Feb 6, 2005 By Justin Mclaughlin For The 4 min read

FARMINGTON – Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa’s Winter Fest 2005 attracted skiers, food connoisseurs and music fans to the resort’s ski slope, Mystic Mountain, on Saturday. “We try to do something to bring people out in the winter, just when people are starting to get tired of the dreary, cold days,” said Greg Lee, Nemacolin’s director of activities.

Lee said it was near-perfect weather. Crowds of spectators and skiers enjoyed unseasonably warm weather and sunny skies, with the day’s high in the low 60s.

Lee supervised preparations for the Skiing Dummy Race, an event popular with the resort’s staff. Teams created dummies attached to skis and sent them barreling down a hill just above the ski slopes.

“It’s a Winter Fest tradition for the staff, and it’s actually kind of cut throat competition – a lot of bragging rights go with winning,” Lee said.

Most of the dummies were constructed of plastic foam, wood, other household items and even snow. Not all survived the course.

“It’s so tall it’ll probably blow apart,” ski patrol worker Patrick McChesney said of his team’s dummy – which stood nearly 6 feet tall. The ski patrol’s dummy held up, but another team’s did not even reach the starting line before breaking apart. Made entirely of snow, they had to race it with half its body missing.

They key to the competition was clear to McChesney, though. He said weight is usually the determining factor, after watching the snow camp team tape cement blocks to their dummy. He also added that design was important.

“Did you see the engineering department’s?” said McChesney, pointing out an aerodynamic dummy that most of the competitors thought would run away with the race. But in the end, it was the security department’s creation. It was a small, security guard look-a-like that took first place. First-time competitors from the resort’s spa took second.

“We went with the bent knee, skiing design,” Tony Nau, a front desk worker in the spa, said.

His team’s dummy, whose face was covered with a healing facial mask and cucumber slices on its eyes, was one of the largest.

“It’s a basic wood frame, but I added ballast,” said Nau, pointing out bags of sand and salt hidden under a Nemacolin Woodlands spa robe.

After the race, the team’s dummies were subjected to a “big air” contest that sent them flying off a jump at the end of a long hill.

“Basically, we want to see how many pieces we can break them into,” Lee said.

Inside the lodge, cooks from area restaurants put their culinary skills to the test with a chili cook-off.

“This is the first time we’ve ever done this. I’ve been told our chili is very good, so I thought, why not?” said Wendy Allen Duner, owner of Braddock Inn Restaurant in Farmington.

It was also the first time for Nathan Piccolomini, apprentice chef at Cailiegh’s restaurant in Uniontown.

“We’re going to try and do our best and have fun,” Renee Leon, Piccolomini’s manager, said. They described their chili as “a little sweet and tangy, with a little pinch at the end.” It struck a chord with spectators, who voted it the people’s choice after tasting free samples. The Golden Trout, one of Nemacolin’s award-winning restaurants, was the judge’s choice.

Ice carving demonstrations were conducted earlier in the day by Nemacolin chef Paul Haines.

He constructed two sculptures and a large ice wall with the words Winter Fest 2005 inscribed in its face. Haines also created a ski slope sculpture that bartenders used to mix coffee-flavored drinks made with vodka and Starbucks-brand coffee liqueur. Participants also sampled wine from The Christian W. Klay Winery in Farmington.

The evening concluded with a torchlight parade and entertainment provided by the Crazy Cowboy Band.

Winter Fest 2005 concludes today with a Big Air Competition for skiers and snowboarders, as well as a half-pipe competition and additional ice carving demonstrations. Special activities for children will also be offered.