What a weird, wacky, and thoroughly enjoyable day we had for this year’s Crazy Daze and Pond Skimming celebration…

Spirits were high, costumes were hilarious, and the weather was surprisingly wonderful!

We started the day with a 90% chance of rain in the forecast, but aside from 17 or 18 raindrops, it was mild and mostly sunny.

The costume contest was wilder than ever, with competitors doing a dance-off for the top honors.

In the end, the Pond Skimmers stole the show…and what a show it was!

As always, crazy costumes set the vibe early in the day, and our employees had some of the best again this year.

Our friends from the Awesome! program showed us why teamwork is so important…

…from every direction!

Color is important for attracting attention.

And cross dressing is popular…

This year, we also saw classics like ‘The King’…
And several competitors paid homage to their love of beer.

In the end, it took an impromptu dance-off to pick a winner.

And our champ even lead the crowd in a rousing rendition of “Red Solo Cup” to celebrate her victory.

After that, attention turned to the 100-foot pond, where costuming was just one of the required elements.

How competitors entered the pond was EXTREMELY important. A little ‘hop’ worked well for some…

But if you don’t carry enough speed, and even the best balance can’t save you…

Speed was a big challenge for some of our smaller skimmers. Gravity simply wasn’t on their side…

Luckily, the Cascade Swift Water Rescue Team was on hand to help everyone out of the pond.

Or in some cases…

to make sure they got the dousing they deserved.

(Don’t worry, no cartoon characters were injured in the making of this event.)

Our master of ceremonies kept things lively between rounds…

He was dressed as the popular Brundage icon, the ‘Underwear Tree’.

And we were pleased to welcome the guys from The Salmon River Brewery who were pouring their tasty brews pond-side, so fans could stay refreshed without missing a minute of the action.

While the noise of the crowd proved there is an appreciation for the skill involved in this unusual sport, it also showed us that there is even MORE appreciation for those who…well…fail.

It was tough to predict who would succeed and who would come up short…some of the skimmers made it look easy.

Others started out strong, until something went wrong.

(Now THAT is a face shot!)

It took three rounds to crown a champion.

In the end, the title went to crowd-favorite and repeat-finalist Lolo Nelson.

Congratulations, Lolo! We’ll see you all next year.

– April

Don’t forget: Lift Tickets are 100% FREE this Monday, April 2 – Friday, April 6. No Foolin! More info is available here.