Gaper Day is a mountain tradition that takes place in

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

s across North America. It is the day when locals can dress in the most ridiculous outfits and pretend to be like their

gaper A gaper (Dutch pronunciation: �ɣaːpər is a stone or wooden figurehead, often depicting a Moor, Muslim, or North African. The figurehead first appeared in the late 16th century as a hangout sign used outside the storefronts of drug stores ...

counterparts. Their getup can range from no or very limited clothing (only shorts) to the most retro ski attire there is. It is like the

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

of the mountain. It normally occurs around April, when the snow starts melting and the temperatures are warmer. According to a local reporter at Jackson Hole Ski Resort, Gaper Day "is a Spring right icof passage for those who live in mountain towns. It is a day that can provide large amounts of entertainment as locals do their best to poke a little fun at the tourists with which they have dealt throughout the season."

Participating resorts

Arapahoe Basin Arapahoe Basin ( ; often shortened to A-Basin, or simply The Basin) is an Alpine skiing, alpine ski area in the Rocky Mountains of the United States, in the Arapaho National Forest of Colorado. Arapahoe Basin is known for its extended ski season, ...

* Brighton * Boler Mountain * Copper Mountain * Keystone *

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

* Solitude * Steamboat *

Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numer ...

Whistler Blackcomb Whistler Blackcomb is a ski resort located in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. By many measures it is the largest ski resort in North America and has the greatest uphill lift capacity. It features the Peak 2 Peak Gondola for moving between ...

Palisades Tahoe Palisades Tahoe is a ski resort in the western United States, located in Olympic Valley, California, northwest of Tahoe City in the Sierra Nevada range. From its founding in 1949, the resort was known as Squaw Valley, but it changed its name in ...

References

{{Reflist Skiing Sports culture