Xtreme Winter Conference has 4 different tours. One of them in Branson, MO and the 3 are in Gatlinburg, TN back to back. They also do some summer ones at beaches. Xtreme Winter is an experience of great Christian Bands and Speakers. It is 3 days and 2 nights of great fun!

First Time

I just got back from my first Xtreme Winter experience. I went with your youth at my church, Piedmont Baptist. We went to the one in Gatlinburg, TN during December 27-29, 2013.  I would say on this one there was 6,000 to 8,000 in attendance. This years phrase or theme is Hide The Word in Your Heart. I really enjoyed being with the youth, hearing all the great bands (listed below) and the guest speakers (also listed below). It is an experience that all youth, youth leaders, pastors, etc should experience. I did get to learn some things about this experience. I even handed out some gospel tracts and Gospel of John’s while I was here.

This blog entry shares with you my first experience at Xtreme Winter in Gatlinburg, TN. An Xtreme experience with Christian Music and Christian speakers. Read my blog entry to find out how my experience went.

Baby It’s Cold Outside

I am an Eagle Scout, so it being cold outside, I know to dress in layers (thermals, sweaters or fleeces, etc.). You will wait in cold weather in line to get in. Even brave rain like we did Saturday. Who knows it is Gatlinburg and in the Mountains, it could have snowed. I have heard of snow on one of these trips my pastor has told me. Make sure to dress for being out in the cold. A winter coat, gloves and a hat. Maybe even get you some hot hands. Layers work the best for being outside in the cold. No matter how much you warn the kids about how waiting in the cold, they will don’t always dress it. Just remember, Gatlinburg is in the mountains, so it is usually colder than Knoxville.

Roasting In an Open Fire – Inside

Then you go inside of the conference center in Gatlinburg and nearly like to roast like you are in an extremely hot oven. So then, its a bit harder to go and take off those thermals, but are will needed for the outside. I kept mine on, but did roast, I didn’t want to take them off to have to put them back on again to leave the concert. This good when you can safely remove the layers. Coat, a jacket, fleece or sweater etc.

Xtreme Winter Bands

1. Jamie Grace
2. We as Human
3. Skillet
4. Newsong
5. For King & Country
6. Third Day
7. Building 429
8. Unhindered

Xtreme Winter Speakers

1. David Nasser
2. Johnny Hunt
3. Dave Edwards
4. Tom Richter

Xtreme Winter MC’s

1. Mr. Talk Box
2. Dean Chip

Bad Battery Life

One thing I noticed is that my phone seemed to have a good charge while I am in line waiting to go in, but by the time you get in and seated, my battery seemed to have drained a lot on my cell phone. I talked to an older youth, you all know you can ask these kids about technology and they know the answer. He told me that he turns his off while waiting in the tunnel to save his battery. See there may be no signal or a low signal and your phone keeps pinging for a reception, thus draining your battery.

Do You Hear What Hear – Ear Plugs?!?

Our first night had We as Human and Skillet, both of these bands are heavy rock bands, so it was loud. I didn’t think about it. I should have remembered from seeing Building 429 back in Knoxville and going to WinterJam Tour in Lexington, KY, I should have needed them. Like I said I am home now, been home about not even 5 hours as I am typing up this blog entry and my ears are still ringing. I did buy me some Saturday morning, but forgot to put them in, mind you we had concerts all that day and then it finished up Sunday morning. By the time I got home and looked for them, I must have lost the brand new never used pair. At least they were only $1 there.

Cash Only Vendors

I find this interesting, that the venders most of them seemed to not take credit cards. It was cash only for the merchandise (merch). Now, I didn’t personally go to each one, but cash was all it seemed they took. Now the book by Dave Edwards, a guest speaker, you could do credit, but they wrote it down on a piece of paper, like a form.

#XtremeWinter

Off and on, people could hashtag #XtremeWinter on Twitter and their tweet may end up on the Jumbo Screen for everyone to see. One of mine and a couple of our youths ended up the screen and it seemed to repeat those that whole day. Awesome I know right? I am sure you go can to your favorite social network (Twitter, InstaGram, Facebook, etc.) that uses hashtags and find cool pics and post. So a great way to share with others fast your experience by doing a short post.

