Words and Light

If anything, I’ve learned that people like to congregate at watering holes, whether they’re collecting water, imbibing alcoholic beverages or actually, literally gathering around a watering hole.

As far as the actual, literal watering hole goes, I’ve seen it in Georgia…

© 2010 by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The infamous mud pit at the conclusion of the 2010 Redneck Games in Dublin, Ga.

…and now I’ve seen it in Pennsylvania.

© 2011 by The York Dispatch. Bikini-clad Tyler Rutter of Dillsburg attempts to pond-skim at Roundtop Mountain Resort in Lewisberry on Sunday, March 13, 2011. To celebrate the end of the 2010-2011 winter season, the resort created a waist-high "pond" for its popular, annual pond-skimming event, which requires participants to ski or snowboard partway down the snow slope and then water-ski/-board across the pond.

Roundtop Mountain Resort closed its winter season today, and to celebrate, they dug out a trench, filled it with water and invited skiers and snowboarders to attempt to pond-skim. I’d never heard of pond-skimming until last night when I looked at the event flier and had to ask Jeff what it was.

“You go down a regular snow hill on skis/snowboard,” Jeff said, “and try to make it across a semi-frozen/half-melted pond without falling in. They do it at the end of the season.”

An employee at the resort told me the trick is to switch your skiing styles, seamlessly. A snow skier leans forward, whereas a water skier leans backward.

© 2011 by The York Dispatch. Kyle "Toast" Heintzelman of Dillsburg successfully pond-skims across a manmade "pond" at the bottom of the Minuteman slope at Roundtop Mountain Resort in Lewisberry on Sunday, March 13, 2011.

As a Southerner, I thought the whole thing sounded ridiculous — and, of course it was that. It was awesome, too.

© 2011 by The York Dispatch. Sam Palumbo of Dillsburg shouts, "Shiver me timbers!" as he is helped from the manmade "pond" after unsuccessfully pond-skimming at Roundtop Mountain Resort in Lewisberry on Sunday, March 13, 2011.

As was the case with the Redneck Games, photographing pond-skimming at Roundtop is an occupational hazard in and of itself. One of the employees there told me I was squarely in the “splash zone,” and was I ever. Whereas after the Redneck Games I was covered in mud, I was soaked to the skin and shivering after one hour of photographing people trying to make it across the water.

Should’ve brought my rainjacket.