I woke up knowing this was our last day, but I knew it was going to be a great day! We started the day heading to Aleyska Resort. The resort offers many activities such as downhill skiing, walking trails, trails for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, stores for shopping, and a spa. I was unsure what I wanted to do, but originally had planned for downhill skiing. None of the other students wanted to go downhill skiing though so I was going to try something new like cross-country skiing. Last minute though, I ended up saying to Andrea (professor) that I wanted to go downhill skiing. She was very excited because that was what she wanted to do. Brandi, another student decided to join us as well. Many of the other students went hiking or cross-country skiing. We started at the bottom of the mountain to get the hang of skiing down. The ski-runs were like spirit mountain in Duluth, MN. We then ventured up to mid-mountain where we went down a few of the runs there. I was nervous at first because all the runs were larger than anything I had ever skied, but once I got my initial start down the hill I was good. After we skied around mid-mountain for awhile, we skied over to the tram. We took the tram to the top of the mountain with our skis. Once we got to the top of the mountain we decided to take a break so we sat in a restaurant that overlooked the mountains and ski hills. We watched many skiers go down the hills that were higher than where we were at the top of the tram. We sat there debating weather we could handle going to the very top of the mountain. Once we relaxed for a little while we went and skied some of the runs at the top of the mountain. The snow was the best at the top of the mountain so we wanted to stay up there. The snow was like powder. After a few runs, we decided that we could brave going up the chair that went to the highest point we could. When I got on the chair lift, my heart started to race as I was so nervous to be up that high. When we got to the top, we had to take a lot of pictures because the views were amazing! We ended up having dinner and going down the hills a few more times because it was so nice out! I was exhausted by the end of the day and knew I was going to be sore from going down so many of the hills. I was so happy that I decided to go downhill skiing though because it was such a great experience! The thrill of going down the mountain was unbelievable! Once we got off the hills, Andrea, Brandi, and I headed back to the house. When we arrived everyone was pacing up there stuff and getting the house cleaned up. I got the rest of my stuff packed up due to us having to head for the airport. Our flight was going to depart at 1:25am. It was a long day, but so worth it! I was not able to sleep very well on the flight home, but tired to get some sleep. I did stay up for the first part of the second flight as it was morning time. I was able to see the sunrise and get a cool picture of some mountains above the clouds seen in the picture above.
This experience was full of many learning opportunities and exploring many parts of Alaska. I am so blessed to have been able to have this experience and look forward to coming back to Alaska in the near future!
This experience was full of many learning opportunities and exploring many parts of Alaska. I am so blessed to have been able to have this experience and look forward to coming back to Alaska in the near future!