Eastern Washington Ski Resorts Host Spring Foolery March 24

Mix a little sun, beer, spring, and skis, and you have the recipe for some rather crazy antics on the ski slopes in Eastern Washington. Several ski resorts have scheduled March 24, 2012 as the day to unleash the spring foolery for fun. Hop in the car and get up to your local resort to watch the hilarity.

At Mission Ridge, the annual dummy downhill sails homemade ski contraptions off a giant jump. To the cheers and jeers of the crowd, the dummies fly through the air, some exploding into pieces on the landing.

The dummies are judged for their creativity and survivability. The winners get a season pass for next year. If you want to build an entry for the dummy downhill at Mission Ridge, be sure to follow the rules.

The dummy downhill at Mission Ridge demands air time. Photo courtesy of Mission Ridge.

At 49 Degrees North, there’s no time to build dummies, muchless time to collect a team for the annual Bavarian Downhill. Teams of four are chosen at random to compete in the race that requires such feats as drinking full pitchers of “Near Beer” and racing down a slalom course on Silver Ridge.

On March 24, the event starts at the lodge with drinking and ends at the lodge with drinking. In between, competitors must don their ski gear, ride up the lift, and race back down through the course to the lodge. Each four-member team must race it together.

Oh yeah. You have to be at least 21 years old to compete.

At Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park, March 24 is heralded as Retro Day. It’s a day for onesies, stretch pants, straight skis, neon, and other fashions that are best kept in the closet.

Retro Day mutates into an afternoon Slush Cup, in which contestants attempt to ski or snowboard across a pond filled with icy water. Those who make it across the pond get cheers from the crowd; those who splat in the water get cheers, too, since that’s what the crowd comes to see. Of course, you don’t have to stand on the sidelines; you can test your skills on the pond.

Get inspired by this successful crossing of the Mt. Spokane pond: