Skiing at Afton Alps

Another great way to spend some time around River Falls in winter time is Skiing. A small ski resort called the Afton Alps is nearby and as we had quite a bit of snow in the last couple of weeks the conditions were perfect for a nice ski trip apart from the enormous cold.

The trip was organized by an American friend and a lot of international and American students signed up to come on early Saturday morning. The weather was cold but beautiful and after approximately 35 minutes of driving we finally reached our destination – the Afton Alps. I have been there before during fall semester to do some hiking with a friend and I really like this place as it is close to the national parks and really good for all kinds of outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing, camping and swimming.

Some of the students had never seen snow before coming to River Falls and so obviously they had not done any skiing before as well. Students from Brazil, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, Germany and the U.S. had come, and we had a good time together on and off the slopes. You can ski at Afton Alps starting at 9.30am till 9.30pm but after the sun set around 5pm it just became too cold to ski and we stopped by at one of the many campfires to get warm again and end the day of skiing. Prices there are rather low as well and so we all had some money left to spend at a restaurant to get some all-you-can-eat buffet. Sometimes it is just time to eat out instead of eating in the cafeteria!

Besides those fun activities my semester just started to become quite busy during the last week. Three rather big assignments came up and it was time to get out of the holiday-mood and into the get-the-work-done-mood. Papers and project ideas were due and the next couple of weeks are full of assignments and tests as well. But that’s good! We are getting closer to the final project: The graduation! I have already submitted my application for graduation and now it is time to order the academic regalia for the commencement party. This is so exciting for me! I can´t wait to finally get on that stage wearing the regalia and getting my degree. Hopefully it is going to work out. It is still a long way to go and quite a bit of work to do but the final goal is getting closer and closer. Only three months left until this great adventure will probably come to and end. I can´t believe it… So far I had a great time and I am confident that I will be having a blast during the remaining time as well.

To be continued!