Since its founding, Snowdown has carefully balanced twin objectives: fun for the adults and fun for the kids.
Snowdown is Lady F’s Lunacy, a trivia contest now in its 19th year that involves chugging beer and awards a $100 bar tab as first prize.
But it also is the Snow Games at Chapman Hill, a kid-friendly event dating to Snowdown’s founding that includes such wholesome activities as snow sculpting.
Snowdown is the Outlaw Josie Pete’s Golf Tournament, an excuse for daytime drinking that proceeds from bar to bar with a putter in hand. But it is also the Feline Fashion Show at McDonald’s.
It is the Polar Beer Plunge, an event at Carver Brewing Co., in which celebrants wearing swimsuits – or less – jump into a tub of beer. But it is also the Kid’s Follies, a G-rated entertainment show.
Snowdown, once a small festival for locals, has grown into a large event that draws visitors and media attention from outside the area. Despite strong threads of alcohol, sexual suggestiveness and adult fun, FamilyFun Magazine recently named our five-day celebration one of “12 Fun Winter Festivals for Families.”
“If you’re all about staying up till the wee hours, there’s stuff for you to do,” said Mike Smedley, a longtime Snowdown volunteer and The Durango Herald’s Action Line columnist. “If you want to have a Saturday with the family doing all kinds of fun things, there’s a full schedule for you, too.”
The 36th annual Snowdown will kick off Wednesday and will continue through Sunday.
It’s difficult to overstate Snowdown’s importance as a psychological break for residents and a revenue boost for businesses that comes during a bleak stretch of winter when spring seems far away.
Snowdown began in 1979 as a way to break through the midwinter funk. It was a small festival, with many snow-focused events at Purgatory and Chapman Hill.
“It’s just a local cabin-fever reliever – get people out, spur the economy,” said Peg Ochsenreiter, vice president of the organization’s board.
The winter festival was the brainchild of John Murrah, at the time a Herald advertising representative, said Linda Mannix, a former Snowdown coordinator who was part of the founding group. “It was John Murrah’s idea,” she said.
Murrah came to Morley Ballantine, then the newspaper’s publisher, for backing. She put up $1,000, and the Chamber of Commerce agreed to be co-sponsor. Terry Fiedler was brought in to lead the effort.
Fiedler had agreed to reimburse Ballantine for the outlay, but he was allowed to keep any profit for future events. The first Snowdown posted $5 in profit. Fiedler repaid Ballantine and framed the $5 bill.
Snowdown remains an all-volunteer effort. The event has no paid staff members, so Snowdown is molded by the people who most care about it.
“It’s done in fun,” Smedley said. “I can think of dozens of events that occurred because people want to do them, and people did them.”
Charlie Siegele, an early Snowdown participant and longtime board member, recalled a Ski Softball game in Snowdown’s early years. The event between Purgatory’s ski patrol and ski school employees was held on softball fields at Fanto Park in south Durango.
“When we were ready to start the game it was about 20 below zero,” he said.
The lights were slow to work, and spectators gave up and went home. “The game was played on, and I think the ski patrol won that night,” he said.
Siegele said he’s impressed by the attendance at Snowdown in recent years. “It’s awesome the way it’s grown,” he said.
Some visitors have come to Durango for the first time during Snowdown and decided to stay. Former Durango residents often choose Snowdown weekend to return for visits. Couples meet for the first time.
Chip Lile, a Snowdown board member and co-owner of El Rancho Tavern, said he knows people who first visited Durango during Snowdown and decided to move here.
Snowdown revelers pack Main Avenue, boosting revenues for merchants and tips for bartenders. Bars and liquor stores stock up ahead of time.
“It’s a real benefit to the community this time of year,” said Mike Rich, owner of Wagon Wheel Liquors. “It helps business a little bit.”
The downside of all the fun is alcohol-related arrests surge during Snowdown.
“We always see more increase in crimes surrounding alcohol – assaults with alcohol involved, DUIs are always an increase,” said Lt. Ray Shupe, spokesman with the Durango Police Department.
Officially, Snowdown discourages the use of alcohol during events. But the reality is, Snowdown flows on a river of alcohol. Many events, from the Pole Dancing Contest to the Ping-Pong Tournament, take place in bars and are restricted to those 21 and older. Public drunkenness is a Snowdown commonplace.
Lile said the board has made efforts to keep adult activities in bars and expand the roster of kids’ events.
“The board of directors is really aware that there’s some adult activities happening, but the community is not all adults,” he said.
Lile said, “It may not exactly be there today, but that’s where we’re trying to push it – toward a family-friendly event.”
cslothower@durangoherald.com
