Do You Wear a Skida Like an Olympic Skier?
Whether Olympic medalist Paula Moltzan is carving her way through the slalom course or standing on the podium, her neck is always covered by a brightly colored gaiter, instantly recognizable to anyone who’s spent a winter in Vermont. These jaunty polyester accessories are so common around locals’ necks and heads between November and April that we might as well call it Skida season.
Moltzan is currently sponsored by Skida, but as a resident of Vermont’s Mad River Valley, she’d almost certainly be wearing one even if she weren’t. Go to any Nordic ski center, and you’ll find women wearing Skida hats outnumbering all others combined by a margin of at least two to one. (Alpine resorts aren’t an accurate barometer, due to the high proportion of out-of-state tourists.) They’re increasingly popular with men, too. Outdoor-gear publicist Zach Levy (who doesn’t work for Skida) loves his strawberry-patterned hat for its great fit and durable construction.
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I’ve personally managed to resist the temptation to get one through our first four winters in Vermont, but only because I already have merino accessories I like (though this “crowded slopes” skier-print hat is testing my resolve). My wife, who’s an even bigger natural-fiber snob than I am, recently left her wool beanie at home on a below-freezing bluebird day at Wild Wings XC Center — where Nordic skiing silver medalist and fellow Skida wearer Ben Ogden first started skiing. Rather than make the 50-minute drive back home to get it, she bought a Skida at the lodge, and it’s now her most-worn hat. I guess we can finally call ourselves locals.
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