It is so hard to believe it is that time of year again… We are sad summer is coming to a close, and we are wrapping up our fun-filled summer events, but we are very excited to announce our 2023-24 WINTER SCHEDULE!
Now we didn’t want to make it too easy this year. We created a guessing game in the form of a video series to figure out which mountains we will be visiting this year. We rolled them out over the course of four days on our Facebook page. This hilarious video series was a blast to film with our crew members Tyler Bredbury, John Aquavella, Julie Pacenka, Jenn Grinnings, and owner Heather Clifford. The giggles couldn’t be contained and filled the warehouse as the crew members delivered these dad jokes to the camera… many times over. These jokes incorporated props and pictures to aid in the guessing process. Let’s see if you all can figure it out. (link to the video series) If not, we’ve posted the full video with all the stops to our YouTube channel … or see the explanations below.
January
January Mountain #1:In the month of January, we announced we will be visiting five different mountains. To start off the dad-jokes off easy, we used two rocks, one little and one big to lead you to guess … We will be visiting BIGROCK MOUNTAIN, January 6, 2024.
January Mountain #2: Next, we held up a picture of a saddle and pointed out the parts of it. We pointed to the front, and the BACK. This helped us to reveal we will be traveling to… SADDLEBACK MOUNTAIN, January 7, 2024.
January Mountain #3: We continued with asking what the MAIN color of our shirts was that day. A hint.. They were black! So, as you can imagine, we are heading to Black Mountain of Maine on January 20, 2024.
January Mountain #4: Then, two crew members held up a stick of butter and a bowl of nuts as hints. They discussed how they like their favorite snacks and this led us to proclaim we are visiting SKI BUTTERNUT on January 27, 2024.
January Mountain #5: Finally, one crew member held up a gemstone and asked if “this is the only gem that works for you?”. The other crew member said that ANY of them will do! This helped us explain that we are heading to JIMINY PEAK, January 28th.
February
February Mountain #1:In the month of February, we announced we will be visiting seven different mountains. To start, we used a stuffed cat and it really needed to get its act together or it would never AMOUNT to anything! This led us to tell the lazy cat (and all of you) we will be visiting CATAMOUNT MOUNTAIN on February 3rd.
February Mountain #2: Next, crew members used a play on words to describe the direction we travel in to get to some mountains, as well as, in the spirit of the movie “Airplane,” the name Shirley. We discussed that sometimes we have to travel west to go EAST. This helped us make it known we will travel to BERKSHIRE EAST, February 4th.
February Mountain #3: Afterwards, two crew members plotted how they were going to get across the valley. They said they would just drive “oba it”! They also pointed out that they would do so in their “Rambler,” a reference to classic 1950s automobile made by a company named “Nash.” This led us to declare we will be visiting NASHOBA VALLEY on February 10th (driving our Chevy vehicles, of course).
February Mountain #4: Then, two crew members started playing pattycake and discussed how they reached new heights on that final high five. This led us to reveal the Vertical Challenge will be returning to PATS PEAK on February 11th.
February Mountain #5: Next, one crew member looked around as if they had misplaced something and said “I had a valley around here somewhere”. This helped you discover we will be returning to LOST VALLEY, on February 17th.
February Mountain #6: Then, our crew members pondered what they were going to do with all the tons of southing. Obviously, this led us to share that we will be traveling to MOUNT SOUTHINGTON, February 24. And yeah, “southing” is not a real word. We just made up it up for this video.
February Mountain #7: One crew member identified the time of day as “dusk.” Their colleague held up their ski gear and exclaimed that they wanted to ski. This helped us reveal we will be returning to SKI SUNDOWN on February 25th.
March
March Mountain #1: In the month of March, the VC will be headed to seven different mountains across four weekends. The first weekend of March, the VC will have a jam-packed weekend and be headed to three different mountains. To start us off with a tricky MOUNTAIN of clues, one crew member acted out gestures while another narrated. One crew member acted as if they were flapping their arms like a bird, shivering and then burping. Those words all sort of sound like the name of the
mountain, so all these clues hopefully helped lead you to realize we are traveling to BURKE MOUNTAIN on March 1st.
March Mountain #2: To announce where we are heading on March 2nd, a crew member revealed that they mark a notch on a piece of wood when they successfully sneak something across the border. This led us to note that we will be visiting SMUGGLERS NOTCH on March 2nd.
March Mountain #3: To close out the three day weekend, we utilized a bolt and motioned a piece of metal on and off it to divulge that we will be returning to BOLTON VALLEY on March 3rd.
March Mountain #4: To announce a very special weekend we really tested our viewers’ vocabulary with this next hint. We mentioned that some even-toed ungulates have humps on their back. What’s an ungulate? Well, it’s a camel, and this video also informed you about the two kinds of camels. Hopefully even non-zoologically-minded viewers concluded we will be traveling to Pennsylvania again, and visiting CAMELBACK MOUNTAIN two days in a row, March 9-10th.
March Mountain #5: To tell you where we will be headed on March 16th a crew member used two pictures of a pike, both a fish and a polearm. Can you guess what we meant by that? Oh, we’re going to PICO MOUNTAIN.
March Mountain #6: For arguably one of the hardest clues, two crew members brought up the controversial theory that composer Johannes Brahms’s last name was the inspiration for the name of the resort. The musically-informed could then guess we are going to BROMLEY MOUNTAIN on March 17. And yeah, nobody ever actually thought that about the resort’s name ever. But we needed a dad joke.
Of note: the music in the background of this video is actually from the Academic Festival Overture, composed by Johannes Brahms.
March Mountain #7: To identify the last mountain we visit before heading to the finals, we utilized a certain brand of laptop and a tire. One crew member motioned the computer in and out of the tire, while the other held up the tire. The Vertical Challenge will be visiting… McIntyre Ski Area on March 23rd!
April
Finals Mountain: To let you know where we will hold the Vertical Challenge Finals, one crew member enthusiastically asked what letter in the alphabet came after “I” but before “K”. The other responded that her colleague had piqued her interest. The Vertical Challenge is happy to announce we will be holding yet another Finals celebration at JAY PEAK on April 13th.
After all those clues, it is fair to say that we all learned something. Whether it was some new vocabulary, the mountains the VC will be traveling to this winter, or just how terrible
dad jokes can be, there is always something to be learned every day. Thank you to everybody who played along with us and we cannot wait to see everyone this winter!
