Over the Presidents' Day Weekend February 12 - 15, 2010, the St. James' youth group went on their annual ski trip to Hidden Valley Ski Resort on Laurel Mountain near Donegal, Pa. We stayed at the Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, which is a 600-acre camp, conference and retreat center located in Mount Pleasant, Pa., at the foot of the Laurel Mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania. We stayed in their Motel building that we like but were unable to use last year. We skied on Saturday and Sunday at Hidden Valley and went snow tubing on Monday at Seven Springs. On the previous weekend, a blizzard dumped over two feet of snow on the Washington, DC, area, and a another snow storm three days later added at least another foot to that. Temperatures stayed below freezing all week, so there wasn't much melting. (Schools were closed all week, and even the Federal Government agencies inside the Capital Beltway closed for four days!) The storms brought somewhat lesser amounts to southwestern Pennsylvania, but still plenty for a base, and while we were there, there was light new snow falling on and off all three days. The combination made for the best skiing we've seen here in many years. In our evening programs we saw the movie 'The Mighty' and talked about its themes of believing in ourselves and using our individual strengths to complement the strengths of others. On this page you'll find a group picture taken on the Laurelville grounds, and links to other pictures from the weekend.

Our memories from this trip include: - skiing - snowboarding - snow tubing - "battle" tubing - Dom saying "Let's take a picture" - hanging out - eating at the lodge - skiing on black diamonds - "Pharoah, Pharoah" - late night walks - good food at Laurelville - learning how to ski - first time on a ski lift - Angelica falling on her face after a jump - singing in the evening programs - clearing a big jump on the mountain - "And we're pretty much tired" - learning how to snowboard - McDonald's on the way up - Wendy's on the way back - skiing off the little jump and landing - teaching a friend how to ski - new snow every day - falling off the ski lifts - tubing races - bending a ski pole on the lift - riding shotgun in the van - watching the movie "The Mighty" in the evening program - mastering all the intermediate hills - getting confused and falling down the moguls - living in constant snowfall - face-planting off the butterbox at the terrain park - bombing The Comet three times in a row - colliding on the tubing runs - losing a ski on the ski lift - lesson on believing in yourself in the evening program - having fun with everyone

Our group at the Laurelville Mennonite Church Center