Thursday afternoon 27 scouts and 8 adults ventured to Timberline Ski “resort” in Davis, West Virginia. Anyone who has been with a scouts group to Timberline understands the humor of the resort label. Let us just say it is absolutely perfect for scout troops and an incredible value for 3 days/nights on the slopes!
We arrived in waves from late afternoon through early evening Thursday, obtained our rental equipment, and settled into our “resort” bunkhouse accommodations. Three of the smarter adults opted for other local accommodations… The bunkhouse consists of several very large rooms with stacked bunkbeds throughout. Our room slept 30 so it was perfect for 27 scouts and 3 adult male leaders to mingle, compare video games, and otherwise have a ruckus good time. 30 people is a nice round number for one room for 3 days with our ski boots! Despite the good times, we managed to make our typical 10pm lights-out. It was nice and quiet thereafter Thursday night, as we were the only group in the bunkhouse complex…
Friday was an almost picture perfect day on the mountain. Really, look at the pictures! We went lights-on at the typical 7am, cajoled everyone into ski/board wear and headed off to the lodge for breakfast with our gear. Lifts opened at 9a and the experienced scouts were off to carve the mountain with their buddies. Beginners got geared up for their 10a lesson. Several of the beginners opted for a second lesson which happened at 1:30. There was lunch in there somewhere… The conditions were great and we almost had the mountain to ourselves. It was run after run as fast as the slow lifts could get us back to the top. All with helping the beginners out along the way. After numerous hours of runs, several scouts took a break at the bunkhouse but returned for night skiing after dinner.
Since breakfast, lunch, and dinner have been mentioned, it is only appropriate to provide some context. The meals are often described as summer camp food on the slopes. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, and potatoes for breakfast every day. Lunch is typically hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, maybe a veggie in there somewhere. Dinners are fried chicken, chili, spaghetti with meatballs, and again some veggie in there somewhere + cake for desert. All cafeteria chow line type service.
As we trickled back to the bunkhouse Friday night, we are met by about 20 other groups checking in for the weekend. It was a noisy evening as the other groups checked in, received equipment, and go settled.
Saturday started as another great day on the slopes, but it warmed up quickly. 8 scouts ventured headed off for the snow sports merit badge clinic. 5 scouts ultimately received their snow sports merit badges. The other three plus a new crop will surely ace it next year! Obtaining the merit badge requires controlled parallel turns and stops for either skiing or boarding and is considered to be at least a “level 4” skier/boarder.
Timberline also got pretty crowed that day with the groups and day skiers arriving.
Another great day on the slopes for sure, but the conditions started getting soft and the lift lines got long. That didn’t stop many scouts (and two adults, myself excluded) from skiing/board into the evening yet again. We did have one unfortunate snowboarding wrist injury Saturday afternoon which took one scout out of the action and home early. We are all wishing him a quick recovery. Thanks again to all of the adult drivers as this is exactly why we need extra coverage on these trips.
Then the rain started around 10p Saturday night as we are headed to bed. It continued raining throughout the night into Sunday. We went to breakfast Sunday morning and assessed the conditions as the sun unsuccessfully tried to peek through the rain clouds. It was a unanimous vote to forego skiing Sunday and plan an early departure. After two great sunny days on the mountain, nobody wanted to go home with the memory of sitting in a puddle on the lifts. Good Call Scouts! We packed up and were out shortly thereafter. Another memorable trip to Timberline and hopes of returning next year with even more scouts (and adults :-)). If anyone is interested in volunteering as #2 for the ski trip planning next year, please let me know. I promise to start earlier. Thanks again to Shelly as always for dealing with the payments and reconciliations and to all of our scout participants for great memories.
Enjoy the photos over here.