Welcome to the eleventh edition of 97.9 The Hill’s Staff Picks!
For our first round of Staff Picks in 2021, we’re diving into our coldest and coziest snow stories. In an attempt to manifest a snow day in North Carolina before springtime, we asked our staff to share their favorite snow day activities and memories!
If you have a favorite snow day go-to, share a photo with us by tweeting us at @WCHLChapelboro or tagging us on Instagram.
Brighton McConnell, News Director and Host of ‘News on the Hill’
Favorite snow day activity: Sledding
Growing up in the western part of North Carolina, I became a fan of snow since we saw it just infrequently enough to be special without getting tired of it. I personally love how different everything looks when covered in snow and ice — even though it’s more effort, I really enjoy just taking walks around neighborhoods and towns. The photo I’ve included is from me doing just that on the Blue Ridge Parkway a few years ago. Equally as fun: returning back home and then warming up some hot chocolate!
When I was younger, sledding was hands-down my favorite activity. My family has a long driveway with a steep drop-off on one side. As long as there were 3-4 inches of snow on the ground, my little brother and I could slide all the way down. The drop-off added just enough sense of risk to make it feel “extreme” as a kid — especially when we have one or two stories about going over the edge and having to find a way back up!
Aaron Keck, Host of ‘This Morning with Aaron Keck’
Favorite snow day activity: Taking a walk
We haven’t had too many snow days in the last couple years! I have to go back a few years for my last memorable “out in the snow” moment – back when I was still living in an apartment in Durham, and we got an absolutely beautiful snowstorm that layered the entire Triangle in white overnight. I went outside at 2 in the morning to walk around in the pristine snow; I was the only person outside and it was completely peaceful – until I heard a loud “pop” from a falling branch hitting a power line, all the street lights suddenly went out, and I decided maybe it’d be a good time to head back in.
As for snow activities: even though I’m a Michigan kid, I’ve never been much into winter sports. But I’ve always loved walking in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Hillsborough holiday parades, along with the rest of the WCHL crew. Fingers crossed, this year we’ll all be back out there on Churton Street and Franklin Street and Main Street, celebrating together!
Nicki Harris, Account Executive
Favorite snow day activity: Having fun indoors
As someone who just graduated from college in Minnesota, after growing up in Florida, this question feels very up my alley. I personally am a big fan of snow, but most enjoy it when there’s already snow on the ground and it’s a bright sunny day. Despite going to college in the frozen tundra, I never got that into many snow sports – I definitely regret not trying cross-country skiing while I was there. I think my favorite snow activities related to everyone at school being quite creative in finding fun things to do indoors, often in basements. I always felt like the winter really brought everyone together.
A snow related experience that stands out is from last February when my best friend and I ventured to Wisconsin for the annual Book Across the Bay. It’s basically a 10K across a giant frozen lake at night. Some people cross country ski or snowshoe but we just walked. It was truly so freezing, but the stars are beautiful, and you even get a glimpse of the Northern Lights. At the end there’s a big heated tent with live music and beer and hot dogs – quite mid-western. It’s one of my favorite memories.
Here is a pic of me on a snowy day in college!
Anna Griffin, Art Director
Favorite snow day activity: Horse sledding
I do not like the cold, but I love the outdoors – so it’s kind of a lose-lose for me when it snows. That being said, my favorite snow sport is horse sledding. It’s somewhat self-explanatory, but basically you tie your sled to your horse as someone is riding. They proceed to pull you around in the snow. It is equal parts terrifying and hilarious. Caution though, it can be dangerous! I remember doing this so much as a kid with my horse, but looking back it’s actually kind of scary. Being a kid was a rollercoaster…
The only super fond snowy memory I have is from my freshman year of college at UNC. Some buddies and I had a week of school canceled because of the snow, so we spent the week frolicking around campus. One of these buddies was Jack Carmichael, our very own Administrative Assistant! Time flies, I can’t believe that was over five years ago. Alas, snow days are best spent with buddies… and indoors if you can help it.
Jack Carmichael, Administrative Assistant
Favorite snow day activity: Getting cozy indoors
This might sound a little odd, but my favorite thing to do on a snow day is to stay inside. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good snowball fight, but there’s something about seeing a blanket of snow outside my window that makes me want to cuddle up underneath a warmer blanket indoors. Of course, a snow day also goes nicely with a mug full of hot chocolate, a pair of comfy pajama pants, and a good book. If you’re lucky enough to be enjoying all of those things at once, then you have achieved peak coziness.
