Christmas Traditions

Christmas is a religious holiday, a commercial holiday and a family time. It is the season when perfectly sane, or so it would seem until now, adults attempt to correspond with 100 people they may not have heard from or seen all year. It’s a time to re-connect. Ideally, we write hand written letters to include in each card or at least a hand written note. Unfortunately many of us, myself included, write a general update letter and include a copy with every card. At least a general update letter conveys the news of the year. The letter represents a gift of communication.

Christmas is more than gifts, it is also traditions. One of my treasured traditions in Steamboat is the torch light parade. The entire ski school instructor staff, ski patrol and other privileged accomplished skiers perform the torch light parade. We started at the top of the mountain in pitch black. Zero lights on the slopes. We each carried a torch. When you consider 50 to 60 people with torches and sparks flying, you soon learn to wear something other than your favorite ski outfit. Imagine these skiers skiing down the mountain and performing various designs as they travel. Such a spectacular sight. We ski straight down the face of the mountain from the gondola in full view of a crowd at the base of the mountain. Skiing in the dark presents a challenge, add the fact that you are holding a torch in the air and skiing in and out of formations at the same time. Such a beautiful and precision sight, from the bottom, but a bit different when you are the one on skis conducting the moves. Fortunately I have never seen anyone slip and fall. This would not be the ideal time for a domino effect.

Another Steamboat tradition is the lighted man. The tradition started in the 1940s by Claudius Banks. Claudius started skiing down Howelsen Hill ski mountain with road flares strapped to his suit. The tradition started during the now-famous Steamboat Winter Carnival. His son Jon joined him in 1971 and the duo skied together until 1978. Jon has since moved away; however, he returns to Steamboat every year for Winter Carnival. It takes Jon 100 hours to rig his Nomex racing suit and another 100 hours with the pyrotechnic team to prepare for the 10 minute run. He has rockets shooting from a halo around his head, rockets from the back of both shoulders, lights from the toe of his boots all the way up to his waist, lights covering his ski poles and flares shooting from the top of his ski poles. The controls for all of these fireworks are located in the handles of his ski poles. Oh, he also skis down in the dark. Talk about lighting up the holiday and carrying on a family tradition.

Family traditions form the basis of so my holidays. One of my personal favorites consisted of cookie baking. I remember endless hours in the kitchen with my mother baking. Mom’s favorite holiday treats were fudge, divinity and peanut brittle; however, we also baked several varieties of decorated sugar cookies and other delectable sweet treats. Mom learned to bake without recipes so she taught me art of creativity and instinct for baking. It served me so well that later in life I actually owned, operated and did the bulk of the baking for a commercial bakery. Candy Mountain Culinary Creations occupied the location at the base of the Steamboat Ski Mountain in the 1980s.

Mom also taught me to sing acappella during our baking time. Amazing benefits from a family holiday tradition.

I carried the cookie baking tradition forward with my two sons. They pulled a chair up to the counter and “helped” by pouring in ingredients, mixing and dropping the cookies on to the cookie sheet. Not really certain if their favorite part was mixing, dipping a finger in to the dough, decorating or eating the warm cookies.

Whether you are celebrating Christmas in the mountains, or elsewhere, what a wonderful season to carry on family traditions or start new ones. Holidays are a great time to count your blessings.

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