Sliding down slopes, whether on skis or boards, was our primary vacation activity. We are at the top of the gently angled Southern Comfort slope.

This vacation came out of the blue. Missy filled in a contest coupon--first prize was a van--and "won" a free vacation to the Massanutten all seasons resort on the edge of the Shenendoah Valley near Harrisonburg, Virginia. Prior to going on our "free" vacation, we were told we would have to take a required 90 minute tour of the resort. We correctly expected it to be a timeshare sales pitch (though the people who called to tell us about winning this trip denied that would be the case.) Anticipating that the resort would not have many vegan food choices, we brought our own food and a camping stove (we had a balcony that we could use as a kitchen).

We arrived in Massanutten on Sunday around 3:30, hoping to get the 90 minute torture session out of the way quickly. We were told we were scheduled to take the tour the following morning at 8:30. (Again, the people who called us were wrong. They told us that if we arrived by mid-afternoon Sunday, we could take the tour that day.) We used the rest of the day to do a little self-guided tour of the 7,000 acre resort. Our first stop, after checking in and unloading our luggage, was watching people snow tubing (we could only watch as all available tickets for tubing had been sold). By this time the weather was getting colder and what had been slush, froze. (Our whole time at Massanutten, the daytime temperature was in the mid to upper 40's--with a bright sun it felt even warmer--and it only dipped below freezing at night.)

The view from the bottom of the slopes. Note the three drop-offs and near simultaneous launching of the tubers; the latter is to reduce the likelihood of people walking in front of tubers coming down the slopes (though we still saw that happen). The leading sliders are a chain of two tubes. We saw chains of up to seven tubes. On the right is the tube pull with a line of riders on their tubes.

The snow tubers, many strung together in chains, roared down the icy slope sounding like a freight train as they reached bottom before slowing

Even singleton tubers cold hit the padded wall at a high speed after skidding across straw covered ground.

down as they skidded across fifty feet of straw covered ground to a heavily padded barricade. The longer and heavier chains hit the padding fairly hard. This was exciting and a little scary to watch. The worst part was that people who are not especially fit (who don't look like they could ski or snowboard) figured they could snow tube. These folks didn't know how to protect themselves when crashing into the padded barrier. Some hit awkwardly (head first or limbs bent backwards) while others fell out of their tubes and hit the ground hard. One woman got her head stuck under the padding and claimed she couldn't breathe while trapped. This incident made those operating the slopes stop all chaining of tubes (which also stopped all crashing into the padding).

As we watched the tubers, a family approached us and gave us tickets with 40 minutes of tubing remaining on them. We weren't dressed for the occasion (being gloveless, hatless and wearing sneakers and jeans instead of boots and water repellent clothes), however we accepted their gift to check out the slopes. Eric was too intimidated by the crashes he had just watched to ride a tube by himself. He sat on Missy's lap and went down the slope with his eyes closed, happy when our 40 minutes were up. Curt and Missy, though chilled, enjoyed themselves.

It was still early evening when we finished tubing so we decided to check out one of the fitness centers. Eric swam in the heated pool while Missy and Curt relaxed poolside.

Torture time wasn't bad at all. We reported to our meeting room at 8:30 joining about 20 other couples. When our names were called we were assigned two hosts, a young man who was doing only his second hosting and his manager, a retired, slick sales veteran. We were driven around and shown sights many of which we had seen on our own the night before. The tour lasted about two hours then we drove back to a large conference room joining most of those same twenty couples and their tour guides. We sat at a small table with our guides and the hard sell began. They had no chance. It was like trying to sell snow to Eskimos. It took about an hour but eventually the seasoned salesman (who had taken over from the novice when the latter was obviously struggling to get us to buy) got up and walked off. For an explanation of why we think there is no case for buying a timeshare, see Why Not to Buy a Timeshare.

Though the hard sell was an interesting experience, it did affect our plans for the day. We had planned to ski but since the morning was nearly gone, we switched gears and decided to go tubing instead. Tubing tickets are sold for two hour timeslots and the prime times (evenings and weekends) sell out fast. We got tickets for the 1:00-3:00 runs, grabbed a fast lunch in our room, and this time dressed for the occasion. With a bright sun and the temperatures in the mid to upper 40's, the snow was fairly slushy. Even chaining our two tubes together (Eric continued to prefer riding on someone's lap) we couldn't make it to the end of the snow let alone across the straw and into the barriers. (Eric eventually rode his own tube a few times but still preferred riding with Missy or Curt.)

The view from the top of the tubing slopes (photo was taken the previous evening)...	...and partway down the tubing slope. We were chained together with Curt being the photographer on the front tube. Note the joy on Missy's face and the trepidation on Eric's. (Eric is wearing every lift ticket he had ever gotten on his coat.)

