Saturday, 30 Dec 06
Lynsey Dyer (left) and Allegra Gordon spreading the Christmas cheer in Sun Valley.
We skiers are lucky. We get a taste of Christmas all winter long when Santa brings us gifts in the form of “powder days.” When we smile from ear to ear, we tap into that inner Christmas cheer. But on Christmas Eve, some skiers go to the nth degree to get extreme-ly cheerful.
For five years, Team Xmas – Sun Valley native Lynsey Dyer, and freestyle skiers Allegra and Chloe Gordon, plus other “helpers” – dress up in Santa garb and drag goodies about Sun Valley decorating chairlifts and spreading Christmas cheer from the top of 9,000-foot Bald Mountain, aka “Baldy,” to the bottom.
Team Xmas
I have spent Christmas in Banff, Alberta, Whistler, B.C., Sunriver, Ore., Lake Tahoe, Calif., Steamboat Springs, Colo., Aspen, Colo., Vail, Colo., Jackson Hole, Wyo., and a number of other wonderful places and ski towns in the world. But the best has always been Sun Valley, Idaho.
It’s so spirited: It was the first ski resort in the country. The history here is wonderful: Olympians have come out of this place (Picabo Street and Stein Eriksen, for example). Hollywood has always loved it: Ernest Hemingway was its star. A walk through the hallway of Sun Valley Lodge is like walking down the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Pictured on the walls are Warren Miller, Harry S Truman, Tip O’Neill, Ginger Rogers, Rick Nelson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lucille Ball, the Fonda's, and the Kennedy’s. But it’s not stuck up: I saw Maria Shriver -– wife of the "Governator” – chatting with friends at Warm Springs Lodge and Muriel Hemingway spending time with her family at Tully’s. And then there’s Team Xmas.
On Christmas Eve, I met Dyer and crew outside Warm Springs Lodge. She was wearing a Santa hat, a green jacket, bright pink pants and had green tinsel wrapped around her neck. She looked like a happy Christmas tree on acid. Allegra Gordon stood out with her tall lean body in a baggy Santa suit and a wig of white hair sticking out under her camouflaged helmet. She was the “ghetto” Santa. All day long, elf Dyer carried a large bag on her back filled with ribbons, tinsel, stockings, and candy as we bebopped around the mountain to wrap, hang, and personalize chairs including the appropriate Christmas chairlift. As we flew down runs like Christmas Ridge and Holiday, we would yell “Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.” Even Santa had to take a break for cookies; I mean powder. Easter Bowl had the stash late in the day, keeping the 6 inches of snow overnight nice and light in the shade.
The spirit of Team Xmas is all over Sun Valley during the holidays. There is also the annual Christmas Festival, where ice skaters perform “The Nutcracker” on the rink outside Sun Valley Lodge. Plus, there is fireworks, ice/snow sculptures, and of course, the “Sun Valley Serenade.”
Throughout the winter, the classic 1941 movie featuring the Glenn Miller Band, Sonja Henie, and John Payne plays Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday free at 5 p.m. at the Sun Valley Opera House. And this might be the only ski town in the country that plays Warren Miller movies all winter long.
Sun Valley is so vintage, so spirited, and a place where we skiers can tap into the reason why we love skiing. Skiing is about the deep powder, but also the cheer.
We skiers all have a little Team Xmas in us, so get out there and make the New Year a Christmas party all season long. And if you have a chance in your lifetime, head to Sun Valley for the holidays, you won’t forget it.
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