As Anna already mentioned, the snowstorm we had during our freshman year of college was a magical time. My favorite memory has to be sledding down a very frozen, very steep Skipper Bowles Drive, the road that cut between my residence hall and the Dean Dome. Almost none of the students had sleds with them on campus, so we used all kinds of alternatives to skid down the street – cardboard boxes, laundry baskets, and even a mattress or two.
In lieu of another picture of my eighteen-year-old baby face, here’s a photo I snapped of UNC Campus in the snow!
Elle Kehres, Assistant News Director
Favorite snow day activity: Any and all mountain activities!
A California girl at heart, while I love the beaches, there is also nothing like spending some time up in the mountains. My family used to have a little ramshackle cabin that my grandpa built in Arrowbear, CA, and we spent a lot of time crammed in that miniscule space with far too many friends and family. My fondest memories are taking long hikes in the snowy woods, climbing rocks and finding the biggest hills to sled down. I also used to be quite the snow bunny as a kid. I started skiing very young and it brought me a lot of joy until I almost broke my leg speeding down the mountain and had to be escorted down in a snowmobile. Nonetheless, I hold onto a lot of fond memories tiring myself out on the slopes and filling up on hot chocolate after. Then, exhausted from the day, nothing beat curling up next to the fire with a good book. We could all use a few more snow days!
This is a picture of my grandpa and I taking on one of many ski trips 🙂 I loved a good gondola ride growing up!
Ava Pukatch, Reporter
Favorite snow day activity: Sledding as a kid. Now sitting inside with hot chocolate and watching a movie.
I lived in Connecticut for ten years so it snowed a lot. We would all meet at our house at the top of the hill and sled all the way to three houses down. It was a lot of fun. After we would get tired out, my mom would make us hot chocolate.
Dakota Moyer, Digital Content Manager
Favorite snow day activity: Snowboarding! It’s the superior sport to skiing (although I don’t even know how to ski)
In one of my first times snowboarding solo (I was probably 8 or 9, it was after I finished snowboard classes), I accidentally ventured down a black diamond course at the mountain. I thought I could navigate it slowly, but it was very steep and I eventually ended up sliding down on my butt. Needless to say, I was very embarrassed once I got down. But then I saw like three people wipe out on the course, so I didn’t end up feeling as bad!
Kenny Dike, Billing, Broadcast Traffic and Sales Operations Manager
Favorite snow day activity: Sledding (or “tobogganing”)
Usually in central NC, the snow we actually do get is laughable, “Look, it is sticking to the picnic table, it is sticking to the picnic table!!” (see photo 1) But every couple of years, we are graced with a snow storm that even the most hearty Coloradan will deem as legit. When this happens, the excitement builds for several days, the shelves are empty, and the roads are left open to the northern transplants. When these days hit, you have to go sledding or “tobogganing.” (For the record a “toboggan” is also an appropriate name for a knit hat, meaning despite what any Midwesterner says, you can put on your toboggan and go tobogganing. Just don’t try to drink a “pop” after it’s over, because “pop” is not a word for a carbonated beverage!) Okay, back to Carolina; sledding is an uncreative and generic answer to the question of best snow activity, but it has to be the answer. If a couple inches hit, and the snow melts before you get a chance to grab a sled (or toboggan) out of the attic, or a trash can lid, cardboard box or piece of plastic, and slide down a hill and crash into a ditch, then you are just not doing life right! (see photo 2)
Jada Jarillo, Marketing and Operations Manager
Favorite snow day activity: Sledding. Building a snowman is a close second, but the exhilaration of flying down a snow-covered hill on a piece of plastic is hard to beat.
My favorite recent snow day was the last really big one we had – back in December of 2018 when we got about 9 inches in Hillsborough. My son was only two at the time, and this was his first big snow day where he really got to enjoy playing in it. Luckily, we had purchased sleds beforehand, so we spent hours going up and down the driveway together that day – or sailing Diego down by himself to a person waiting at the end, listening to him scream with joy the whole way.
The best part was that the next day we woke up to yet another heavy snowfall which transformed the crunchy old ice-like snow into more fresh powder to play in all over again. My greatest wish for 2021 is that we have another set of snow days just like that.
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