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WBM december 2012
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slip-sliding
If you prefer a lower center of gravity, try snow tubing. It’s an option
at Sugar Mountain and the specialty at Hawksnest Resort in Seven
Devils, located between Boone and Banner Elk. Hawksnest is a 20-lane
snow tubing park with two conveyor lifts to pull tubers back to the top.
While there, enjoy an exhilarating ride down Hawksnest’s zipline course.
Ice skating rinks are located at Beech, Sugar and Appalachian as well.
“If you tube or ice skate, night sessions are the best,” Jochl notes. “So
get your skiing in early in the morning.”
Or, go for a traditional sledding run. If there’s snow on the ground,
check out the locals’ favorite sledding hill at Moses Cone Park in Blowing
Rock. Travel about one mile south from downtown Blowing Rock on
U.S. 221, and the hill is located at the highway’s junction with the Blue
Ridge Parkway and Shull’s Mill Road. Park by the hill along an access
road to the Parkway’s district office and maintenance facility.
In Beech Mountain, the town offers a free sledding hill for kids with
snowmaking all winter.
“As soon as we get it open, it’ll stay open pretty much through
March,” says Amy Morrison, Beech Mountain tourism development
authority coordinator. “It is free, but you can purchase or rent a sled up
here if you don’t already have one,” she says.
Top: Tubers on one of Hawksnest Resort’s 20 tubing lanes can catch a ride
on a conveyor lift back to the top. Bottom: Sledding at Beech Mountain.
Photography courtesy of amy morrison
Photography courtesy of VisitNC.com
photography by jonathan burton
Photography courtesy of VisitNC.com