In which we wear silly dresses and ski

Last year, I participated in my first ski hash.

To review, hashing is a non-competitive multi-sport event that began (with running) in the 1930s in Malaysia. It's organized by a local club and is a great way to get some exercise, laugh a lot, drink a lot, eat a lot, and drink some more. What better way to exercise than with alcohol? Clubs are often referred to as drinking clubs with running/biking/skiing problem.

Around these parts, hashes are often runs, bikes, or skis. C'est la vie when you've got 4 seasons - you've gotta pick the mode of transport most adaptable to the terrain at the time! Two to three "hares" are designated before the event. They'll plan their route and false routes. The day of, they strike out a few minutes ahead of the "hounds" - everyone else - to set the trail. They leave signs for the hounds to follow that help direct them. But things aren't always very straight forward as those sneaky hares like to set false trail, too! As hounds set out on the trail you'll hear calls like, "ON ON?" "CHECKING!" "FALSE TRAIL!" and, if the correct trail is being followed, "ON ON!" If the hounds catch the hares, they get to pants them.

In addition to false trails, dead ends, splits, etc. on the trail, the hares will leave beer stops to slow the hounds down. It's in poor taste to leave beer un-drank on the trail! After the hash (and the multiple stops along the way), the whole group ends back up at the host's house for a potluck (and more beer).

Yeah -- it's a good time.

A lot of places now have Red Dress hashes. This is to commemorate a young lady from 1987 who went to visit a friend in California. She was wearing a red dress and heels when she arrived. Her friend wanted to surprise her by taking her to meet her hashing club who were about to have an event. The group joked that the red dress lady should wait in the car until the hash was over, so naturally she proved them wrong by running the whole thing in her red dress.

And thus....

We had a red dress hash on Valentine's this year. The hash club in the valley holds hashes on Sundays once every month or so. It's a blast to be so silly with so many wonderful people! This hash ended up being around 5 miles. Nothing too crazy. We had a blast!