Journal Entry #4, Jacksonville/Birmingham Teams
Maribor, Slovenia
Day 6 New Years Eve December 31, 2007
Team Rico
by Katie (Ft. Myers), Kamryn (Jacksonville), Julia (Cocoa Beach), and Lexi (Tallahassee)
We woke up at 7:30 because the "ski servis" did not have any equipment for us to use late last night when we arrived and were dying to get our stuff. We ate a small breakfast of bread, pastries, peaches and yogurt and bundled up to walk down to the ski shop. When we got there, we were greeted by Lauren A, CJ, Bubba, and Devon T. We walked into the shop and attempted to find our bodyweight, height and shoe size on CJ's "helpful" cheat sheet. Thankfully we left with skis, boots and poles and wandered over to get our lift pass. Julia and Kamryn went back up to the hotel to bring everyone's shoes back. We all met at the gondola and took the long ride to the top of the Pohorje Mountain. When we got there, we assembled our various gloves, hats and ski stuff and swept down to the bunny slope. We got onto a lift and rode back up to the top. This went on for about 2 hours until Julia decided she was too good for the bunny slope and we went down a couple red level slopes, which was more difficult than projected, but we made it all the way back at the gondola. Again, we rode the gondola back to the top. The first time all the way down to the bottom, Julia and Kamryn were going really fast down the mountain, and stopped at the bottom to wait for Katie. We waited...and waited, then all of the sudden, here comes Katie covered in snow and looking a little rough. She tells us that she wiped out, but that it was fun. Then, we went down the same slope with Devon and she fell and lost both of her skis and broke a piece of her ski off. Luckily, there was a guy who saw her and he whipped out a screwdriver and fixed it for her. On the same slope, Kamryn attempted to hockey stop and lost her footing and slid down the mountain on her back. (For the record, Julia fell at the bottom of the slope in front of the hotel. There was a dip to slow you down, and she didn't slow down, and fell on her back. She provided a great show for the two Slovenian people enjoying their coffee outside.) After an eventful day of skiing, we decided to climb the mountain and sled down. We only went a little ways up because climbing a mountain can be very tiring. We ate dinner, and prepared for the journey up the mountain for the New Year. Julia and Kamryn left early to start trekking up the mountain. Bubba and Katie were climbing together with a few others, but Bubba soon decided that the mountain was no longer fun to climb. Needless to say he did not make it all the way to the top. (Once again for the record, Bubba was beat out by the following trekking parents: Barb R, Lanie M, Gayla P, and Debby P. Take notes Fathers, brothers and friends.) Katie soon caught up with Kam and Julia, and together they conquered the treacherous mountain of doom. We laid down at the top out of exhaustion and heat stroke. We meandered over to the bar to warm up and drink our waters. Then, some of us left the bar, and people started to chant something, most likely a countdown, and the New Year had been experienced at the top of the Pohorje in Maribor, Slovenia. After freezing for an hour, we decided to go down the mountain. Katie, Kam, Julia, Paula, and Lauren S all sledded down the mountain. Julia decided it would be fun to run down the mountain, but Kam fell and we thought it was better if we just slid down. Kam and Julia hooked arms, Lauren and Katie paired up, Paula and Leah joined together and we all started to sled down. Julia went faster than Kam and pulled her down backwards through the snow, only to roll over her head and smoosh it into the snow when they could not stop. Katie and Lauren flew down in front of them and stopped at the next ledge, only to get slammed by Kam who had been sling-shotted by Julia. That was the smallest portion of the mountain. We then discovered that there was about a 90 degree incline that we were going to be falling down. After rolling, sliding, laughing, and pretty much falling to our death, our icy and completely drenched bodies hit the bottom of the run. It was a very eventful night with many near death experiences and many stomach clenching laughs. What a great way to start off the New Year!
Day 7 January 1, 2008
Team Blake
Happy New Year! January 1, 2008 wow I can not believe it. On January 1st many people had the option of going to the spa, the town, or skiing. In the spa there was a mineral pool the girls could relax in and moms were able to receive massages and facials. The town had markets where people could buy Slovenian food and tons of shopping. Skiing was the best! The view was beautiful and there were many mountains available to ski down. Also people who didn’t want to ski went sledding. It was a blast! That night we had dinner on the top of the mountain where they served real Slovenian food. We rode the gondola up the mountain and had an awesome time. A few of us, me included, wanted to sled down the hill, so Blake, Cory, Andreja and I did. I was so scared I went like 80 miles an hour and got all bruised and bumped the whole way down. I am not kidding and I have told this story a million times. I was going too fast and I wiped out about a dozen times. Blake was crazy and wiped out a few times too, Cory was awesome and so was Andreja. This was a really memorable thing to do. At the top of the mountain we saw a really cute little place where Cory and his wife were married this summer. Taking the gondola up the mountain at night was cool too. Seeing the entire city from the top of the mountain was beautiful. Maribor is a wonderful little town with a great ski lodge. That day and night was most memorable.
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