Soar, slide, splash? It’s skiers’ choice as spring’s wacky pond skimming tradition returns

By NICK PERRY
Associated Press

GILFORD, N.H. (AP) — The wacky spring tradition of pond skimming is happening this month at ski resorts across the country. It’s often held to celebrate the last day of the skiing season before the chairlifts close until the following winter. People ski in pajamas, dressed as movie characters, holding fishing rods or shirtless — hoping to gain enough downhill momentum to skim clear across the water. Among the resorts holding pond skimming events this weekend are Snowbasin in Utah and Winter Park in Colorado. The tradition dates back decades, made famous by the late filmmaker Warren Miller who began documenting the annual Mt. Baker Slush Cup in Washington state in the 1950s.