Hoodoo celebrates Winter Carnival

Hoodoo Ski Area celebrated its 32nd Winter Carnival on Saturday. Marking the middle of the winter ski season, Hoodoo once again saluted the season with a full day of activities and recreation.

With recent snow and cold conditions the atmosphere was festive as a large contingent of skiers and snowboarders were on hand to enjoy the day.

Marty Ochs from Eugene was enjoying the festivities for the first time with his wife and friends from Bend .

"Yeah it's our first time, we just wanted to come over and see everything, the snow is perfect, it's a perfect day," Ochs said. "And the great thing about Hoodoo is it's the perfect size, it's got enough for everybody; runs for the kids and the families, runs for beginners, it's got enough terrain for people who've been skiing for awhile, especially us with 80-year-old knees."

Just some of the many free activities and events included musical chairs, a hula hoop contest, frisbee golf, an ax-throwing booth, a pie-eating contest, an employee ice-sculpting contest, the ever-popular dummy downhill, a bonfire in the bowl, and awards presentation and a torchlight descent, and finally a fireworks display to end the outdoor activities. Blackstrap Bluegrass provided the live music for what made a festive day for all on hand.

Always a favorite that empties the ski runs for a half-hour is the dummy downhill. Featuring a vast array of different types of 'dummies' made by guests and sponsors, the dummies are attached to skis or ski runners and set free at the top of a specially made run and jump. Some of the dummies aren't up to the task and crash well before the jump. Other dummies hit the jump at full speed and crash in a spectacular heap of skis and dummy body parts. By the end of the event, dummy bodies are strewn throughout the course. Of the 17 dummies entered, only two managed to cross the finish line.

The always popular event meant a full house as all five of Hoodoo's lifts were in operation, as well as the Autobahn Tubing Park.

"This is always one of our biggest events of the year. The turnout is looking real good, the parking lot is packed to the brim," said Kelly Reagan, a lift operator at Hoodoo. "It looks like everybody is having a good time today. The weather is perfect, it's cold so the snow is real nice, which is

great!"

Celebrating its 75th year, Hoodoo is in the middle of its 75 days of giveaways and has many other events in the works, including its Tightwad Tuesday promotion, and The Spring Fling scheduled for March.

For more information visit www.hoodoo.com or call 541-822-3799.