Wandering Tales | Snowy Getaway to Camelback Mountain

10:36:00 PM mandy 0 Comments

Even though NYC didn't get hit quite as hard as predicted by this recent storm Juno, it was enough to make me want to stay inside for a couple days. I was nice and cozy under blankets & got my Doctor Who binge on. (TV watching = great break activity in my books.)

But still, nothing like a winter storm and the start of a new school semester to get me missing this past winter break. I want to say I didn't do much this break but if I listed it out it's probably not true.

One of the more fun events this month was the mini-trip the Besties and I took in the beginning of this new year. It was a pretty last minute getaway but we were able to finally find the time to go snowboarding together.


Disclaimer: None of us knew a thing about snowboarding or skiing prior to the trip. Since our first ever lesson was in the afternoon, we headed out of NYC later than normal. We arrived at Camelback Mountain just in the nick of time and was instructed by Billy for about an hour on the basics. He was super patient with all of us. But it's safe to say that I was pretty nervous and never wanted to volunteer first out of the four of us during the class.

By the time lessons were over we were all pretty hungry and filled our tummies in the food court like area at the resort. The food wasn't great or anything but it filled the belly.

The most fun I had was practicing on the small learning slope at night. There weren't as many people there and was therefore way less hectic—definitely helps with easing the nerves. After a bunch of falls, I somehow got the hang of things and was able to stop without falling down. The main problem I had at the end was not being able to control myself while going downhill. I would begin with my right side in front and end with the left, fully 180° turn and all unintentional. If only Billy could have seen me then! Otherwise, I came home pretty much the same as I went: bruise- and (pretty much) pain-free.


We ended up booking a room at a (very) nearby hotel via Groupon at the Chateau Resort. There was a nice view of the slopes outside and we got to experience snowfall during the trip, although fake. It will take a few more snowboarding trips before I have the guts to take the chair lifts to the higher slopes.



I was pretty hesitant at first with the whole snow tubing idea when I saw the hill we would be going down.

After going down the slope a couple times I wish we were able to stay for even longer. But it doesn't help that the snow tubing area opens late and gets pretty busy just a couple hours after opening.

Otherwise a few tips to anyone else who's never been snowboarding/skiing/snow tubing before & a reminder to myself for future snowboarding trips:

• layers, layers, layers!
• waterproof pants and gloves are a must
• better to have those hand/toe warmers than not

Something a little different from my typical posts...
I've had the GoPro for a while now and haven't given it much love recently. But I made sure to pack it for this trip and managed to get enough footage (with the help of Bestie S) to make a short clip. Hooray for video keepsakes!

If you have, how long did it take for you to get the hang of things?
If not, do you have plans to give it a try?