Skiing for Dummies

A A A Comments By Colin Bane Thursday, Dec 2 2010

You'd have to be a dummy to huck yourself off some of the biggest kickers in Vail's terrain parks this season, which is precisely why you ought to send one in your place if you're not looking to make the agony-of-defeat reel this season. Vail's 5th annual Snow Daze event runs today through December 12 and features headliner performances by Mix Master Mike (Thursday), Dwight Yoakam (Friday), O.A.R. (Saturday) and Weezer (Sunday), but the must-see event is tonight's Dummy Demolition Derby, taking place at 5 p.m. under the lights on Golden Peak.

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"You build a dummy, put it on skis or a snowboard, push it up the hill, then send it off a giant kicker," says Kelly Paton, a spokeswoman for Vail's Highline Sports & Entertainment. "We put a flamethrower under the jump so you can see them in all their glory as they go sailing through the air toward their imminent destruction, and gravity takes care of the rest. The dummies are judged on creativity, quality of air, quality of landing, crowd response, and how spectacularly the dummy is destroyed. It's definitely a crowd favorite, and the craziest thing on the Snow Daze schedule."

All Snow Daze events are free for spectators, but if you want to get a dummy team together, it will cost you $100; register at Vail.com/SnowDaze. Prizes start at $3,000 for first place, so send something dramatically dumb.
Dec. 6-12, 2010

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