Here is a story of Ullr, the God of Snow and Skis.
In 1985 I drove to Colorado, to deliver a car on a whim. Along the way I picked up Pete, a hitch-hiker outside of Clifton Forge, Virginia on Interstate 64. He was heading out to San Francisco to be with the Dead. I told him to hop in as far as Denver, where I planned to drop off the car to the sister of a friend of mine.
Eventually I ended up in Summit County in Colorado where I decided to Winter over for the season. Living in a youth hostile, I wandered throughout the ski village of Breckenridge, looking for work and a place to live. Eventually I found both, working in a bookstore and silk-screening t-shirts on the side for the tourists coming in throughout the season.
It was a dry season that year. I had called home to the family on Thanksgiving after a bowl of not too well cooked of beans and onions. The meal was a portent of things to come, there was just one major snow fall before Thanksgiving and the ski slopes were bare. Pipes and debris that should have been buried long ago peppered the trails in thin slush and ice. This was not a good sign for the businesses depending on the tourist trade. I went to a small church group meeting in December, the prayer that year was for a rich fall of snow so their businesses could make it though the Winter. Farmers of another crop.
Christmas came and went. The snow was sparse but not so sparse that the tourists and snow machines could not deliver the minimum. But the town of Breckenridge was concerned. In January, the town sponsored an Ice Festival, all the businesses along the main street built ice sculptures for display throughout the month. On the last full week of the month the main event, the Ullr Fest would end in a parade and judging of all the sculptures in from of the stores.
The big celestial event of 1986 was the passing of Halley’s Comet. The scheduled launch of the Challenger shuttle was focused on sending up a probe to intercept with the comet and send back data. It was the best we could do, as it was the least spectacular viewing of the comet in 2500 years. But we would not let that stop the celebration.
The parade on Friday the 24th of January was the big tourist attraction in Breckenridge that Winter. By the end of January there was little snow to show for the efforts of wishes and dreams. We were in the middle of a snow drought. Nothing short of a miracle would save the season was the talk of the town. The parade went on as planned, people lined the streets, the floats went by one after one. The prizes were awarded to the best of the ice sculptures. In the parade one business, made a mock-up of the Challenger in paper-mache and a paper comet the space ship was following. It was one of the last floats in the parade and by then everyone was in a festive mood.
Christmas, everyone had a tree in Breckenridge. At the end of the holidays, and once the decorations were taken down, the locals would regularly haul their trees out to the big parking lot on the west end of town, just across from the “blue river”. The trees were piled one on to of the other, dry pines twenty feet high. At the end of the Ullr Festival, it was traditional for the locals to gather around the pile of trees and set them on fire. Tradition had it that the locals would toss in sacrifices to Ullr in the fire to assure a good season of snow. This year after the parade, one of the sacrifices given in the pyre was the papermache model of the Challenger shuttle. Dancing, drinking, smoking and all sorts of herbal lifting to the gods. And the Challenger went in with all the ski boots, skis, sweaters, underwear, and worthless valuables. All to the god Ullr. Just one good season.
On Tuesday, January 26th the Challenge lifted off into tragic history. The accident, a result of a a freak cold spell dipping down into Florida. The ice breaking the seal of the launch rocket. The explosion with the two sub rockets flying away from the ball of fire and smoke, looked like the helmet of a Nordic God. All the astronauts were lost in the freak accident.
The day after the explosion, while we were all still in shock, in Breckenridge it began to snow. It began to snow and snow for the next 21 days. It was one of the biggest turn arounds in the season for many who could remember. The season was saved Ullr had been appeased.