Intrepid skiers, snowboarders brave icy water during White Pass pond skim
Apr. 22—With spring in full gear and temperatures approaching a balmy 50 degrees last Saturday, April 20, at the White Pass Ski Area, hundreds of onlookers watched as approximately 150 intrepid skiers and snowboarders braved icy water attempting the 2024 White Pass Pond Skim.
Organized by the White Pass Ski Patrol as a fundraiser, the Pond Skim is meant to mark the second-to-last weekend White Pass will be open this season, along with providing some fun and watching big wipeouts.
The origins of pond skimming are unclear, with some believing it either originated in Washington on Mount Baker in 1953 with the Slush Cup, while others attribute it to a pair of Canadian skiers — Cliff White and Cyril Paris — who created it while spring skiing in Banff, Canada, in 1928.
Whenever it was created, ski resorts around the world now hold their own Pond Skim events, and they have become a staple of the ski season's end.
With the Pond Skim now complete, White Pass is preparing for its final event this season — the Yeti Hunt next weekend.
Beginning Saturday, April 27, 10 yeti cutouts will be placed at various locations on different ski runs throughout White Pass, according to White Pass Ski Area ski instructor Andy Mahre.
"You find seven of the 10 yetis, you take a picture with them or of somebody else with them, and you bring those into the prize desk at our retail shop and claim your prize," Mahre said.
On Saturday, there will be a total of 133 prizes.
"One for each day that we were open this year, and Sunday, we will be giving away a season pass," Mahre added.
Mahre said some, though not all, ski lifts will be operational, as some ski runs no longer have enough snow on them.
"Just the original ski area will be open," Mahre said. "So the quad (Great White Express) down here, the triple chair (Far East) and Chair 4 will be open, but Basin Quad and Couloir Express (lifts) will be closed."
Additionally on Saturday, a yeti hunter costume contest will be held behind the White Pass ski lodge beginning at 11 a.m.
For more information on the White Pass Ski Area Yeti Hunt, visit https://skiwhitepass.com/events/yeti-hunt-weekend.
