Remember college, when spring was synonymous with anonymous bad behavior on sandy beaches and a Saturday spent baking in the campus sun, listening to some reggae or jam band ensemble? Well, look no further than your favorite ski resort’s spring festival to discover all the familiar ingredients from your perpetual youth, and more. Whether ski-imming across a half-frozen pond in questionable garb, crowd surfing to tunes from Arrested Development, or extending your après right into your midlife crisis, ski resorts from California to Vermont have you covered. Here are a few of the best spring flings from Whistler to Killington. Take it easy, man.
“Spring Back to Vail”
Vail, Colorado (April 12-18)
No surprise Vail attaches “World” to its Pond Skimming Championships; America’s largest ski resort likes to go big. The final weekend of skiing (after a week of incredible lift ticket discounts!) serves as mere prelude to free concerts from Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars and Wyclef Jean. This may be the one week you can hit Vail on a budget. Why, even Saturday’s BBQ feed is free to all comers.
“Telus Ski and Snowboard Fesitval”
Whistler, British Columbia (April 13-22)
Yes, I know we’re all more than familiar with Whistler, B.C.’s cultural offerings after the 2010 Olympics, but TSSF is the real deal, with two weeks of outstanding music, arts and “sno’tainment.” In addition to daily main stage shows jamming the gamut from the 15 piece analog-digital Mutaytor ensemble to the 90’s socially conscious duo Arrested Development, a who’s who of DJs fills performance spaces far and wide. The arts range from the serious, Olympus Pro Photographer Showdown, to the less so, The Chairlift Revue. Revelers will find plenty of wicked piste panache at the World Skiing Invitational and other slope-focused events as well.
“Sunshine Daydream”
Killington, Vermont (April 17)
Jerry Garcia on skis may conjure a scary image, but who else but a Green Mountain resort would simultaneously salute spring and slushy minds with an all day tribute to that “band beyond description.” I may have a couple hundred past shows of bias, but I can’t think of better après accompaniment than the San Francisco hextet. “Shakedown”, “Knot Dead”, “IS” and “The Dead Beats” jam from the main stage to accompany the pond skimming contest and swell dance party atmosphere.
“Spring Fest”
Mammoth Mountain, California (April 18)
Yes, Southern California’s Mammoth Mountain hosts one of the longest ski seasons in the country, when Spring Fest launches its second ski season. There’ll be rail jams, pond skimming and live music – often performing a decade theme like glam rock or 80’s – to brighten the already sunny skies, bikini skiing and surfer vibe on the bountiful snow.
“7th Annual Pond Skimming Championships”
Mt Bachelor, Oregon (May 18)
Numerous ski areas conclude with local clowns and costumed extroverts attempting to skim across the top of a half frozen pond to the delight of all, but how many resorts attach “Championship” to the event or run their event in late May? Bendites partake in so many outdoor sports from championship golf to world class mountain biking that, in this land of glaciers upon volcanoes, it’s the skiers, and not the snow, who first depart the mountain.
photo: pond skimming at "Spring Back to Vail" (courtesy of Vail Resorts Inc.)
