By Maren Ingram, Opinions Editor
You fly down the slopes, wind in your hair, with snow swirling all around you. You reach the bottom of the hill and pull your mask up as you join the line to ride the chair lift up for yet another run on the mountain. After a long day, you walk back to your lodge or condo and relax by a window, drinking a mug of hot chocolate, watching the snow fall.
Skiing has always been a popular vacation for winter – but with COVID cases still on the rise, more students are starting to pack up their ski gear and head to the mountains for a fun and safe way to vacation during the pandemic.
“This year I’ve been to Massanutten a few times, and I think skiing is pretty COVID-safe,” junior Grace Woerner said. “The resorts limit how many tickets they sell to keep the capacity lower, and since it’s cold, everyone wears gaiters or masks.”
But this isn’t Woerner’s first time on the slopes.
“I’ve been skiing every winter since I was 5 years old, so this is my 11th year going,” Woerner said. “But this year, I got to go on a solo trip without adults with my friend Pia, and that was really fun.”
Unlike Woerner, some students have just recently jumped on the ski trip bandwagon, including senior Jacob Thomas.
“I just started going snowboarding last winter,” Thomas said. “I’ve been to Snowshoe a few times with my dad, and I think it’s a great COVID-safe vacation.”
Thomas explained that, similar to Massanutten Resort, Snowshoe Mountain did a great job with COVID regulations and ensured that skiers and snowboarders could have fun while still being safe.
“I think snowboarding is a great way to have a fun vacation without having to worry too much about COVID,” Thomas said. “You had to wear masks in lift lines and could only ride the lift up with people in your party.”
Freshman Ava Nultemeier also recently began taking ski trips with her family, including a couple to Snowshoe Mountain this year for the first time.
“I started off at Wintergreen about four years ago, but this was my first year going to Snowshoe,” Nultemeier said. “I loved snowboarding down the slopes in a new place and riding the chair lift up when it was snowing.”
Others, like senior Kendall Tucker, took to the mountains of North Carolina to enjoy some slope-side fun with her family.
“I went to Beech Mountain near Boone,” Tucker said. “I’ve been snowboarding before, but it was my first time skiing.”
And with the uncertainties of an ongoing pandemic that has affected everyone’s lives, Tucker explained how nice it was to get to enjoy time with her family without having to stress as much about COVID and all of its regulations.
“It was really nice to just be able to do something fun, and I loved being outside and in a different environment with snow,” Tucker said. “I’m so glad I was able to go on this trip this year with my family, even with everything happening with COVID.”
Junior Maren Ingram can be reached at 22ingramma01@daretolearn.org.
