April Fools Day (Gaper Day)

After two really hard days of skiing at Beaver Creek and Steamboat, I took it easy today. I wanted to work on rails a big more, this time at Breckenridge. I spent the day in two of the smaller terrain parks on the mountain. I'm getting pretty good at sliding funboxes, but rails are another story. It is really hard to learn to slide rails on skis. Your balance and timing must be perfect. I'll keep trying until I get it. Because it was April Fool's Day, there were a lot of jokes on the mountain. My favorite was a message written on the side of the Falcon Chair lift shack:

4/1/05
Warning: All bears expected
to awaken from winter sleep.
Please use extra caution on tree runs!

Another local tradition which I was unaware of is that April 1st is also Gaper (see definitions 1,2 and 3) Day. This is the day when locals make fun of all of the tourists who come to Breck, but don't belong on the mountain. Everyone was in costume. I saw tons of people wearing neon ski suits from the 80s, racing spandex unitards and of course people skiing in jeans. Tons of people had rented those little short skis that look so funny. A lot of people were also dressed up in Halloween costumes. I saw a snowboarder in full hockey gear who was even carrying a hockey stick. It was a great day to be hanging out in the terrain parks. Everyone was having a great time. I would have participated too, but I don't have any old school ski outfits. I think this is a common thing at many ski resorts, so if you ever get a chance, try to go skiing on April Fools Day/Gaper Day.