Holiday Weekend, Day 2

We couldn’t have picked a nicer fall day to go on our annual venture up to the Jiminy Peak Alpine Slides in Hancock, Massachusetts on Sunday. It’s hard to believe that Dave and I were the only ones out of 7 riders that didn’t drive a motorcycle that day.Oh well, our PT Cruiser Convertible made a great chase vehicle, and we ended up storing everyone’s riding gear while we were there.

During the winter, Jiminy Peak is a ski resort, but during the summer months they also have all sorts of ways to have fun. They have bungee ‘hopping’, a huge swing, and an aerial adventure challenge.

Mountain bikers are also welcome and they bring their bicycles up the mountain on the back of the chairlifts, and then follow the bike trails back down.

Our favorite ride has always been the alpine slides. After a nice leisurely trip up in the double chair lift, we gather our carts and then race back down to the bottom.
The carts have a control handle in the middle. If you press it forward there are wheels that come down to make you go faster. If you pull it back, there are brakes that engage (of course WE never use them!).

Sara and Jim raced to the finish, after Jim went so fast he lost his hat and fell off his cart.Dave wasn’t far behind Sara.Last, but not least was Karl, who also flew off his cart.Both guys burnished and melted their clothes from sliding down the fiberglass track for a few feet.

For the last run of the day we decided to take the 6 person chair lift up to the top of the mountain. Up, up, and away we go!
You certainly would never believe that we go as fast as we do on the slides, by the looks of us in the above picture! We are racers in disguise!

The view from the top is spectacular. We arrived just in time to witness a man proposing to his girlfriend at the summit. I bet it was where they had met while skiing, and they will always remember this day since it was 10/10/10.

This chairlift docking station looks like aliens have landed!

Instead of taking the chairlift back down, we decided to go for a hike that ended back at the alpine slides. The trail led us past this pond and the resort’s huge wind generator.

Click on the picture and you will be able to read all about it.

Then it was time to grab another cart and zoom back down to the lodge as the sun was getting lower and lower.

What a fantastic day we all had. Good friends, good food, good competition, and lots of fun. We all agreed it was one of the best times we have ever had there.