The Podium

For those of you who missed the Mt. Hood Meadows event of the season, I am really truly sorry.  The 3^rd Annual Sno-Kona Pond Skimming Competition took place on April 25^th and it was absolutely hysterical. If you haven’t heard about it yet, the Sno-Kona Pond Skim is an annual event put on by Mt. Hood Meadows, Kona Brewing Co. and All About Hawaii Travel. Put these three businesses together and what do you have? Snowboarding, beer and, well, Hawaii – it really does not get any better.

To sum up the premise of this comp, each skimmer gets one chance to cross a 90 foot, 33 degree pond (check out the pics for yourself on our Flickr page.) If you successfully cross the pond on your first attempt you advance to the ‘skim-off’ for a chance to win a trip to Hawaii from All About Hawaii Travel. However,  the plot thickens – the ‘skim-off’ winner is judged based upon skim style, best Hawaiian costume, best showmanship and best crowd reaction.

This pond skimming business is not as simple as it sounds. Crossing a 90 foot pond is no easy feat and the trick to successfully crossing the pond is all in your speed. Mix the high speed and inexperienced skimmers (it’s not like you get a practice run or anything!), and what do you get? Crash’s, burn’s, flips, lost tops, wet cold people, shrinkage…the list goes on…use your imagination.

Bottom line, this is event is super fun to compete in and even more fun to watch… after you have already made a fool of yourself in the pond of course! Which is exactly what I did.  I accumulated all the speed I could muster and just closed my eyes (first mistake).  As soon as I hit the pond, I cruised halfway through, lost control (mistake numero dos) and then preceded to make a beeline for the edge of the pond and rode on out (mistake three, game over). At least my prayer was answered, ‘just don’t let me fall into this freezing cold pond!!!’

Octa Mom

Hawaiian Spam

Crash and Burn

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Even those of you who don’t ski or snowboard can enjoy this event. It’s free to sit and watch, there is beer, Hawaiian grub and from the splashes to the incredible costumes, your entertainment is guaranteed, or beer’s on Westbound Boarder. And to top it all off, there is not a bad seat in the house at this event, as our very own MHM diggers make stadium seating which surrounds the pond – giving you a perfect view of the pond, the costumes and all of the splashes!

Lance Helberg

Danielle Helberg

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Let us know if you were there this year, share your experience, pics, or humor – we would love to share the laughter. Until then, keep thinking about your costumes for next year, because you would be amazed what people come up with, check out the MHM professional pics taken by Randy Boverman!