Photos: A wild scene as Pat’s Peak welcomes spring

LEFT: Mike Pelletier skims across the entire pond in his beach-themed costume at the Pat’s Peak annual Pond Skim contest on Saturday in front of the judges and a crowd that stretched up the base slope.
Contestant Emma Pelletier gets a hug from Cowgirl contestant Chandler Curtis after Pelletier made it across the entire skim pond at the annual event at Pats Peak on Saturday, March 18, 2023. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff
Contestant Lynday Townes tries to avoid one of the safety personnel at the Pats Peak annual Pond Skim contest on Saturday, March 18, 2023. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff
ABOVE: Emma Pelletier celebrates after she made it across the entire skim pond at the annual event.
Contestant Emma Pelletier begins to celebrate after she makes it across the entire skim pond at the annual event at Pats Peak on Saturday, March 18, 2023. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff
Gwen Barrueau in her witch costume gets sprayed with water as she makes it across the skim pond at the Pats Peak annual event on Saturday, March 18, 2023. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff
Cowgirl contestant Chandler Curtis goes down in a blaze of glory at the Pat’s Peak annual pond skim contest on Saturday. GEOFF FORESTER photos / Monitor staff
Contestant Dan Bennett as The Hulk skims across the pond in front of a full crowd at the Pats Peak Skim Contest on Saturday, March 18, 2023. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff
Cowgirl Chandler Curtis throws her six guns in the air at the Pats Peak annual Pond Skim contest at the bottow of the mountain on Saturday, March 18, 2023. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff
Austin Burritt as Spiderman skims across the pond at the Pats Peak annual event at the bottom of the mountain on Saturday, March 18, 2023. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Published: 3/20/2023 11:26:27 AM

Most of us try to make it through the stretch of icy weather from December through March without ever falling flat on our noses. Participants at Pat’s Peak Ski Area in Henniker spent Saturday navigating a much colder, and certainly much more dramatic, gauntlet. There, participants on skis or snowboards attempted to cross an 80-foot, man-made pond in various costumes at the annual Pat’s Peak Pond Skim contest with hundreds of people watching. Some made it across high and dry. Others were forced to soak in the frosty revelry. The judges were dressed as well and they awarded prizes in the seasonably warm, early spring weather. Sophia Decker won for the best costume as an octopus. Kyle Libby won for the best skim and Paul Lakevicius won for the best splash.

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