That afternoon we played racquetball in one of the two health centers on the resort. That was a first for both Curt and Eric. Missy, however, is an experienced and good player. Racquetball is an interesting game that doesn't seem to be played as much in the south (probably because it is an indoor game and northern weather puts people indoors more often). We played enough to have fun and work up a sweat but not enough for Curt and Eric to develop strategies that complimented their skill levels. From racquetball we got some towels and hit the pool. Eric and Missy did some dives and Eric did more than one bellyflop. He once hit the water chest/belly first so loudly that everyone in the pool area--about 20 people--turned and look in unison. His belly became cherry red but it was back to its normal color by the time we returned to our room.

Part of the incentive to come to Massanutten included two extended day adult lift tickets (nearly a $60 value). Today was the day we'd cash them in.

Missy and Eric pose with their boards in front of the lodge at the bottom of Southern Comfort.

Excluding a couple of meal breaks, we were sliding down the slopes from 9:30 AM to 10:00 PM. Eric had been lobbying for someone to go snowboarding with him. He had tried it for the first time in Pennsylvania in December and preferred it to skiing (as do most people under 25, according to surveys). Curt had just bought ski equipment (getting the whole caboodle of used skis, bindings, boots, and poles for $60; a new set would cost about $500), and was interested in growing his skiing ability (and not paying $30 for rentals). Missy, already a good skier, decided to try snowboarding with Eric. Fortunately one is allowed to swap between skiing and boarding once during the day so if one got tired of boarding, one could try skiing. Missy got tired and banged-up from boarding (she collected bumps and bruises on her knees, butt, back, and head and her calves got tight from being tensed). Eric, lighter and shorter, didn't suffer that level of damage even though he fell more often. He switched to skis with Missy halfway through the day. We noticed that although skiers outnumbered boarders about 3 to 1, of the people falling down on the slopes, the boarders outnumbered the skiers about 7 to 1.

Even though we went down slopes for roughly eleven hours, we limited the slopes we traversed to the two easy ones, Southern Comfort and Geronimo. Missy did try Rebel Yell, one of the moderate slopes. Though she has skied down expert slopes in the past, she said this slope had a rather intimidating start (like skiing off a cliff). The beginner slopes at Massanutten were the nicest ones we've been on. Southern Comfort is a long, gently sloping hill (the chair lift ride to its starting point takes six minutes). Geronimo, only half as long, has a steep start and a more challenging ride.

Pointing his board straight down Southern Comfort for maximum speed, Eric seems to have the hill to himself. (Photo taken from chairlift.)	About to night ski down Geronimo. The slope is what you see in the background (you ski into the picture). The first drop is a steep one (hence the name of the slope).

In addition to the slopes, another plus for us was that there were relatively few people on the slopes. Usually, upon reaching the bottom of a hill, one could turn and get on a ski lift without waiting. (The longest waits we had were for three or four chairs). The weather was very nice (sunny and mild) which is both good and bad. The brightness of the day contributes to a lighthearted attitude and a temperature in the 40's means the snowmaking machines are not operating (which makes for a much quieter and less blinding day). On the downside, those conditions make for slushy snow; though for novices like Curt and Eric that's not necessarily bad. What is bad is when the slush refreezes overnight and the resulting ice is coated with machine made snow granules; then the conditions are challenging and punishing (if you fall). Missy and Eric boarded in the morning and took a lot of falls when the conditions were at their worst. It was in the morning that the first aid snowmobiles were at their busiest.

A resort freebie of which we didn't take advantage during our stay was 36 holes of golf. With the warm sunny weather, it would have been a nice outing, however, skiing had been too much fun to cut over to golf. (Had the tour not taken so long, we could have squeezed in some golf on Monday).

Eric catching an edge. Good snowboarders are almost always on their edges.

On our last day at Massanutten, we got all day lift tickets (9:30 AM to 4:30 PM). Missy stuck with skiing (giving her body more time to recover from boarding) while Eric went back to snowboarding in the morning, then skiing in the afternoon. As the temperature climbed to nearly 50° under a bright sun, we doffed our coats and skied in sweatshirts (others were skiing in T-shirts).

As we improved over the course of the day, we decided to try more challenging courses. We all went down the intermediate level slopes of Rebel Yell (lower portion only), Lower Dixie Dare, and Pacesetter. Eric made it down all three without falling, plowing (i.e., riding his brakes) most of the way. Curt, who would have plowed too if he could do so as effectively as Eric, cut back and forth across the slopes trying to keep his speed under control. He made it down two slopes on his first attempts but fell multiple times on Pacesetter. Eric and Missy decided to head back to the easy slopes while Curt tried to improve his performance on the intermediates. (On one particularly nasty fall, he came away with a long scrape on his lightly protected forearm). His efforts did result in skiing improvements. Midway through the first day, he timed his fastest run down Southern Comfort at one and a half minutes. By the end of the second day he made the run in half a minute.

When we left the slopes at 4:30, we were all drained yet elated. It had been a physically demanding and fun few days. We were also hungry. We stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant in Harrisonburg for dinner (the owner was impressed that Eric liked the parsley leaves that came with the meal). The ride back to our house lasted until midnight.

© 2001 frantzml@juno.com