Who Did I Meet

I got to talk to a lot of the youth and youth leaders while I was at this event, finding out where they all were from. I didn’t get to talk to any of the band members, I did get to talk to one of the MC’s, Chip Dean. I handed him a Bezeugen Gospel Tract, the Good Person test. I got to talk to Johnny Hunt and even David Edwards and I bought his book (#criticalissues #absoluteanswers) and he autographed it.

Hotel & Elevators

The elevators seemed to take forever in our hotel. Our church got to stay at the Edgewater hotel. They have freight like elevators. Most of all the time, you would call the elevator, to get the elevator to stop on your floor and it would be full. So you had to wait for it to go by and hit the call button again. Next one to come, it was full. This would go on and on for like 4 or 5 times. Only had the 2 elevators there.

Hotel & Stairs

So other choice, which if you didn’t have tons of luggage was to take the stairs. Now there are stairs by the elevator, but you can only go to the M level by those ones. You had to go to the Lobby and follow a hallway and then go through this area that looked like it was employees only to get to the side stairwells. You open the door to the level you are on and see a tiny almost balcony and another door. At first I thought it was an employee door only, but then you open it and find your way back to the room hallways.

Pray Up

Before you go an event like this. It is best that you pray up. Start praying at least a month before you go. Pray for guidance, open heart, safety, etc. Have your friends, family, church and list can go on and on to pray. Pray while you are on the conference. Have all those people I just listed and more to pray while you are on Xtreme.

Sleep?!?

Most of the kids will not sleep much, which then turns us leaders not sleeping much. Our kids was well behaved. However, at the hotel, the kids on the other side of us, another church, they were loud and noisey, thus causing me to not sleep well. Plus the hotel we stayed at the beds were hard and the pillows too. I am use to a soft bed with soft pillows. Just a word of reminder curfew is midnight at the hotel for events. If they have to get on to you, they give you a warning, after that it is eviction for your whole group. So please be considerate of others. We are suppose to be representing Jesus when we go on these events. Same applies to people trying to cut line!

Goofy Hat

You might ask, whats up with that goofy hat your wearing, well it was for fun, plus it kept my head and ears warm! Just saying! This was suppose to a time of having fun and worshiping God. After all, we are to come to God like children.

Closing thought

I personally believe Skillet and Building 429 were the two best bands present. I also believe all the guest speakers were awesome. I highly recommend going to at least one of these in your life time. Don’t forget the cash, the ear plugs and dress in layers. If I had the extra money, I would have bought me an Xtreme Winter shirt. The guest speakers this year, you can learn a lot from them and what they feel led to share with you by God. Most importantly make sure you pray up and go have a great time worshiping the Lord.

Next Year!

I cannot wait for next years Xtreme Winter! I cannot wait for them to announce who the bands and speakers are going to be for it. I highly recommend if you never attended Xtreme Winter that you do that. They do sell out fast! So hurry when that time comes again.

Comment Time

If you got to go to Xtreme Winter, I would like to hear from you. Please share your comments below. If you can please share with me.

1. Which one you went to, dates
2. Which location of Xtreme Winter you went to
3. Where you came from to get to Xtreme (or how long it took you to get to Xtreme)
4. Your experience
5. Also was this your first time or how many times have you been?
6. Anything else you wish to share?

Share This!

Feel free to share this blog entry with others so they will get an idea of what Xtreme Winter is like. If you share this blog post, make sure you hashtag #XtremeWinter in it. Also feel free to @ChristianBlogR, so I know that you shared this blog entry. There are share buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter and more.

Check out my Second Experience!

Check out more information about the Xtreme Conferences at xtremeconferences.com

About the Author

Steve Patterson

A Christian Blogger that enjoys blogging about the Bible, Theology, God, Jesus Christ, Christian Music, Family, Cats, Odd Holidays, sewing and much more. I have been blogging since 2004, however, I have been blogging on Courageous Christian Father since 2012. I enjoy listening to Christian Music. I am married with 1 daughter, 2 step-sons and a step daughter.

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