MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2020

23 Mountain Life: When did the Yodeladies tradition start and what inspired it? Ona Alisauskas: My Lithuanian dad, Kas Alisauskas, built a ski chalet at the bottom of the Apple Bowl in the Sixties. He loved the sport, was an excellent skier himself, and taught his four kids how to ski. We spent every weekend in our youth skiing as a family at Blue. We even came up in the summers, which was very quiet back then. Dad owned the chalet into the Seventies when (unfortunately for us kids) he sold it. In the Eighties, I was raising my own family and skiing took a back seat, but every year my sisters and I and some friends took advantage of Blue Mountain’s Ladies Week promotion to ski. We skied like banshees in adopted t-shirts, or silly hats, or original neon ski suits but eventually (maybe because of our hearty Eastern European stock) adopted Viking regalia. In total, we have been doing the Yodeladies ski day with hilltop lunch for 31 years. ML: What happens during your annual ski day? OA: Usually the core group books a couple of rooms at the Inn from Thursday until Sunday. We ski Friday morning, then bee-line it to the top of the Southern Comfort Chairlift for a potluck lunch in the great outdoors, accompanied by yodel music. Friends join us there for refreshments—a handmade Rice Krispie Viking longship was once devoured—and polka-ing. After lunch, still in Viking regalia, we ski to Jozo’s for dancing and tequila. The band has been Itchy and Scratchy for many years, but I do remember boppin’ to the great George Olliver & Gangbuster at dances at the Inn Cafe. ML: How long are you hoping to continue? OA: I will be doing this “’til I can’t skis no more” [ spoken with Popeye accent ]. The second generation has jumped in, furs-a-flying, over the past several years.The third generation has even made an appearance. Hopefully they will continue the tradition when the old timers have gone to Valhalla. ML: What does this tradition mean to you and your fellow Yodeladies? OA: I will speak for myself. This tradition is an homage to my late dad and mum, who introduced me to the sport of skiing. Every time I ski past our old chalet, I say a little thank you to them, and the mountain gods, for making skiing part of my life. COURTESY BLUE MOUNTAIN RESORT UPFRONT “Hopefully they will continue the tradition when the old timers have gone to Valhalla.” Have you noticed lively groups of skiers in Viking garb around Blue? Did you wonder what it was all about? Chief Yodelady Ona Alisauskas tells their story in this Q&A. THE YODELADIES