February Smarty Giveaway: Family 4-Pack to Hawsknest!

By Rachel H

Looks like winter weather is here to stay for a while. Why not take advantage of it and head on up the mountain to Hawksnest Resort? Especially now that TriadSmartyPants is giving away four snowtubing tickets, compliments of our friends at Hawksnest, to one lucky newsletter subscriber and her/his family!

Hawksnest is located just off Highway 105 South between Boone and Banner Elk, North Carolina, high atop Seven Devils. It is close enough to drive up just for the day, or you can always stay overnight at the resort, or in Boone, Blowing Rock, etc. Hawksnest has just expanded their snow tubing operation. Once they finish, it will be the biggest snow tubing operation on the East Coast.

Children must be at least three years-old to snowtube. Weekday rates are $22, and weekends and holidays are $30. Rates drop dramatically in March and April. The website is very informative at www.skihawk.com. They even have a page that gives you tips on dressing appropriately for snowtubing. You can get additional rates, directions, and other information on the web site as well.

I have three friends who have visited Hawksnest recently, and can offer tips and tricks for making the most of your tubing trip:

Elizabeth Betson: "We went this past Sunday with my two children, husband, and friends. The snowtubing was great. There are four different runs with 5-8 lanes each. The longest and most popular is very fast and will spin you. I personally don't like to go in circles and only tried it one time! The other runs are shorter but just as fast and do not spin you on the tube. We had a great time. My five year old was confident to get on the lift ( a conveyor carpet) and go down in the tube by himself. My younger daughter rode in the tube with my husband and wanted to go "Again, and again!!" There is staff located everywhere. They were very friendly and helpful. They give you a signal when you start and there is also staff at the bottom to help you if needed. We didn't have to wait in any lines when we went, but have heard they do get very busy and there can be a short wait. I recommend booking your time slot and purchasing tickets on-line. They do sell out. We did an early time slot of two hours - 10 am till noon. The runs were packed and smooth. They do groom them after each session. The morning was cool but there were signs posted that the runs might get slushy as the weather warmed. Dress warmly and in waterproof clothes."

Leigh Munley went up with her family and stayed the night in Boone. Her children are ages 10, seven and four. She said they had a wonderful time snowtubing as a family. She also said that her four-year-old was able to tube by himself and he loved it!

Julia Wolfinger took her sons, who are eight and five. They had her family, her brother’s family and her sister’s family. Nine kids in all! They stayed at the Chetola lodge, which was a great place for the kids. Her biggest recommendation is to make sure you go tubing when it is freezing. If not, the trails get mushy in the middle and the kids end up dragging their tubes to the end. They all agreed it would have been much more exciting if it was colder. Now she did say that if those lanes were icy people would have been FLYING and therefore also little more dangerous. But, there are shorter runs that are not as steep so even if it is icy there are runs that would be fine for the little ones.

What a wonderful way to spend the day with your entire family! So hurry and enter for your chance to win a family 4-pack to Hawksnest. Remember: This promotion is offered only to our Smarty newsletter subscribers. So if you haven't signed up for the newsletter, do it now!

This giveaway ends Wednesday, February 11 at 5 pm. It's a short promotion because we know this cold weather won't stick around for long. Click here to enter.
If you have been to Hawksnest recently, please share with us your experiences!

Posted by Triad Smarty Pants at 5:00 AM