of the event the next morning and he briefed me on what to expect and what my duties were to be. I had been sent to the Southeast by HEAD Winter Sports to assist in the “Double-Cross” event. Come to find out Wintergreen and Freestyle Ski and Board shop host a skier/boarder- cross event throughout the season for which this was the final showdown. Now, given that skier and boarder-cross were in the Olympics this year I was not quite sure what to expect when he said skiercross. As I walked around the resort for a few minutes and saw the majority of the patrons were sporting rear-entry boots, I figured the day was about fun in the sun and not competition.
Wintergreen is a small community resort tucked on the edge of the George Washington National Forest about three hours from DC. The resort doubles as a golf community in the summer and a private/public ski resort in the winter. With apparently bus loads of people traveling to the resort, my first impression of an empty hotel the night before was shattered with commotion the next morning, as hundreds of people were tromping around in ski gear preparing for the day. It was so refreshing to see people out skiing because they wanted to go ski and not motivated to get the “sickest turn of the day.” The relaxed environment was a welcomed breath of fresh air compared to the hypersensitivity of a Snowbird tram line on a powder day. The community was out and the locals had come to see their friends and family compete in a little full contact competitive skiing.
My job was to assist Chris in the announcing and MC’ing the event. Throughout the day we held dance-offs, and I witnessed some never before seen dance moves in ski boots. All in all the event was a great experience, and I felt like a local as the crew of Freestyle Ski Shop and the locals of Wintergreen Resort welcomed me into their lives as one of their own. We drank expresso vodka like it was imperative to our survival (thanks Pete), and I experienced why people love skiing even in a place like Virginia. Friends, family, and the camaraderie created around a sport devoted entirely to the great power of gravity.
Thank you to Mike Poole and Victor Georg of HEAD Winter Sports, Sepp Kober and the the crew at Freestyle, all the great people of Wintergreen Resort (especially Dave Reinhard), and to the Wintergreen Freeride Ski Team for reminding me how much fun it is to go off jumps again.
