March Fun!

PHOTO: What’s that? A bright Yellow Submarine racing down King Pine’s slopes! King Pine’s Cardboard Box Derby is back on March 27th in East Madison. Build your own cardboard creation using just cardboard, glue and tape and join the fun. Wear a costume or just come out and cheer on the participants. KingPine.com for more information. Happy Spring Fun.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

You may have put your snow shovel away but don’t put your skis and snowboards away yet.
Ski resort slopes are still deeply covered with snow and Mother Nature is sure to deliver more snow. Especially if you did put away your snow shovel, that always makes it snow.
Thankfully more fun is returning to the slopes this spring. To encourage smiling and laughing, ski resorts host fun events to celebrate the end of the season. It is really fun to take part in the contests but they just might be more fun to watch. Spectators are encouraged to come out to cheer the craziness on!
The Pond Skim and Slush Pond contests, where skiers and snowboarders do their best to try to get across the open water without going for a dunk, are popular. The ponds are built by pushing up snow and lining them with plastic sheets and then using the water from their snowmaking system ponds to fill them with very cold water.
Each resort has its own pond design. Some are very long and others are short but to the crowd’s delight many take a dunking! Success depends upon the amount of speed they are carrying when they hit the water. Often participants are required to wear fun costumes too.

Here are the dates for many of the Pond Skim events:
March 19th–Pats Peak
March 26th–Mount Cranmore
March 27th–Mount Sunapee
April 2nd–Dartmouth Skiway & Gunstock
April 9th–Cannon Mountain & McIntyre.
At King Pine they are hosting their annual Cardboard Box Derby on March 27th.. Racers make a “vessel” that holds 2 or 4 riders made completely of Cardboard held together with only tape and glue. Cardboard boxes are transformed into everything from race cars to rockets ships!

It is either sunscreen time or pull on your rain jacket to enjoy the soft spring snow of March.
Last week I skied twice in the rain.
Loon Mountain’s, new this season, Kanc 8 high-speed eight passenger bubble chairlift is really nice. Its super comfortable heated seats and its bubble protective covering shielded us from the rain. Also, the lift line is covered because it is inside the building that houses the chairs when they’re not in use. Loon’s 4 passenger gondola was a nice dry ride too but it had a little bit of a lift line.
Skiing in the rain at Loon was great. I skied the whole resort. I especially liked flying down Walking Boss and all the trails on South Peak.

I also skied in the rain at Bretton Woods. I did laps riding their 8 passenger gondola to the summit. The snow conditions were great and the temperature was warm and comfortable. I especially liked skiing the Water Bucket Trail and the trails furthest from the gondola where often I was the only skier on the trail.
Calendar winter ends and the Spring Equinox arrives on Sunday, March 20th at 11:33 am. We have just a few more days left to nab some winter peaks. And now it’s time to start thinking about buying next year’s season pass at the very best rates!
Have Fun.