There is a small slope somewhere in North GA, I can’t think of the name for some reason, but I can find out. THe next closest are Maggie Valley or Ober Gatlinburg. If we go to Gatlinburg, all the planning would be on the overworked Chirokid:D since that is his backyard. There are quite a few MTB trails in the north GA area that are within an hours drive of Atlanta. For down hill with lifts your in the 3-4 hour+ range. I will continue to look into that as an option.
How to plan a MUni Weekend
I figure I should write this, since I planned the first one. The specifics of your planning must take into account your goals and intentions for the event. The early CA MUni Weekends were intended as a way to attract people to California to ride, and to show off great scenery as well as all the rest. The more recent Weekends have had to also take into account larger sized groups and other complications. Your needs might be different.
For people like James Potter and others who are on your own, remember you can set something up locally and invite people to come. The better the event looks, the more riders you will attract. If you want others to host near you, James, you might want to be a little more specific as to what country Godric’s Hollow is in. 
I’ll try to put these items in order of priority:
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Determine number of days of riding. The further-away people are coming from, the more travel time they will need. The early MUni Weekends were Sat. and Sun. only, but people still had to take off from work if they were flying in.
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Find some trails you know people will like. My experience has shown people don’t mind riding on real technical stuff, as they get to watch the experts do it. But people who aren’t exceptional athletes can’t ride beyond their fitness abilities. Too much uphill, or too many miles will not work for some. If people can’t handle your primary rides, make sure you plan for alternatives.
Based on my learning experiences this year, if Downieville is included in a future MUni Weekend, it’ll be the Friday ride. If people think they’ll end up too sore, they can choose not to do it (and I can set up an alternate ride, but it would have to be in a totally different place).
When choosing trails, it helps if they are not only great riding, but have nice scenery and/or views as well. The better the scenery is, the less awesome the riding need be. The extreme of this is the Flume Trail at Lake Tahoe. Barely any technical sections, but a view that can’t be beat!
Obviously, you do not need mountains for great riding. There are fun trails all over, even in Minnesota and flat Long Island. It’s more about getting together with people ane enjoying the ride.
If trails are long or strenuous, set up alternate rides for people if you know there will be some that can’t do them. These can be shorter loops, riding in from the end, or other uses of the same trail, or separate locations if necessary.
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Set your dates. Talk with the most likely attendees, and make sure you choose a weekend that works for them. Be aware of potential conflicts with school or holidays. Americans should avoid July 4, for example, because people may have family obligations that take precedence.
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Publish your event to the world. List it at Unicyclist.com/forums under News and Announcements. As well as here. Also send it in to the USA’s On One Wheel for North American events. Notify the local bike shops. If possible, put flyers up in there. Notify the local press.
If your group won’t be too big, you can just show up and ride. Beyond a certain size (not sure, but 40 or more?), you should contact the authorities responsible for the trails you will use, so they know you’ll be coming. Make sure these trails are legal for bikes of course. This contact may get you a lot more publicity from local trail users as well.
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Set up a schedule that’s realistic. Make sure you allow people enough time to get to places, and for slow riders to complete rides.
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Consider games or group events. Group meals, games, or other things can be a lot of fun, but require more planning than just showing up at a trailhead. And more scheduling.
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Optionally protect yourself. Since my MUni Weekends are heavily publicized and well known, I choose to make all participants sign a release of liability. I don’t want myself, other organizers, or trail owners to be held responsible for what might be someone’s own mistakes. This is most of why I hassle people with registration forms.
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Plan ahead. Think of what snags you could have, or what could go wrong. For example I bought a first aid kit for this past MUni Weekend (then promptly forgot I had it in my car). Being mentally prepared for contingencies is somtimes all you need to make them easy to handle if they happen.
That’s all for now. The rest is relatively minor compared to the above. Are my MUni Weekends a lot of work to organize? Yes. But it can be done much more easily if you aren’t trying to be as fancy.
Good luck! I would love to go to all MUni events as well, but at the same time I’m proud to be in a situation where that’s barely even possible any more because there are so many!
Thanks for the advice John. If I do get this up and running, I will be getting in touch with you for release and sign up forms. That is definitely a good idea. I would say one lawsuit is enough for a lifetime!!! And I have already had mine.
Okay, I found the slope I was thinking of. I haven’t been there since 1982, but it apparently still exists. I will try to get in touch with someone there to find out if they open the lifts for downhill riding in the off season. Here is a link to a story about the place, with a few photos. http://www.danwashburn.com/skiing.html
also they have a poorly maintained website at www.skiskyvalley.com
it is located in none other than Sky Valley, GA go figure.
Yes, Thanks, that’s real good advice John.
Fact is, I don’t think we in Memphis can compete with the scenery around Lake Tahoe or N. California or N. Georgia.
Maybe we’ll do a multifacet unicycle weekend sometime in the future that will have plenty of good food to eat and fine heartfelt soul invigorating music.