Santa gave a tug on the reins as Rudolph and his pack of reindeer dropped out of the sky, arcing a big right turn on the descent around the north side of Murdock Peak, slowly dropping down towards Canyons Village and onto final approach down S.R. 224.
Out of the corner of his eye, Santa spied happy families picking out their trees at Park City Nursery and shoppers bustling at Redstone with holiday gifts. Locking onto the familiar white McPolin Barn, the reindeer expertly pulled the sleigh into a picture-perfect landing in the carpool lot at Park City’s Mountain Village (yes, reindeer do count toward the carpool minimum).
With a big “ho, ho, ho,” Santa had arrived, much to the surprise of skiers and riders. “Merry Christmas Park City,” he exclaimed as he grabbed his skis and donned his red-and-white fur-covered Santa helmet.
With just days until Christmas, jolly old St. Nick needed a break. With the speed of light, the sleigh had rocketed from Santa’s North Pole workshop through the night for an afternoon of skiing at Park City Mountain.
On a bluebird Sunday, with plenty of snow and over 30 lifts spinning, Santa put his skis on his shoulder and headed for the First Time chairlift.
“Hey, Santa, how about sending some snow,” shouted a skier with a grin on his face. “What do you mean, I’ve already sent you over 100 inches,” replied Santa with furrowed eyebrows. Everyone laughed. As Santa knows full well, skiers always want more.
The eyes on the kids got big under their tiny toggles as Santa approached. “Who wants to ski with Santa,” said the jolly old man. Hands shot up in the air as kids flocked around the red-and-white-clad would-be skier.
Heading up First Time, kids jumped at the chance to provide their Christmas wish list. First, though, Santa had to check his Naughty & Nice Book. The kids leaned over to look into the little black book as Santa wrote their name.
“I want a Barbie Dreamhouse,” said 5-year-old Marie. “And a wallet … with something in it.” Alex, age 5, wanted a puppy … “a big white one.” Little 2-year old Theo, thought that was a good idea too. His 5-year-old brother Charlie was very focused on the red ski helmet he wanted to replace his blue one.
Santa led the group on a few warm-up runs, his eyes getting bigger as he watched the little rippers! All the kids were 4 or under but were already arcing turns. Four-year-old Winsley was the speedster in the group, slaloming around others and making quick turns on her edges.
Gathering the kids at the top of First Time, St. Nick organized the proverbial Santa ski line, zig-zagging its way down the wide open First Time face.
Soon, the kids were asking for more. “Can we go find some jumps now, Santa?” inquired Marie. “Sorry, Santa doesn’t really do jumps any more, young girl,” he replied.
The conga line of Santa and his posse kept lapping First Time. Winsley was the Rudolph of the group, leading the way with Marie, Charlie and Alex tip-to-tail. With a little help from dad, young Theo – a real trooper – kept pace at the end.
Run after run the kids polished their technique as they followed him down the hill — waiting patiently as more and more kids came by to be photographed with Santa. After a half dozen laps, the kids were tired (or was that Santa?). It was time to head back to the sleigh for the midnight return to the North Pole.
There’s a special joy that you take away when skiing with kids. For Santa, it never gets old. There are few things in our world that represent goodness as Santa. It’s the universal ticket to friendly conversation with strangers.
It’s also a reminder of the opportunity kids have here in our community. There were nothing but smiles last Sunday afternoon as Santa ripped up First Time. And there were undoubtedly stories at daycare and preschool this week about skiing with Santa. That’s what Christmas is about in a ski town.
Merry Christmas Park City! And watch for Santa on the slopes.